STRANGER BY THE LAKE [2013 / 2014] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Utterly Gripping and Absorbing . . . One of the Year’s Best! Beautiful, Sinister, Frightening, Erotic Film!
Summer time. A cruising spot for gay men seeking nameless sexual encounters is tucked away on the shores of a picturesque secluded lake in rural France. Franck [Pierre Deladonchamps] is an attractive young male who falls in love with Michel [Christophe Paou], a striking, extremely potent but lethally dangerous man. Franck has witnessed this first hand, but his desire for Michel knows no bounds, this is a relationship he must have – at any cost.
‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE’ is a tense thriller set against the secluded back drop of, what becomes inevitably, the most dangerous lake in France.
A provocative and accomplished effort by France's bad boy auteur, ‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE’ is Alain Guiraudie's steamy mix of the comic and the tragic, winning Best Director for Un Certain Regard in addition to the Queer Palm at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
FILM FACT: The film contained unstimulated sex, and was filmed using body doubles. Alain Guiraudie and the actors came to the decision that they would be uncomfortable filming the scenes themselves. The film was shot at the Lake of Sainte-Croix in Provence, France in September 2012. The film was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Cast: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao, Jérôme Chappatte, Mathieu Vervisch, Gilbert Traina, Emmanuel Daumas, Sébastien Badachaoui, Gilles Guérin, François-Renaud Labarthe, Claude Bellelle, Slawomir Cieminski, Jean-Marie Crémier, Bernard Delavaux, Bernard German, Jean-Michel Giordano, Lucien Lerda, Patrick Marconi, Serge Morgadinho, Eric Piccolotto, Corentin Plas, Renaud Rifflart, Thomas Salles, Nicolas Guimbard, Joël Landaraud and Alain Guiraudie (uncredited)
Director: Alain Guiraudie
Producers: Benoît Quainon, Gilles Sitbon, Olivier Père and Sylvie Pialat
Screenplay: Alain Guiraudie
Cinematographer: Claire Mathon (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: French: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 100 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Peccadillo Pictures
Andrew's Blu-ray Review: In ‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE’ [French: L'Inconnu Du Lac], is a suspense thriller from the French director Alain Guiraudie, we get the measure of the lake itself soon enough. It's a wide, chalky basin somewhere in the south of France, with water as hot and blue as a June sky. It's also a gay pick-up spot, where men sunbathe, swim and chat, before disappearing into the surrounding scrub.
This mesmerising feature from French writer-director Alain Guiraudie is a mix of Hitchcockian potboiler and queer-culture study. Our lead is buff Franck [Pierre Deladonchamps], who struts with confidence around the lake that is the film's only location. Franck becomes fast friends with lonely, obese Henri [Patrick d'Assumçao], but his libido is more tickled by '70s-porn-moustache-sporting Michel [Christophe Paou]. Guiraudie has a keen eye for queer conduct: he spends most of the first half hour acclimating us to this Eden where gay men lie around nude and sneak off into the woods for sex, before offering a deeply unsettling exploration of infatuation.
This provocative setting is ideal for Alain Guiraudie's story, which is an exploration of fear and longing, and the ways in which those two seemingly opposing forces often work in deadly unison. The men here are essentially strangers, but at the same time they're hair-raisingly intimate, and their encounters are shown in explicit detail. The BBFC report warns of "strong, real sex" and we aren't disappointed, on either count. The film leans a bit heavily on long takes, but there's a purpose to Alain Guiraudie's rigorous perspective. He's out to unearth the powerful, often terrifying emotions which underlay all explicit acts, sexual or not.
One of the regulars is Franck [Pierre Deladonchamps], a limber youngster, who notes one morning the arrival of a new man, Michel [Christophe Paou], who has a cruel smile, a thick moustache, and the physique of an Olympic swimmer. Franck is intrigued, and lingers in the bushes that evening to spy on him playing in the water with a third man who appears to be a romantic partner. As Franck comes to learn, death and love make consummate bedfellows.
What happens next could be considered a plot-spoiler, so I won't detail it here, although Alain Guiraudie captures it in an unbroken, indelible four-minute shot, where the action moves from the far distance to the foreground while the camera looks on with a paralysed steadiness worthy of Hitchcock.
Franck's response to what he sees is complex: from an earlier conversation about contraception, we already know that sex and risk are closely aligned in his psyche. Two days later, he strikes up a relationship with Michel. The day after that, a police inspector comes to ask questions about what may or may not have happened that night, and the lake's status as a set-apart place, with its own opaque codes of maleness, comes under threat.
Alain Guiraudie's film is acutely brilliant on the funny, scary machinery of desire, and how easily humans can get caught up in its cogwheels. There are no female characters and the camera never leaves the lakeside, but despite the picture's resolute closed-offness, the gist is universal. It's categorically not for the faint-hearted, but the good ones never are.
Blu-ray Image Quality – With its 1080p brilliant image, ‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE’ is one of the best-looking discs to come from Peccadillo Pictures and of course is enhanced with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. While most of this likely has to do with the fact the film premiered in 2013, it shouldn't take anything away from how strikingly detailed and consistent the image actually is. Much of the film takes place during bright summer days, and the image captures the essence of the setting with tremendous amounts of detail. One can practically count the rocks on the beach, if they were so inclined. Additionally, facial features and other textures are all on display and though clothing is something of a rarity for this film. Colours are consistently vivid, and manage to capture the bright lushness of the lake's surrounding woods. Contrast remains incredibly high throughout the film producing full-bodied black levels and whites that never look overblown. Certain night scenes do tend to take on an overwhelming inkiness, but that seems to be deliberate on behalf of the filmmaker, as it adds a great deal to the tension of the situation. All in all, this is a fantastic looking disc that rarely has a misstep of any kind. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – The French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix is also quite good. The mix isn't tasked with doing much other than making sure the dialogue is clean and easily heard which it does with great ease here. The sound is primarily loaded through the front, as dialogue spills through the centre channel while various ambient effects are filtered through the front and rear channels as needed. There's little that is obvious about the mix, so sounds are generally floating between channels, generating an effortless immersive experience that highlights the sounds of the lake, the breeze blowing through the tall grass, and the voices of the eternally present others floating around the background. This is a quiet film that makes pointed use of every bit of dialogue and sound effect, so that they are distinct and purposeful. It's not going to be used as reference for anyone's next demo, but it certainly goes above and beyond in terms of setting the tone of a wonderful film.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Interview with Director Alain Guiraudie [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [16:32] Alain Guiraudie is recorded at the 2013 Melbourne Film Festival. The director is extremely prepared to chat about his film ‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE,’ delving into a sophisticated explanation of his moviemaking approach, with emphasis on theory, form, and inspiration. While more textured anecdotes are more inviting. Alain Guiraudie displays a rich understanding of his work, sharing his creative intent with authority in this passionate conversation that's punctuated with clips from the feature. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: Interview with Christophe Paou and Pierre Deladonchamps [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [30:15] Here we get a chance to get an in-depth intimate interview with the two main character actors. We get to hear the actors explaining all aspect of the film and how they went about creating their characters. What was so refreshing is how very frank they were when it came to the sex scenes and held nothing back. What was also really nice and surprising is that they wanted to only speak in English, which is sometimes very rare, but of course they both have very heavy French accents, which were really nice, but most surprising of all, is that both actors are completely straight.
Special Feature: The Cannes Première [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [16:33] This is a short documentary, showing all aspects of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival event. You get short interviews with different people involved with the film, plus small extracts from the film, with people explaining in depth of what is happening in that particular part of the film. The main part of this short documentary is with everyone on the Cannes Stage and the Director making short speeches, as well as seeing the audience appreciating all the people involved with the film who attended the première. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: Creating The Poster: Commentary by Artistic Director Roy Genty [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [6:42] Here we get to hear Roy Genty explain how he went about designing the different Film Posters, and how he eventually came to designing the actual poster advertising the film. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: Les Heros Sont Imortels [Heroes Never Die] [1990] [480i] [1.37:1] [13:28] is a short film from Director Alain Guiraudie concerning the evening conversation shared between two men as they wait patiently in a town square. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: Tout Droit Jusqu'au Matin [Straight Ahead Until Morning] [1994] [480i] [1.37:1] [10:14] is a short film from Director Alain Guiraudie, this time exploring on the philosophical inner monologue of a man touring a city at night. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: 3 Deleted Scenes [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:19] here we get three additional moments focusing on Franck's adventures around the lake, interacting with Henri and being chased away by other men in the area. The final scene is perhaps most important, spotlighting a discussion of protected sex between Franck and a more attentive conquest that should've remained in the picture. French Language. English Subtitles.
Special Feature: Alternative Ending [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [9:20] presents two takes that essentially extend the theatrical ending to a more defined resolution, while still preserving needed ambiguity. This is only a subtle change, but it does alter the tone of the climax, gifting the feature a more sombre quality. French Language with English Subtitles.
Special Feature: BFI London Film Festival Gala Q&A [2013] [1080p] [1.78:1] [14:14] Here we get to see the 3 main actors and the Director [speaking only in French]. You also have 2 other people on the stage speaking in English. One of them was a woman who had to translate into English what the Director was explaining, especially from specific questions from the audience, which unfortunately you can't quite hear what they are saying.
Trailers: Peccadillo Pictures promotes some of their other Blu-ray releases, which includes: ‘Interior Leather Bar;’ ‘Our Children;’ ‘I Am Devine’ [Infamous American Drag Artist]; ‘North Sea Texas;’ ‘Weekend;’ ‘You and The Night;’ ‘Free Fall;’ ‘In the Name Of’ and ‘Boys on Film 11.’ For more details, check out the Peccadillo Pictures web site.
Finally, although certain elements of ‘STRANGER BY THE LAKE’ suggest it might fit into the subgenre of homoerotic. As to the film itself, is more concerned with the idea of a subgenre itself, or, in this case a small microcosm like the populated by the men gathering at the lake for bouts of passionate, anonymous sex. For the film to also feature a compelling thriller aspect seems to suggest that Alain Guiraudie is also interested in examining what constitutes desire, especially when it becomes unquenchable, reckless, and even illogical. This is very captivating film, that features terrific picture, very good sound, and a host of informative extras that gives a glimpse into the mind of the director. This is a definite high octane tour-de-force gay film, that was so amazingly good, which has a refreshing no holds barred action, and whose characters are fascinating to watch and get into their characters and is definitely for repeat view and I am so pleased to add this to my ever extensive Blu-ray Collection and is also a must buy, if you want to see something really different and keeps you guessing right to the very end, then this is the Blu-ray disc for you. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
