Stranger by the Lake: What Is Love?
2013; Volume: 92; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2562-2528
Autores Tópico(s)French Historical and Cultural Studies
ResumoPrevious to seeing Main Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake, I wasn't acquainted with the writer-director's work. Judging by the film, Guiraudie is a major French director. Stranger by the Lake, which is a significant contribution to the contemporary gay cinema, impresses on numerous levels. In addition to its rigorous integration of style and content, it is a sensual, intelligent, elegant and humanistic piece of filmmaking. That the film won the best director prize in this year's Un Certain Regarde section at the Cannes Film Festival illustrates the jury's excellent taste. Stranger by the Lake's strength is in part due to its careful construction as a psychological thriller. The narrative takes place over a ten day period on an isolated stretch of a male cruising beach and features three principal characters. The central protagonist is Franck/Pierre Deladonchamps, a handsome youngish man who develops a friendship with an older heterosexual man, Henri/Patrick d'Assumcao, and falls in love with an Adonis-like gay man Michel/Christophe Paou. Franck's immediate attraction to Michel quickly becomes a commitment that would normally demand a more gradual development but the film's concentration on their intense physical relationship gives conviction to his reaction. The narrative pivots on the consequences of Franck's desire for Michel who, when first seen, is with a young man who appears to be his lover. Franck follows the two men when they go into a wooded area directly behind the beach. When Franck passes by as they are having sex, Michel smiles at him, suggesting a mutual attraction, but Franck feels dejected, telling Henri later that the men whom he likes are always taken. On the second day, Franck again watches them and continues to do so as the others leave the beach when dusk approaches. Franck, partially obscured by trees, is positioned above the lake as Michel and the man swim out into the water. What first appears to be play, gradually becomes a struggle and Franck watches Michel drown his lover. The next eight days deal with their relationship, Franck's growing friendship with Henri and the intrusion of a police inspector when the body is discovered. By the film's conclusion, Michel has killed both Henri and the inspector and the future of Franck and Michel's relationship is left open-ended. The film's formal structure is based on precision and repetition. It begins each day with a shot of the parking area and Franck's arrival and concludes with a shot of his departure at day's end. This device contains the narrative's action within an enclosed space that has its own identity. While the space is confined, it is a natural setting and the film is attuned to its visual beauty, the sun, the water, the beach, the trees, and the sky. Guiraudie also uses sound, but not background music, to enhance the setting, cutting for instance to an image of the sky while we hear the sound of wind blowing through trees. The space becomes tactile and produces a sensuality that is conducive to the men's nakedness and the sexual desire that motivates their presence on the beach. Utilizing the film's widescreen format, cinematographer Claire Mathon employs long takes and graceful camera movements to enhance Guiraudie's mise-en-scene and characterizations, thereby creating an intimacy that is both physically and emotionally charged. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While not directly serving as a viewer identification figure, Franck is the character with whom we are aligned to from the film's beginning to end. In addition to having an attractive slim build, he has an accessible and vulnerable presence. Franck is also the film's most sensitive character. This is illustrated by his almost immediate responsiveness to Henri who, like him, is lonely and looking for human contact. Franck's empathy for the outsider is similarly shown in an encounter with a solid looking, middle-aged man who bluntly approaches, him wanting sexual contact. …
Referência(s)