Review of Stranger by the Lake (2013) by Noah C — 23 Feb 2014

Daring and bold with enough adult drama to keep it interesting, Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake is a master class of originality and cinematic supremacy. Setting the film exclusively in one location with absolutely no score to accompany it seems like a risky and daunting task, which it is, however Guiraudie transcends this issue with breathtaking shots of the surrounding land scape, impressive cinematography and fantastic long takes that allow the actors, to well, act.

The director had a vision for this film, to tell a daring murder story with messages of self-worth and judgment at the center of the story which come through in spades thanks to the directors brilliant vision of what to produce on the silver screen.

Guiraudie's screenplay is equally as good as his directing and cinematography skills for without a musical composition to engage the audience, it is up to great dialogue and storytelling to carry a film, which once again the director pulls off nearly flawlessly.

Each of the characters feels like predators of lust and desire among the dangerous world of the "lake", thanks to their great performances and particularly great dialogue. While every actor Guiraudie chose was excellent in their respective role it is Pierre Deladonchamps performance of Franck and Patrick d'Assumcao's enactment of Henri that stand as the best characters and performances of the entire film.

Deladonchamps is a compelling leading man that feels real in which we genuinely care for the man as he desperately tries to figure his way around Michael's desire for himself. Henri is the most likable character in the film because of d'Assumcao's warm-heartedness towards Franck, which makes Henri's fate all the more tragic in the end.

The only flaw of the film is the repetitiveness of the Franck's routine for, while the lake is beautiful, it is the only location in the film, which as you can imagine, becomes pretty stale after one hundred minutes.

Stranger by the Lake is a daring, sexy piece of cinematic glory which soars thanks to excellent directing acting and cinematography, meanwhile plummets at the same time due to a weak story.