Der Fremde am See (2013)

Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.

Director:

Alain Guiraudie

Writer:

Alain Guiraudie

Stars:

Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d'Assumçao

17 wins & 36 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierre Deladonchamps	...	Franck
Christophe Paou	...	Michel
Patrick d'Assumçao	...	Henri (as Patrick D'Assumçao)
Jérôme Chappatte	...	Inspecteur Damroder
Mathieu Vervisch	...	Eric
Gilbert Traina	...	L'homme du mardi soir (as Gilbert Traïna)
Emmanuel Daumas	...	Philippe
Sébastien Badachaoui	...	Le mari d'Eric
Gilles Guérin	...	L'homme à femmes
François-Renaud Labarthe	...	Pascal Ramière (as François Labarthe)
Claude Bellelle	...	Un naturiste
Slawomir Cieminski	...	Un naturiste
Jean-Marie Crémier	...	Un naturiste
Bernard Delavaux	...	Un naturiste
Bernard German	...	Un naturiste

Storyline

Franck, a fit gay man, seeks love at a lakeside gay cruising beach. Among the mostly pudgy nude sunbathers, he befriends Henri, a depressed middle-aged bi-sexual who enjoys the quiet but accepts Franck's company. When Michel appears, Franck finally spots a man he'd like to know sexually. Unfortunately, he also spots him drowning his gay lover but opts not to tell anyone in order to consider having a relationship with this handsome yet remorseless killer.

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Plot Keywords:

male full frontal nudity | ejaculation | explicit sex | unprotected sex | gay character | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

19 September 2013 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Der Fremde am See

Filming Locations:

Lake of Sainte-Croix, Verdon Gorge, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$27,599 (USA) (24 January 2014)

Gross:

$324,891 (USA) (2 May 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Worso, Arte France Cinéma, M141 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the hard core material, Alain Guiraudie wanted to film penetration shots too, but the body doubles employed wouldn't film them without condoms and in the film, Frank and Michel penetrate each other without condoms, so Alain Guiraudie dropped those shots.

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Quotes

Henri: Are you married?
Franck: No.
Henri: But you live with a woman?
Franck: No, I'm gay.
Henri: You only sleep with men?
Franck: [smiles] Can we speak frankly?
Henri: It's unusual.
Franck: What is?
Henri: Guys who sleep together, sure, but they've got a wife or girlfriend. Guys who are gay - I mean, really gay - are pretty rare.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Cannes Film Festival 2013 (2013)

User Reviews

Amazing piece of filmmaking!

Not much to add to the other comments made here, but I'll say that this film was pretty fantastic! It offers a keen inside view of the gay community living and cruising around the lake of the title. All the characters are dead on: the cute guy, the old queens, the pervert etc. with no judgment whatsoever. The pacing can seem long to some, but I quite enjoyed the repetitive installation shots. It mirrored the compulsive visits to the lake the hero makes, in hopes of finding love, even if he himself knows it's a futile quest.

"L'inconnu du lac" screened at the FNC (Festival du Nouveau Cinema) a few weeks ago, where I saw "Interior. Leather Bar." (the James Franco and Travis Mathews doc). I couldn't help but see a connection with some of the stuff Franco discussed. Our objections to porn and graphic sex are mostly constructed by society rather than rooted in any inherently moral reasons. The sex scenes in "L'inconnu du lac" are very graphic but never gratuitous. They expose the mal de vivre of the gay men who visit this beautiful lake better than words could.