Stranger by the Lake (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

19 wins & 41 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 | unsimulated sex | 

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Taglines:

Best Director, Un Certain Regard at Cannes

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was no improvisation on set. All the scenes were filmed exactly as written and the dialogue was word for word as in the script. Even the numerous sex scenes between the lead actors were extensively choreographed and rehearsed so that the crew could go on location and film the sex scenes quickly and smoothly. It also put the actors at ease as they had to just mechanically perform what they had rehearsed.

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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

Referenced in Thanatos, Drunk (2015)

User Reviews

Suspenseful drama unfolds as a moral story about risk taking

I finally saw 'Stranger by the Lake', streaming it on Netflix. The movie takes a detached look at a gay cruising area situated by an idyllic lake area in France. The film has plenty of nudity and graphic sex and some viewers denigrate the film as porn, I know porn and this is certainly not that. In fact, I found the direct and unapologetic look at the main character's desire and sexuality to be refreshing. I did have two problems with the film. First, the lack of suspense given the circumstances of the film. Second, the one dimensional characters; the hot stud who can't commit, the young twink that confuses sex and desire for love, and the older pathetic man. However, I enjoyed that the film on another level is about risk and inadvertently becomes a moral story showing the viewer that when you are unable to subsume your desire and do the right thing tragedy results.

Details

Official Sites:

Les Films du Losange

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

12 June 2013 (France)

Also Known As:

Stranger by the Lake

Filming Locations:

Lake of Sainte-Croix, Verdon Gorge, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$27,599, 26 January 2014

Gross USA:

$325,196

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,131,241

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