Stranger by the Lake

Saw it last night, and loved it.

It's rather profound, far more than just a thriller.

I have a feeling I'm going to be jacking to this one when it comes out on DVD.

It's a very good movie, but as porn, while explicit and nudity-filled, it wouldn't be a top choice.

As with many French films, it takes a highly improbable premise, and then forces the characters into a charged ethical choice. But for a reasonable person, the choice would never have to be made because the reasonable person would never accept the improbable premise to begin with.

Having said that, the main lead was adorable. I would pay just to watch paint dry on his finely chiseled, highly lickable body. So how much more exciting is it when others are portrayed licking said body parts with explosive results.

Now available on Netflix streaming. Boy, is this thing graphic.

Very unsettling but well done.

Thanks for bumping this thread. I did not know about this movie. Looks hot as hell, and if it's a well-made film to boot, hooray!

It's a well-made film, but boy, is it homophobic (yes, I know the director is openly gay). I haven't seen the old homosexuality = thanatos trope played out quite so blatantly in a very long time.

I saw it tonight and was impressed by it. Very well done. And the lead actor is so very, very cute and so very, very naked throughout. I don't buy many DVDs anymore, but I might just buy this one.

[quote] I haven't seen the old homosexuality = thanatos trope played out quite so blatantly in a very long time.

as dangerous as it is for so many of our brethren, I must admit, I like this, it would be a shame to see this trope disappear entirely, forever.

in a literary sense, not in a literal sense.

Is this our Looking for Mr. Goodbar?

Excellent film.

But didn't the internet eliminate those sorts of cruising spots in France, too?

Bumping for good, sexy movie.

Those two leads were sexy. hot bodies on both!

What's Thanatos?

I loved this movie -- and I'm a lesbian.

I've watched it twice. So far.

I loved it too! Was shocked (in a good way) by the graphic sex. I've never seen a blowjob outside of porn...HOT!

R15, Thanatos is non-violent death in Greek mythology.

Which doesn't really explain how it applies to a movie about gay men. Homosexuality leads to dying a peaceful death in your sleep?

STRANGER BY THE LAKE is an excellent thriller and the type of fiction I hope to see more of in the future that involves gay men but doesn't condemn or stigmatize them.

It's not homophobic — the film is very sympathetic to the main character and it features TONS of full-frontal and pornographic gay sex.

Only knee-jerk, gay terrorists will see STRANGER BY THE LAKE as homophobic. If you're one of these queers who only tolerates flattering and politically expedient depictions of gay people, you might dislike STRANGER BY THE LAKE.

But if you're a realist and you want a good yarn about a good gay man in peril, you'll love it.

STRANGER BY THE LAKE does depict a gay cruising culture that the internet has largely eliminated (though the same problems can happen with Grindr).

And the movie questions the callousness of men having sex with men toward each other — carrying on with cruising piggishly even though there was a murder amongst them and they could all be in danger.

But this culture IS TRUE. Too often, men having sex with men only see each other as good for a fuck or not.

The movie (and its police detective) rightfully question men having sex with men for not caring about each other enough.

[quote]But if you're a realist and you want a good yarn about a good gay man in peril, you'll love it.

Dunno about that, he WATCHED a man drown his lover, then ignored that fact and pursued the killer.

If you ignore the fact that the story concerns gay men, it is a typical french film. The main protagonist ignores common sense and prosaic morals to embark on a highly illogical and idiosyncratic course, lured by passion.

[quote]Dunno about that, he WATCHED a man drown his lover, then ignored that fact and pursued the killer.

I don't think he ignored it, but rather it didn't bother him enough to prevent him from hooking up and getting off with the (obviously) hot murderer. The main character is portrayed as reckless (there's an earlier scene where he has a discussion with a trick about not using a condom for oral sex) and when he does have sex with the hot murderer he doesn't use protection again. He seems driven by the physical desire of an otherwise revolting person, which is a fairly good analysis of cruising culture: Who cares if you're a psychopath, as long as you're hot.

"Is this our Looking for Mr. Goodbar?"

No, that was "Cruising", which needs to be remade. This time, make the psycho a Patient Zero-type who infects men with G.R.I.D.

Just saw it today. What a movie. R20 is correct, gay culture and even lesbians can be like this (I'm a lesbian). I could almost cry when Henri tells Franck he's in love with him and could stay with him and not have sex. And the detective... he's just so truthful in all that he does and says. Incredible performance, very understated, but so on spot.

Read an interview with the director that he used body doubles for the explicit sex scenes, not the actors themselves.

Going on my watch list.

Anymore good nexflix recommendations?

A "gay" movie for extremely self-hating gay people. No thanks.

Disagree about the movie being self-hating. It describes a self-hating culture, but it is not self-hating, simply lucid.

There is much to this film, each frame almost is telling you something, in the silences, the environment itself seems to be communicating something... Very powerful.

And, I was on edge for the whole story. Couldn't take my eyes off (and no, not because of the multiple dicks showing - although there's plenty of that). It was mostly folliage and the sky that I ended up staring at intently.

It's a real thriller, and efficient at that. Reminded me of Hitchcock more than once - apart from the explicit sex, it's a type of story he would clearly have been interested in - the alluring stranger, danger, what's said and unsaid, the detective. Impressive stuff. I need to see it again, this time on a quality screening (DVD).

What's with the shaved pubes though? Is this a trend? Pretty ugly IMO, but there's no accounting for taste I guess.

Overrated. Perfect example of how gay men are desperate for quality entertainment that reflects their image back to themselves, and will overpraise anything.

Hated it. Loathed it. Wish I had never seen it.

The film portrays gay men as mindless pigs, lacking in any kind of empathy or common sense. Almost all the characters are creepy. The plot is ludicrous. Only the setting is beautiful.

Perhaps it works as a cautionary tale and might be useful as part of an anti-gay conversion program.

Spare yourself.

R32 "The film portrays gay men as mindless pigs, lacking in any kind of empathy.."

Sounds bang on to me. Read any threads lately?

The beach looked pretty rocky and uncomfortable.

His ass looked fuckable

Wow. Blowjobs and cumshots in a mainstream film.

I don't know that it can really be considered mainstream, but it was released across major cinemas in France. NC-16.

Patrick D'Assumpçao was actually the star of the film for me. His unattractiveness and presumed orientation distanced himself only slightly from the desperation and loneliness that he shared with the other beachgoers/cruisers. While they fueled the emptiness with compulsive sex (and violence), he stared at his as it widened into an abyss of hopelessness.

He sought the gays tentatively for companionship and then aggressively for death. They pulled through completely with the latter.

If it weren't a gay filmmaker, I don't know how I'd feel about it, but there is a relevant critique of cruising culture in the movie. I'm not sure that can be so generalized to all homosexuality.

I liked it.

r33- ha- right on.

The premise that lust and desire eradicate common sense is hardly new or confined to the gay world. This is a cruising and quick sex spot. Men being men caution is even more so thrown to the wind.

Desire trumps everything sometimes- hell even dame Maggie's dowager nearly through is all away for a Russian Prince. It's a terrific little film- so simple yet so frightening and beautiful at the same time.

Yeah, very very impressive R39 (and R38). I truly need to watch it again. To be able to achieve such a profound effect, with seemingly so little, is the mark of a truly great director.

Also, that his actors were willing to commit to the picture to the point that we have two leads + one supporting (the peeping tom) routinely naked is staggering. That takes some balls. These weren't desperate actor wannabes, either. They've all had extensive careers in television or the theatre. It's mind-boggling.

It's not about lust and desire, it's empty Freudian bullshit about the death wish using gay sex as a cover for a premise which has no validity except in military dreams of glory or gangster culture.

Not true to life at all.

It's a love story, about taking chances. Letting your defenses down- and love in (or not).

You can tell it's a European film because scenes are allowed to play out languidly, no rush. So refreshing after hyperspastic, A.D.D Amurkan editing.

I hope this doesn't get relegated to a gay genre film. It's a suspenseful murder mystery.

The characters were all reprehensible and heartless except for one and he's suicidal.

Me too, R42.

[quote] I hope this doesn't get relegated to a gay genre film. It's a suspenseful murder mystery.

This is a great film, and unique. In what it does, it's the best I've ever seen because it's the only one I've ever seen.

Just bought it to watch again over the weekend.

Unbelievably overrated. The praise of it being "Hitchcockian" is utterly ludicrous. If the exact same film, frame for frame, word for word, were to be made by an American director the pretentious boobs who rave about it would see it for the steaming pile that it is.

Apart from John Cameron Mitchell, I don't see an American director making this film.

Please god, spare us anything John Cameron Mitchell might put on celluloid in the future.

This was a dull movie, cheaply made. It might as well have been porn and saved some money. No one with any intelligence could say anything positive about this film. I didn't even watch it through to the end.

Yeah John Cameron Mitchell made that porn turd Shortbus and it single handedly ruined the careers of everyone in it.

I really liked it, and I guess (cliche as it sounds) it's one of the few recent movies that made me think. Maybe it was good I had my expectations in check.

I wouldn't call it a "thriller" - it's way too slow-paced for that - but it does have a very unsettling atmosphere to it. And if you're watching it for the explicit sex, expecting porn - you're going to be disappointed, because it's not really sexy at all.

I think I connected with it because when I watched it I was going through a bit of a phase in the dating world and found its messages and symbolism to be relevant. The characters act in objectively stupid and idiotic ways that threaten their lives, and actively seek out their killers even though they know the danger... a rather heavy-handed metaphor for the world of gay cruising and hookups, with the looming specter of HIV/AIDS or even just random violence. You want to yell at the main character and wonder why he's not running away, but then take a step back and realize he's been putting himself in a dangerous situation from the very beginning.

On a trivial note, I do remember being constantly distracted by the rocky beach, because every time the characters would sit their bare ass down I'd wonder about the damage their balls might suffer.

Christophe Paou looks like a 70's porn star.

J'ai aimé le film.

Are any of the guys in it actually gay?

On the distraction of worrying about possible ball or bare ass damage, I definitely agree with you, R50. I also found the fact that there were giant, man-eating catfish much more interesting than the movie itself.

I liked the movie a lot and found it incredibly sexy and moody and mysterious. Loved the ending that left you hanging in the air.

any clips?

This movie would not be out of place in the Scary hook-ups thread.

Extremely chilling tale, visually stunning, very-well paced to build the suspense.

I loved the plot twist of having the killer be revealed, so that we could study the behavior & response of the other guy, as he knew full well who he was sexually pursuing.

I've had sex with accused murderers before. It's not like that at all. It's somebody's cocaine dream.

Are there other non porn gay movies that feature such explicit scenes?

I loved it too. For me, the murder plot line was almost a metaphor for the barebacking that Franck was willing to do. I thought the whole point was to ask the audience to consider why we find having sex with a murderer (and being threatened with death by him) more upsetting or shocking than barebacking with strangers. In both cases, Franck was basically saying "I trust you" in situations that did not warrant his trust. I thought it was a a really smart movie that raised these questions in a really interesting way without being homophobic or overly judgmental about it.

There are edge-of-seat moments of suspense.

Kind of reminds me of that movie "Black Widow". What happens when you let a sociopath get too close?

I have to give props to a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout while being slow-paced and with NO MUSIC.

I just watched this movie. It's well done and engrossing throughout. But it makes no sense whatsoever.

But then again many French films are more existential than real and don't tie up details like American films almost always do.

Yeah it's not about being literal; it's just about capturing that feeling all men know about putting ourselves in danger because we've dick-blind. I think it's tremendously effective at that.

It's an allegory for barebacking.

I found it very disturbing, and not in a good way.

Do you suppose the sex was so graphic just to get buzz? It was great but it was probably the most explicit sex I've seen, gay or straight, in a film that aspired to be an actual film.

The director wanted them to be like animals: wilderness, naked, carnivorous.

I didn't think it was the lead actors actually having the most graphic sex. Yes, they were completely naked but were no heads attached to the visible blow jobs.

No it's not R65, but thank to the Church Lady League for weighing in.

Watch the scene at the end between the cop and Franck. It totally is, R70.

I too have to agree with R65, and I am no Chuch-lady. Doubt he is, either: just intelligent.

HIV explains the whole "he may be a murderer, but I'll still take the risk" ethos at work in this not-so-good movie.

Is this the one where he throws the guy into a grease fire at the end?

No.

R69, they apparently used doubles for the explicit blowjob and ejaculation scenes, but for other scenes (like Michel rimming that guy, or Franck receiving a blowjob on the beach) it's obviously them.

I don't know if it's an allegory for the emptiness of the cruising culture or an allegory for barebacking but this is from the final scene between Franck and the investigating officer:

Don’t you find it odd we just find the body and two days later everybody’s back cruising like nothing happened?

We can’t stop living.

One of your own was murdered and you don’t care? Imagine, this boy goes missing three days, his towel and his car in plain view, and no one notices? Not even his lover. OK, they weren’t really together. But you guys have a strange way of loving each other sometimes. Can you imagine this young man’s solitude? I’m not looking for compassion or even solidarity, but show some concern, if only for yourself. What if there’s a homophobic serial killer on the loose? Then do something or you may be next.

The film maker says the film is about the pursuit of desire... "And I think there's the question of, "How does the idea of desire, and pursuing desire, hold up when we look at it in comparison with other, important moral questions?"

I thought it was tiresome, and I hated the ending.

Thank you for posting that speech R76. It is one of the most impressive I have ever seen in cinema.

Late to the party, but I just found this in a thrift shop and remembered the title from DL.

Liked it a lot, and will watch again. The idyll of the setting draws you in. It's as though Terrence Malick made a subtle thriller about cruising in France. (Plenty of wind in trees.)

Loved the unexpected sudden hot sex, which of course underlined why they kept coming back. That drive (ha) was emphasised by the repeated shots of cars arriving.

Loved too all the offhand conversations which suggested so much - especially between the fascinating schlub and sexy 'hero.'

Thought just a bit more might have been made of the homely voyeur who finally got lucky, and the first trick, in terms of alibis for the 'hero.' (Suspense could maybe have been increased?) The detective was indeed riveting.

Disappointed in the ending; much preferred the 'alternative' ending the DVD helpfully provided. Fascinating film however, long to haunt the memory.

Cicadas!

R80 what was the alternate ending? I didn't know there was one

I wonder if David Messerschmidt aka sous chef victim saw this before he went to meet his fate.

The wide range of comments on this thread is fascinating. I saw the movie a year ago and really liked it. Now, after reading the comments here, I want to see it again. R80, what was the alternate ending on the DVD?

I still wonder how they were able to film the murder in one continuous shot without the actor resurfacing. I kept staring at the water, but there were no clues.

And yes about that beach and the thin towels they used.

I live near Lake Geneve (Lac Leman) and no, internet has eliminated these cruising spots. I know several in France and Switzerland. One of the things Americans might not understand is the formality and discretion and privacy of the culture in this region. The towel and the car - people noticed but people are so private they wouldn't think to do anything. Well, its a stretch, its an exaggeration, but its a comment or reflection on that.

You are not instantly friends or friendly with people you might see frequently. Certainly at a cruisy spot. But everywhere. Village life is one thing but from a big town up to a city, you can have neighbours and never say hello. They don't "know" you. You don't have to look out for people in fact that would be vulgar, intrusive. You don't get into other people's business so easily as an American might.

The movie was pretty, the theme was interesting. I could see some people viewing it as old-fashioned homo hating and others as typically french existentialist and others as refreshingly astute and also about barebacking and HIV. It's all correct.

Patrick d'Assumçao gave a touching and fantastic performance.

If I were a college film professor I would definitely screen it with any number of movies and have smart college kids have a go discussing it: Rope, Cruising, Querelle (well, maybe they'd just read the play), possibly Psycho, actually any number of Hitchcock movies.

i meant to type - no, internet has NOT eliminated the lake cruisy spots.

Here's a trailer for another gay thriller.

The bad guy is HOT!

The alternative ending (is it a spoiler?)

if I remember well the director said Michel comes back for Franck. Not to kill him of course, both man walk back to the beach holding hands.

R88 I've watched Solo and it made me so mad. I felt so betrayed. lol Great movie.

R80 here. Pleased my late viewing of SBTL provoked more interest.

SPOILER ALERT

Original ending: tension was genuine, as F knew M was responsible for two fresh corpses, and he was likely to be next. The director strung out the hide-and-seek as the woods got darker, and we the audience were riveted as to the outcome.

M calls to F, coaxing him out - 'I need you', 'We're so good together' - to kill him too, we assume. F wisely, we feel, stays hidden. But then - he emerges: finally coaxed indeed, willing to take the huge risk because M is so hot. He calls out to M, but - silence. No M. F is totally alone in the dark. End.

Alternative ending: M prowls as the woods darken, saying the words F longs to hear - 'We'll spend the night together' etcetera. F is finally coaxed out, and they tensely meet, breathing heavily. The atmosphere is charged, eros and thanatos indeed - this is the risk which F plainly couldn't resist. They touch each other sensually, till M says, 'We can't stay here', and they walk away into the dark together. End.

For me, the latter was more plausible - M was unlikely just to give up on F and get away. Unfinished business, not his style. However, my DVD has a Q&A with the director, who said he stuck with his original ending (despite wavering) because for him the film was finally more about solitude than death.

Mention of Hitchcock above underlines my feeling that the procedural aspect of the film could have been accentuated just a bit more, without spoiling the effectiveness of the immersive, almost abstracted, mood.

I thought the bloodied yellow T-shirt F left at one corpse would be crucial. Even at the end, I thought - go back for your T-shirt! Shows how much I was drawn in. And, 'Stranger By The Lake' is about the most Hitchcockian title never used by Hitch.

Here's part one free online (NSFW site)

And part 2

R90, much thanks!

Regressive depiction of gay men as desperate, promiscuous, loveless homocidal predators and outlaws.

Does anyone know where I can see the alternative ending?

Netflix doesn't have it. :(

I wonder if Redbox will have it...

Looking back this film is very disturbing. The lead character is reckless and a complete idiot , yet there is an ingenuity about him that endears him to the viewer.

This was not a deleted scene in the screening I watched.

I want to slap him!

Scene at R96 is deleted in the DVD I have, and rightly. It's clunky and didactic, totally going against the offhand yet very suggestive dialogue which prevails in the film. And which adds to its unique mood.

It's enough in the version I saw that beardy won't even be blown without a condom. Boundaries stated without a bullet-point debate.

Finally watched this on Netflix. Loved it. Not a big fan of the ending but I don't know how it SHOULD have ended, though.

Any news on a sequel?

This is way old, but does anyone if there was ever more nudity in the bluray deleted scenes?

The director mentioned that he originally intended to include more erection scenes, though he didn't mention if they involved the lead characters and if so if they were filmed by the actors themselves or doubles, so I've been wondering since.

Is it still on Netflix

r99 Pretty sure everything involving erections was done by using doubles in this movie.

[quote]but were no heads attached to the visible blow jobs.

sorta curious, how does one give, or get head, without heads?

I find commentary on gay-themed films on gay blogs interesting. I used to get annoyed, thinking did we watch the same film? How did somebody not understand what was happening? How were they bored? How did they interpret this or that so negatively? Do they hate all films where they don’t “see themselves” reflected on the screen?

I think for some people, it’s easier to be dismissive of any movie that isn’t a conventional non-stop roller coaster ride of action or sex. They use the same measuring stick for The Avengers as they do Strangers By The Lake, for example. They don’t want to deal with a film that challenges you—one that doesn’t spoon feed you the story and make it abundantly clear how you are supposed to feel. I watch a lot of films but I don’t watch them all with the same narrow criteria, especially such a niche film from another country like this one. I found this film eerie and intriguing, especially since I’ve been to remote cruising spots like this. The thought of running into a killer never crossed my mind—and it should have.

Gay men are so hedonisitic that even watching someone commit murder won't stop them presenting hole to them.

Yawn. So artsy! And I am not impressed by the sex scenes since the actors weren't even the ones doing it. Ooh, cut to rando porn stars.

I’m not seeing it on Netflix, I’m wondering if they removed it.