GAYLETTER

Stranger by the Lake (L’Inconnu du lac) is a racy thriller set on the shores of a beautiful lake in France popular with men who like to cruise other men. “Each day, Franck lays his towel on the white stony beach where he gets to know Henri (whose wife has just left him) and also Michel, who Franck sees drowning Pascal, his current partner. Upset and afraid but also completely under the spell of the murderer, Franck keeps what he has seen a secret, becoming an accomplice to the man he desires.” Sounds rather sordid and Danielle Steele like, but in the hands of talented director Alain Guiraudie it’s a riveting 92 minutes. His style of filmmaking is very languid and voyeuristic — minutes into the film you start to feel as if you are sitting on a towel next to Franck enjoying the warm French sun together. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival (for more “edgy” films) where it won the award for Best Director and also the Queer Palm award. Why it wasn’t in competition in the general category is beyond me; maybe because they show a couple of hard dicks and a real cum shot. Guess a 7 minute pussy eating scene is ok with the straight male judges (Blue is the Warmest Color) but a little semen and they relegate you to the queer section. Stupide!  —tom