User Reviews

Interesting ..Porn or not... Well shot.... Characters.. all depressed gay men ? why would someone put themselves in harms way ...for Sex... Love .. It took some risks bringing hardcore sex to a film which was a shock ..There's Reality in this film ..which was spot **** certainly keeps you thinking and holds you in, even I thought of turning it off..What really bugged me was the Detective looking for a murderer in the dark no less.. alone and no ****.... but I admit it left a impact.

One person finding themselves in love with a murderer is as old as moviemaking itself, but with Stranger by the Lake, Guiraudie finds a new and captivating way to present that tale. By the end of the first half, I found myself wanting more. Unfortunately, the second half taught me to be careful what I wish for.

Dear Alain Guiraudie, you should be ashamed of yourself, your movie Stranger by the lake, is the most idiotic, uninteresting, full of clichés movie I have ever seen. I refuse to see some sort of geniality in the fact that not even a murder has succeeded in injecting some excitement in the pathetically boring life of the main character who spends his days cruising in the woods by a lake. Did you not learn anything from Hitchcock (Rope, 1948), or from Joseph L. Mankiewicz (Suddenly Last Summer, 1959) or Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, 2005), or Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (I love you Phillip Morris, 2009)? Did they not teach you how to strip of commonplaces a story which involves relationships between men? You really thought that a murder would do that? I want my money back, £15!!!

This film shows sensitive insight and great artistic expression as the characters develop and the plot unfolds. The writer and director really understand many aspects of gay life as the three main characters, Frank, Michel and Henri search for more than sex - they want understanding, love and commitment. But, the sexual drive wins out because of their deep seated loneliness and the difficulties and complexities of relationships. Frank is obsessed and infatuated with the rugged and cool Michel and overlooks the serious warnings for his own safety. Powerful, gripping film, extraordinary in it's tenderness and insight.

Sexually explicit but narratively implicit, STRANGER BY THE LAKE is far too metaphorical for it's own good. Restrained direction brings to mind a Patricia Highsmith novel but unfortunately, STRANGER is too direct in its use of sex as a metaphor for the thrill of danger and death. Superb performances and wonderful cinematography all serve the director beautifully and there are a amazing set pieces but it ultimately STRANGER becomes simply cold and lifeless.

It's a good movie with some intriguing thriller elements to it, but I'm getting tired of these films that don't have an ending. Sure, there are two or three ways the thing could go at the final frame, but you've got to pick one, writer & director! It undercuts a quality film. Not choosing is half-assed.

It's hard not to admire when they make a movie so formally perfect. Inspecting the darker aspects of being gay, harmoniously tangling desire, lust, danger and death while building on Aristotelian's unity of space and time, the director has crafted a composition nothing short of majestic. Yet, the film remains remote and distant and overly intellectual with obscuring symbolic aesthetics (which gets even more confusing as the film progresses), failing to provide any fresh perspective for personal interpretation. This inevitably will result in some silly readings of the film .

Am in two minds about this film. I didn’t like it. The story of a serial killer at work in a small gay cruising community. Seemed almost anti-gay. On the other hand, though, no question but that it was powerful. Almost theatrical, with a limited number of repeated sets. It's like a series of repeated scenes, with each scene moving the story on. You can admire the film-making craft, But there were puzzling elements, annoying details too. In the end I decided to read the film as an AIDS allegory …. but maybe that was from a desire to make sense of what would otherwise be a nasty & pointless thriller.

Here we have a film that is constantly intriguing as it unfolds. A careful build up observes the characters in minute detail and predictability is kept at bay. I thought I knew exactly where events were heading only to have the rug pulled from under me towards the end. Unfortunately, it is with the ending that I take issue. The story becomes more unbelievable as it progresses, silly even, and the last scenes are very unsatisfactory. Finally, I was left questioning exactly what had transpired. The look of the film is gorgeous with the lake itself providing a great backdrop to the action (so to speak). However, the unwary should be informed that there are scenes of male nudity and explicit sex.