It's June, PRIDE, and accordingly, we're uncovering Alain Guiraudie's STRANGER BY THE LAKE!
June has rolled 'round and you know what that means?! It's Pride and we get to cover some LGBTQ+ films.
This time, we're dipping into Gay Cinema with one of the best examples of the category. Number 22 in the BFI best LGBT film of all time is Alain Guiraudie's STRANGER BY THE LAKE. A masterful and nuanced take on the mystery genre, this minimalist, intimate, and insular film focuses on the shenanigans of a popular cruising area by the lake and the craziness that ensues over a collection of days.
There's plenty to enjoy here as you will tell quite quickly, we didn't even note down time codes for this one; there's almost 90% un-coverage. It would be 100% if it weren't for shots like the car pulling into the parking lot and people talking (with their clothes on).
Ryan: I'm recording. So whenever you're. Whenever you're ready, we can get this over and done with so we can enjoy the rest of our day. What are you doing?
Laura: I just want to make sure June was pride. It is.
Ryan: June is pride. Oh, my God.
Laura: Just got nervous.
Ryan: How the fuck. How the fuck would you not know this by now?
Laura: I do know.
Ryan: This country's, like, warring over. June is a month in general. And you don't remember when? Uh uh.
Laura: I don't remember anything when.
Ryan: Pride. No, that's very true. When's my birthday?
Laura: September 4.
Ryan: Jesus Christ. It is slowly starting to, like, leak out of your brain, that date.
Laura: Well, hello there. Welcome to On the BiTTE the podcast that uncovers full frontal male nudity in cinema. Uh, my name is Laura, and I am joined by my co host, Ryan.
Ryan: Wow. Hello there.
Laura: Well, well, well, well, well, well, well.
Ryan: Jesus. Uh, yeah, it gets more extravagant by the episode, really.
Laura: I'm just gonna start screaming next time.
Ryan: Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, no, I'm Ryan. I'm here.
Laura: Um, I was trying to think of how to say it in French, and I've already totally screwed it up. We are covering the 2013 mystery thriller Stranger by the lake, l'inconneux du lac.
Ryan: Nice.
Laura: I am going to do so poorly, and I practice French every day. Tout les jour, chac jour. And I'm going to just. Everyone's going to hate me. Don't hate me.
Ryan: Yeah, I'm not even going to bother.
Laura: I strive for everyone's affection.
Ryan: Trying. See, I don't even put an accent on or anything. I'm just going to say it. Monitor tone, just like this. I've omitted certain films from his filmography so that I don't need to say things in French.
Laura: I love that you've omitted a, uh, french filmmaker's films that are in French because you don't want to say the french words. But that's all of his work.
Ryan: I mean, that's embarrassing. Well, not all of them have.
Laura: Most.
Ryan: All of them have french titles. I just went with the ones that have the english titles.
Laura: Didn't feel like translating.
Ryan: Well, no, because I'm, uh. Well, no, that's your job if you want to get his entire filmography up, because his filmography is not like. It's not difficult. It's not complicated or anything, but it's, um. You know, and it's not vast, it's not big. I'm also not making myself look any better by doing this, but it's also, um. It's kind of difficult, depending on where you go, to distinguish which films are shorts and which ones are features. Because in one place, one film in particular is a short, but somewhere else, I think it's IMDb. It's not described as a short. So I was like, hmm.
Laura: Well, how long is it?
Ryan: Well, I don't know. I didn't get that far.
Laura: Um, so it looks like you are falling short on your research, mister.
Ryan: This is all I need to do research wise. I feel. I feel tired. Well, I'm also. I'm getting older, and I also, you know, I work for a living, so.
Laura: I don't know what you're even talking about right now. We are talking about a film. You're talking about not wanting to do research. This isn't a good start. This is a job and a pleasure, so let's keep it that way. This film stars Pierre della Donchon. I did it. Shut up. As Frank Frank. Christophe Powell as Michelangelo. Patrick Dasum Salmon M. Nope. As Henri. Shut up. And Jerome Chapat as Inspector Dam Rodeo directed by Alain Girardi.
Ryan: There's no way I'm gonna be able to say his name. Girardi. Girardi Garadi.
Laura: That's what it looks like.
Ryan: Alan Galadi. Yeah, that'll do. I'll say that. Also, should we point out that it's June?
Laura: That it's June, that we were really excited to get some LGBTQ films on the record, and I freaking really like this movie.
Ryan: So we tend to. Yeah, we tend to. I wouldn't say relegate. That's not the right word. But we tend to dedicate June to gay cinema for the most part because of its relation to pride and scheduling. Yes.
Laura: Just feels nice to have things make sense.
Ryan: Well, that's a schedule. It makes sense for us to look at the year ahead and then be like, what would fit in best in June? And for us, it's the gays, and.
Laura: For us, it's some hot, naked dudes on a lake, cruising.
Ryan: And if you're gonna.
Laura: Or ass.
Ryan: Yeah, if you're gonna find some dick, it's probably gonna be in some gay movies. Cause that's. That's all they focus on.
Laura: I don't even know. I mean, I know this is a. I know this is a film that has gay people in it and it's gay themes, but, you know, it's just a mystery thriller. We don't have to shove it into that category.
Ryan: It's gay cinema. Like, 110%. We're covering a predominantly gay filmmaker who makes gay films.
Laura: No, he doesn't.
Ryan: Yes, he does.
Laura: He makes all films.
Ryan: He's directed ten mostly lgbt related films since 1990. Like, he's made a ton. Because he is awesome himself. He is openly gay.
Laura: I mean, do you call other films that don't have gay things in it straight films? Why do they have to be gay films?
Ryan: Because gay cinema is in itself a category.
Laura: Should it be?
Ryan: I mean, it 100% is like, that's how you. I'm not saying that's how you discern from. Because also, straight cinema is more closely integrated into mainstream cinema.
Laura: Well, I think that's a damn shame. And I think we should just have cinema. I don't think it should be gay cinema. Uh, and others are straight cinema.
Ryan: I never said I agreed with. Oh, you want straight cinema.
Laura: No, I don't want straight cinema.
Ryan: The films of Bruce Willis. Like, I mean, what do you want? Like, what do you want?
Laura: Why is he the person you thought of?
Ryan: I don't know.
Laura: When you thought of straight, you thought.
Ryan: Of Bruce Willis, like, of the straightest man in cinema. Uh, he's also dealing with a lot of, like, stuff right now, so I'm not. I'm not making fun of him. Um, yeah, well, no, he's got. He's got dementia, isn't he? So he's not. He's not having the best of time. Um, yeah, I don't know. Like, Kevin. Kevin Hart. Like, let's say that instead, you know.
Laura: Where you get the straightest of cinema? Coming straight to you from Kevin Hart and Bruce Willis.
Ryan: You get your straight cinema. Yeah, whatever.
Laura: We're, uh, here.
Ryan: We're here. Look, we have to categorize films. I remember. I remember being on stage once for a film, and I was. I was someone, uh, tried to school me on, um, genre is not important that we don't need to categorize films, because I think, personally, genre and I think categorizing films is actually very important because it's an identification of that film. Because as much as there's a science and there's an art to filmmaking, there is also a money making prospect to, uh, it as well. So if you categorize your films as opposed to, like, making a film, that you're like, well, this is a film that's not really about anything. It's like this wishy washy fluid thing, and you're like, well, what is it then? Why would I go and see it if I don't know what it is? So that's my feeling on it. I like to categorize things and put things into little boxes so that I know what they are. So I don't get scared.
Laura: I'm just saying gay cinema is not a genre. I don't think that that would constitute a genre.
Ryan: It's a, uh, it's a movement in cinema.
Laura: That's fine.
Ryan: But I never said it was a, never said it. It's not a genre. But certainly, if you went there and you were, like, going to the cinema and there's like, I don't know, the fuck it. The marvels, right? And it's like, it's a comic book movie, that's fine. Or you go see stranger by the lake, you'd be like, yeah. I would say that's a, that's a, that's the kind of, um. That's a, that's a gay. That's a gay movie within the gay cinema movement. That's also a kind, ah. Of mystery thriller.
Laura: I don't know if I agree with you, but I'm also not, uh, uh, gonna continue on this path with you anymore.
Ryan: Primarily, the film stars two people who are gay and do gay things. It is a gay film. It is gay cinema.
Laura: The characters are gay.
Ryan: People who are gay will identify with that film.
Laura: I identify with it, too.
Ryan: Exactly.
Laura: So it's for everybody. All right, why are we categorizing this? Stop it. I don't like it anymore. We're gonna talk about the synopsis. I'm gonna throw it at you. I pulled from letterbox, and then I.
Ryan: Get to talk about the filmmaker.
Laura: You sure do.
Ryan: Yeah. Who's also gay.
Laura: That's fine. I don't know why you're trying to put everyone into these sexy little boxes. Let's just.
Ryan: It makes things easy enough for people to understand.
Laura: That's why you can't be gay about 47 times already. So I think we've got it.
Ryan: I mean, I'm mostly straight, but it's not like, it's not like I can't say the word gay. It's not derogatory.
Laura: Synopsis. At a cruising spot near a lake, Frank falls in love with mishdel, a handsome and lethally dangerous man. Even though Frank is aware of this, he chooses to follow his passion. And the tagline is, he's closer than you think.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Yep.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: You want to talk about Alain Girardie?
Ryan: Yeah. I don't want to, like, I don't want to, like, jump away from the synopsis, though, because I didn't even know what stranger by the lake was even about. And then we watched it, and I did think it was kind of like a. Like a gay hangout, like, cruising movie.
Laura: It is kind of.
Ryan: Because the mystery.
Laura: Or maybe that's just the setting.
Ryan: Yeah, because the mystery stuff doesn't really, ah, like, come into the film until the last third. Because you're just basically watching a man go to a lake that's a very prime, like, gay cruising area.
Laura: Um, even though there's not that many people there on a regular basis, there's maybe only six to ten people there at any given time.
Ryan: But that's the thing. As long as it's like a.
Laura: Then I guess maybe there's a lot more people in the woods.
Ryan: Well, I mean, as long as it's an even number and, like, someone doesn't go into. Cause there's always that one guy. We're gonna get to the filmmaker in a minute. There's always that one guy who's just standing around with his shorts down, who's, like, masturbating to, like, the other couples there. So he's like the odd one. So there will be, like, one person out there, if there's only, like, eight to ten, who will not be getting any ass or has to, like, jump into one of the couples.
Laura: I also think maybe they share cars. Cause there's maybe eight cars there, Max. And sometimes there's more people. So I don't know.
Ryan: Uh, I mean, probably there might be more people there rocking up. Let's just be on. Look, it's a place where gay men go to strip off and get a tan. Because there's only a handful of places that you can go to completely strip off naked and get a tan on all your bits and bobs. Like a full nude beach. Right. Like, landing. This is just a lake. Anyway, looks incredibly uncomfortable. And, um, it's just that it's just a known gay cruising meetup point.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Gay men to go have casual, uh, sex.
Laura: Hell yeah.
Ryan: Which is fine. Do you want me to talk about, uh. Is it Alain or Alan?
Laura: I believe it's Alan.
Ryan: It's just Alan. Little Alan. Uh, right. So we're going to talk about Alan. Ghirdee.
Laura: Girardi. I never heard him pronounce it, but that's how it looks to me.
Ryan: I can't fucking say it. Like, I just.
Laura: Huh.
Ryan: So Alan is a french film director and screenwriter. Um, like I mentioned earlier, he's directed mostly lgbt like, related films, and he himself has the benefit of also being gay, hence why I think he picks from his personal experience and puts them into his films. Um, so there's also a bunch of shorts like I described earlier. It's also, uh, without me kind of going into too much depth. Um, I think his filmography is longer. There's also a bunch of shorts that he's made, but I think his filmography is longer than it might be on Letterboxd. But, yeah, don't quote me on that, because there's also quite a lot of films that I've noted down here, and also there are some that I've omitted because they are super long french titles, and I will just brutalize them. I will tell you, go online, go look up this man's filmography. And that's probably a better idea for you, but I'll just give you a select few from what we have here. Horses, uh, never die from 1990 straight ahead until morning in 94, sunshine for the poor in 2001, that old dream that moves in 2001, um, just bear in mind that that old dream that moves was nominated for the Prix Jean Figo, uh, the Cesar award, and the European Film Award for, uh, a short film. Um, that is the film that is also noted on IMDb as not being a short.
Laura: So that's 50 minutes.
Ryan: Yeah. So technically, if it's over 40, it's a feature.
Laura: Ce vive reve que bouche.
Ryan: There you go. See, that's why I need you here, because I'm not brutalizing these names. Alan would be like, Ryan, sit down, shut up. Stop saying anything. You don't need to talk about. You don't need to try and pronounce this with your gravelly scottish accent. Um, moving on, we have the king of escape from 2009. We have now what we're talking about today. Stranger by the lake in 2013, staying vertical, 2016, nobody's hero, 2022. And I noted this one down. It's the only french one I have down here, which is misery au cour day in, uh, 2024. But as you can tell from me just saying that every little bone in my body just started to twinge and break, and my muscles are tingling because I said it that way, because I'm pretty sure it's wrong. Um, we can also say then I think Laura would probably bring this up, but stranger, uh, by the lake was, uh, you know, it was lauded, a lot of nominations, a lot of winds. Um, but it was nominated for the queer palm. And I'm pretty sure we've brought up the queer palm before, probably. Um, and I can't remember for what film it was. We've covered so many films at this point that did they give out a queer palm? This year.
Laura: I can check.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Uh, you can take this out if I'm wrong, but it looks like 3 end of the world by Emmanuel Parvueu.
Ryan: Might be the one because the queer palms quite new. And again, forgive us for our ignorance because I think we have covered the queer palm before because I think there's a film.
Laura: Yeah, that's the one that won this year. My apologies.
Ryan: So, yeah, so it did win the queer palm this year. Okay, good. Um, well, yeah, I think.
Laura: Yeah, again, Gregor Rocky won for Kaboom.
Ryan: That's why we brought it up. Yeah, that's why we brought it up because that's what. Yeah, it brought. Yeah, Kaboom. Brought that in, didn't it?
Laura: Yeah, that was the first one.
Ryan: Yeah, that was the first one. So yeah, that's. That's why. Because we did doom generation.
Laura: Oh yeah. And then Portrait of a Lady on Fire won in 2019, also a gay film, so. Well, yeah, it is the queer pom.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: The cinematographer of this film, uh, Claire Mathon, uh, shot portrait of a lady on fire.
Ryan: That movie's real good. Portrait of a lady on fire.
Laura: That's right.
Ryan: Yeah. That film's excellent. Uh, actually.
Laura: I know. Yeah, I love that film.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I really enjoyed it.
Laura: You ready? You ready for me to tell you some tales about.
Ryan: You're gonna regale some regalias?
Laura: I have some info. Just some trivia, some fun stuff before we talk about. I have a lot of stuff.
Ryan: Okay, that's fine. I mean, yeah, I don't have an awful lot to kind of say about the movie anyway. The only thing I remember was that, um, the only joke I made up and you said it was too embarrassing to even laugh at was, uh, I thought this film was a stranger with a cake.
Laura: Yes, you. I laughed. And then you wrote it down.
Ryan: I did. Because I thought this was. Yeah, I thought was funny.
Laura: Stranger by the lake. Wish it was a stranger with a cake. Yeah, that's what you said. Oh my God.
Ryan: I like cake. Like, we had a nice cake earlier this week. It was nice. It was like a kind of chocolate white sponge layered with, uh, like a caramel frosting all over it. It was nice.
Laura: So this film contains unsimulated sex scenes.
Ryan: Um, you don't say.
Laura: I do, I do. Um, there's two, I believe, that are unsimulated sex scenes. Um, but they use body doubles.
Ryan: Okay. Um, all the close ups of the.
Laura: Winguses, of the ejaculation of, um. And there's also butthole pleasures. But, uh, there's two scenes in particular where they, you know, the other ones, you can tell that the actors are doing it, but it's, it's, you know, it's choreographed in that sort of way.
Ryan: Yeah. There's probably not any erections.
Laura: No, there's no erections from the actors.
Ryan: This isn't nine songs where that could quite easily have been avoided in that movie. Um, I wish it was. Yeah, yeah, I wish it was.
Laura: Um. The director said it was something I talked about with the actors a great deal. I wanted to see just how far they were willing to go and that was just as far as they wanted to go. They didn't want to do it. So I think that's a question that the actors got a lot, especially when they were doing press for this. Um, Pierre, who plays Frank, is not gay, and I, um, don't know why I found that interesting. I just did. Um, but Pierre said that he felt, as an actor, you pretend to do things, and he said, you can't pretend to have unsimulated sex. And he said, basically be the same way if he was asked to have unsimulated sex with a female on camera. He said, it's just too intimate of an act to pretend like you're not pretending. So he goes, my work ends at pretending I'm not actually gonna have sex with somebody on camera.
Ryan: I think it's a. Personally, I think it's a big ask. To ask someone who doesn't normally have anal sex to potentially have unsimulated anal sex. I think that's a big ask. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I think it's a big ask.
Laura: It's a big ask. Well, it's also a big ask to have yourself masturbated on camera and ejaculate and have someone finger your booty hole. So, uh, I get it. I mean, you don't have to as an actor, and it's nice that they, you know, could voice their opinions.
Ryan: It's nice that they were asked.
Laura: They saw 400 to 500 different actors, uh, from both Paris and Marseille. Um, the actors that they found came from Paris and they were relatively, um, unknown at the time, but it was in the ad. You will be naked for 90% of this film. So just as long as you're okay with being nude, come on down and we'll try you out. Um, the film was shot at the lake at Sainte Croix in Provence in September of 2012. They had 30 days of shooting over a six week period, and only one of those days did it rain. So they were really, really lucky with the weather. And I think in France you have a typical shooting like a production day. It's not crazy like it is here in the States. I think it's like ten to six. That's your production schedule?
Ryan: Well, Europe.
Laura: For filming.
Ryan: Yeah, Europe has like labor laws and stuff that they put into the film industry like very, very long time ago where you can't go over a certain amount of Hour. It's the same with. The same with, like in the UK. Like there was a certain amount of scheduled breaks that crew, uh, members would need to have as opposed. Obviously in the United States, that's where you'd find like, um. Like Ridley Scott and James Cameron being some of the more notable examples. Um, where things would clash with, say, a british director, an american crew and an american director and a british crew. Um, that's where you have that tipping over, the. Flipping over of the t cart, um, story. Um, and obviously the t shirt wars from the Ridley Scott one.
Laura: Oh, boy. Yeah, well, they didn't have any issues with that. The crew was very small. They had 14 technical crew and three art directors. Um, I was curious about how cold that lake was because I've looked up having a beautiful french or italian holiday where I stay in a villa and have a pool and I go swimming and go in the ocean, but it's so much colder there. It didn't seem too cold. The lake itself is around 70 degrees fahrenheit in the summer on average.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: Which is chilly. But if it's warm enough, maybe it's not too bad.
Ryan: Yeah, I mean, there's not like. Yeah, but you have springs and stuff here. Um, in Florida. And those are cold.
Laura: Those are pretty cold.
Ryan: Those are fucking freezing.
Laura: They're not. They're about the same temperature as this lake.
Ryan: Yeah. Okay. Well, it's. Yeah, they're pretty chilly, but, um. Um. Yeah, no, I think. I think that's okay. Um. Um. Yeah, because France. France can get pretty hot.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: If that, uh, body of water is like exposed to the sun for. For extended period of time, it will get. It will get, uh, uh, I guess, comfortable.
Laura: I'm sure it's refreshing.
Ryan: Yeah, I'm sure it is.
Laura: Uh, uh, this was the first film that Alan had shot digitally. Um, he used a red epic with anamorphic lenses. Wow, that was for you.
Ryan: Um, yeah, I've shot on the red one. Ah, they're very good cameras. David, um, Fincher shoots all of his films on reds now.
Laura: And I'm sure for all of you who have watched this movie, you might have noticed that there's no music at all. There's no music. Uh, um. There's just no music.
Ryan: It's stark.
Laura: Yeah. It's all diegetic sounds and dialogue that was recorded live.
Ryan: The rumbling of the woods, which is all you hear.
Laura: Woods burn and sloppy slapping.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: I'm not trying to be crass, but I am. Like, it's a lot. I was fast forwarding through it today just to kind of, like, refresh myself. And I had my headphones in. It's always the worst when I have my headphones. I just, like, I'm not gonna do it. Sorry I did that. But it's all just, like, sloppy sounds and then beautiful nature. It's very funny. It's very funny when you fast forward through it. Um, and there was quite a bit of controversy when this came out in France. It came out right in the middle of protests for kind of gay rights and gay marriage, and Versailles banned the poster, which you've all probably seen the poster. It's an animated, like, drawing. It's painted.
Ryan: Yeah, it's just a painting.
Laura: Drawing.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: It's just two men kissing.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: And there's some naked guys.
Ryan: It's in a very expressionist style.
Laura: I love that poster. But they banned it because there's two guys kissing on it, which I've always. I don't know, it's weird, but whatever.
Ryan: Yeah, you don't need.
Laura: They got over it.
Ryan: You don't need to explain how comfortable you are with, uh, mental homosexuality. That's okay. You're fine, Laura.
Laura: You guys know, I'm so okay with it.
Ryan: Yeah. Um, yeah, well, I think there's also, like, there's also things to take into account that, you know, this is a film that has obviously a mystery element to it. It also has a. Has an openly gay man who's having, you know, gay relations with a whole bunch of other gay men who he then starts to murder.
Laura: I think that sounded confusing how you said it, but that's okay. We're gonna get into it.
Ryan: Well, I think. I think obviously, during a period where. Where people are fighting for gay rights, the last thing they want is a depiction of a gay man who's actively going out to a place where people are, hasn't open gay relations and fucking murdering them. I think it doesn't look good. It's a little Dahmeresque, I would say.
Laura: It's interesting because the actor who plays Michel kept asking the director, he goes, this is the question I asked him the most. Why did I kill that guy?
Ryan: Why?
Laura: What's my motivation. And he and. And Alan would just laugh. It's like, I'm not gonna tell you. Like, he doesn't. He doesn't tell him. He never explains it. And so I think they had to do that scene of the murder three or four times, you know, and it's getting quite dark, so it's getting really chilly.
Ryan: Right.
Laura: So. And he had to, you know, he did it a little differently every time. But they tried to have it choreographed. It's really interesting. But, yeah, he never really found out. But it didn't seem to me as though he was doing it out of hatred for others or for himself. I don't know. Maybe he said something really messed up in the water. I don't know. Yeah, it's up to your own interpretation.
Ryan: Yeah, I do.
Laura: Like, then after that, when you go on, it's self preservation.
Ryan: I mean. Yeah, when you do. Yeah. I do also think that if Alan doesn't have an answer to that question for that particular actor, it either is a toss up between being incredibly clever or being a little bit lazy. So I don't know. I also came out with the film not knowing exactly why this person did it. But then I also was like, well, he did it. So what sort of answer is going to help justify this character's actions?
Laura: Nothing. And I think the more information you have, the worse it will be because that's not what it's about. The story is not about why he murdered that guy. The story is more about this one man's desire and love and how far he will let that go. How far will his desire for Michelle take him? Because he's obsessed with this guy.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, uh, it's the strange dichotomy of, like, working within the mystery kind of crime genre because, like, in an american version of this film, there would be the big reveal of the murderer. And he'd be like, well, I did it for this. And I'd say, like, probably a good example of that. Well, any sort of murder mystery. I mean, we covered, um, we covered in the cut. Like, I would have preferred that film to not have any explanation for what had happened and stuff like that. And then when the person is revealed, you're just kind of scratching your head like, well, this is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever seen in my life. Um, so for this at least, it has the balls to be like, well, we can't justify these actions. All we have is the actions themselves. So I think I kind of appreciate that.
Laura: Yeah. I mean, Alan said the central question of the film is just how far am I willing to go to live and experience what I want and be satisfied?
Ryan: Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Cause I guess, like, the film takes place in a bubble for the most part. You never stray from the lake.
Laura: Nope.
Ryan: It just goes day to day. Frank arrives there day after day and you're just at the lake.
Laura: Um, it's ten days at the lake. And it always starts, I think, every single time. Other than one time. It. It literally starts with him pulling his car, um, into that little kind of parking lot area and then walking into the lake. He does it nine times. There's only one time where he just walks in, but that's a very straight cut, so, you know. Exactly. This is a new day. Here we go.
Ryan: Yeah, it doesn't give you much. I mean, the film is. It's a very good example of what you can get away with by being incredibly stark and not sharing, uh, with your audience exactly. Every single little beat that's going on. I think it's a very good exercise in minimalism. I would also say that the minimalism also translates to how it's shocked. Because for the most part, uh, it's a bunch of singles. There's not really a lot of dollies or, um, there's nothing kind of crazy going on with the camera. The camera effectively is. It's a, ah, set up on a set of sticks and the scenes are mostly oners and you're just kind of seeing things play out, which in many ways is the way that I appreciate films that do that because it's the sort of way that I like to do things. But there's also. There's also kind of like an idle nature to it, uh, as well, where it can be because it's not cutting as much. You're kind of very much. You're very much, um, relying on the film to hold your attention with things that are going on. And this is like a slight criticism. And it's kind of something that's popped into my head just now is that the film itself can feel a little bit slow because of the repetitive nature of it. So structurally, the way the film's been written, it can feel a little bit repetitious. And I don't know if that's a good thing. As much as the film is pretty much 90% naked dudes and sex.
Laura: Yeah, mostly naked dudes.
Ryan: Yeah. So there is.
Laura: Especially when Frank and Michelle start hooking up, it's pretty. Pretty constant.
Ryan: It's pretty relentless. Yeah. But then, like, it's kind of it's hard for me to find, like, it's trying to tip that balance, you know, because the film. The film does a really good job of that by being relatively quite stark and minimalist. And then you're kind of focusing primarily on this relationship. And then it kind of. Let's just say it kind of spirals a little bit out of control. Um, and the issue I do have is that, yeah, it's just like for 90 minutes. Because, again, it's quite respectful of your time. To me, it still feels long for 90 minutes. Like, you could take 15 minutes out of the film. Like, you could take a day out of the film, structurally, story, narratively, and I don't think you would lose a beat.
Laura: 97 minutes. The original cut was over 2 hours.
Ryan: Oh, geez.
Laura: Yeah, no, he had a lot more sex in it. Uh, and it cut a lot of it out.
Ryan: My thing is like. And I don't think. I don't think sex in film is boring. I actually think gay sex in film is very interesting. But m. Okay, the thing is, is like. Yeah, because, uh, well, if we want to kind of go heterosex or straight sex, um, in film in particular can be super fucking dull. Like, it can be super fucking uninteresting. Certainly I'm a straight person and, you know, I'm m not going to say that, but, you know, in my thirties, I've had sex. So, you know, seeing more of it and more of it as it relentlessly, like, throws itself at you. Um, yeah, it can get a little bit. Can be a little bit dull. Gay sex, on the other hand, find it very interesting. But that again, like, I still was kind of like. I was like I was okay with the amount of sex and stuff that was in this. I just. I wanted things. I wanted the story, I wanted the mystery to be driven forward just a little bit quicker.
Laura: Potentially. Um, but once he and Michelle get together, it all kind of does happen kind of fast.
Ryan: It does start to happen, yeah. But it does feel a little bit. To me, it feels a little bit uneven then at that point, you know, because I think. And I don't know. I don't know if this is something that's shared by anybody else, but, like, stranger by the lake could have worked as a. As a much shorter film, like, as a short. You just truncate everything and you take out all the bumps that you don't want because you're saying, like, okay, he has a two hour cut of this film and it's. He's got a lot more sex and I have no issue with this film being pretty much sex. Cause it pretty much is anyway. But then it's like, well, what does that do to help drive your story? Because to me, I mean, I'm like, okay, is this just. This is just a, uh. Is this just a, uh. Like, you know, is this just. This is a gay hookup? Sort of like, is that, you know, like men going to the lake, like, what is this meant to be? And then when the. When the murder happens that piques my interest, then you don't really get an awful lot of that until much, much, much later, because it's never really. It's never really confronted. It's kind of just like, well, you know, we're having sex, but I don't really want to spoil this moment by bringing up the fact that I saw you drown someone. I would quite like it if we just continued to have the sex and dream about the possibilities of our future together. And then everything kind of takes this really dark turn by the end.
Laura: Well, you know, it is you following Frank and seeing how far his desire and love for Michel is going to take him. He's obviously trying to be. He's deluding himself about the fact that this guy is a murderer. His friend Henri, who is that adorable friend of his who kind of sits alone most of the time. Cause he's not. He doesn't cruise.
Ryan: He is the loveliest man I know. Well, he doesn't cruise. But Henri had obviously, he, uh, dabbled, of course, and then, unfortunately, his demise is that he dabbles too far with the wrong man.
Laura: Well, no, I think his demise is that his friendship and his love. Uh, his friendship, love for Frank, because they had that conversation when they were on the beach. Because they talk every day. Frank and Henri and Henri's, uh. Like, you know, this guy is dangerous, right? There's something off about him. There's something weird about him. He came asking me questions and to be a friend. Henri goes and talks to Michelle and is like, listen, I basically know you murdered that guy. Just please stop it. Yeah, big mistake. Your balls got you in trouble for trying to confront a dangerous person and protect your friend.
Ryan: Yeah, so. But again, like, my criticisms are more indicative of the fact of, like, my experience in cinema in this particular genre. I think what stranger by the lake does is actually very clever, because it's. It's very unassuming, and I do like how kind of unassuming the film is, because I think in a. When it's overdramatized or it's put into such a. Like a dramatic bubble where it's almost like, kind of melodramatic at a, ah, point, let's say, like american cinema, right? Um, and not like current american cinema, like mainstream american cinema. That's all slap bang, wallop, uh, in your face. Um, the film would be very, very different. It would be very cookie cutter. It would be very, uh, yeah, very plain. So I do, like, I do respect certain things that stranger by the lake does, but, you know, certain things I think the film could do better to kind of speed things along, because, again, like, I want a story to be told, right? Like, I want a story that I'm interested in, that I feel like is leading me down a path. And then, yeah, you can flood the film full of cock and sex as much as you like, but the very spine, like, the very backbone of the film, like, the narrative has to. It has to lead you along that path, though. And I just don't know. A stranger by the lake does it strong enough for you? For me, because I'm very particular. And as people know, I fucking hate everything.
Laura: Uh, so the director said one of the things I really wanted to do was to put sex and sexual organs in the forefront of the film. I wanted to show that they are also part of desire and great love. Traditionally, we've seen great love stories in major motion pictures, but none of those sexual elements are seen. If we want to see the act of sex and sexual organs, the only place has been pornography. So my idea here was to reunite the two. The idea of tremendous passion and the great love story together with the physical side of it.
Ryan: That sounds like what Winterbottom said about nine songs, to be honest. And Winterbottom didn't do a good job with that one.
Laura: Well, see that. I mean. I mean, I think it's a decent comparison because of the unsimulated sex and. Yeah, you're right. I think he did say something like that. But obviously some people know how to do it better and to tell a story. Well, that's all it's not about. This movie's not about the wieners.
Ryan: No. Well, that's the thing. Nine songs did it poorly because that's all it was about.
Laura: Yeah, it was about sex and it was soulless. It was.
Ryan: But because the basis of any relationship is not just the physical element, it's. It's everything else, you know, as well. Um. Um, yeah, no, I do think, like, yeah, no stranger by the lake is better than nine songs. I'm not gonna say that. But personally, I did think it needed to speed up a little bit at points.
Laura: That's fine.
Ryan: Yeah, that was all. That was all I was saying.
Laura: He also said, sex freaks us all out. It's cinema's greatest omission.
Ryan: I mean, sex freaks me out every day.
Laura: God.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Like a. Like a ghoul in your closet or something.
Ryan: What's that?
Laura: Ah, no, no, it's sex.
Ryan: Oh, God. So, boner in my closet. Yeah.
Laura: Um, the. We haven't really talked about the film too much, except the murder, but there is that one guy that you mentioned earlier who just stands around kind of watching everyone get it on, and then he touches himself. And he's very funny to me because he's pretty harmless because people will get annoyed. Can you go away? And he's like, can I just. Can I not just stand here? No, get out of here. But he ends up getting some later on, so that's nice for him.
Ryan: He does. Yeah, he does. There's, like, there are some interesting characters. Like, I do. I like how it's all set up. And there's, like, that one portion where Frank hooks up with that dude first, and there's a shot of the ground.
Laura: Batman.
Ryan: Yes, Batman. And it's just like, used condoms and all sorts of stuff. Like, it's. It's like, to me, it feels. It feels genuine when I see that sort of stuff. Like, to me, personally, I think that. I think that shit's super fucking interesting. And there was a. There was a, like a, ah. Uh, back home, we called it dogging. You would take your dog to a walk. And there was a car park down by the scottish parliament, um, at the base of Arthur's seat, um, where people would go to watch folk, uh, bang. Um, so that sort of thing. Yeah. So stranger, by late, reminded me that sort of stuff. And that's still a story that I would love to tell. If I ever made a story in Edinburgh again at any point about the dogging that happened at, uh, the base of Arthur's sea. Like, you would see people there and, like, folk were masturbating and stuff. Like, I'm taking my dog for a walk. But no, they'd go to see people, like, having sex in cars and stuff.
Laura: It's a great title for it, too, actually.
Ryan: Dogging.
Laura: You need to write it down.
Ryan: I saw a documentary on BBC one, I think it was, like, a few years ago, a while ago, about folk who did dogging. Um, and as you might expect, none of them are attractive. Well, none of them at all.
Laura: Everyone deserves pleasure, I can say.
Ryan: This, honestly, they were freaks. Um. Oh, my gosh, yes.
Laura: Don't kink shame these guys, or whoever they are, for wanting to jerk off in public.
Ryan: I think if anyone ever saw the documentary, you'd be like, yeah, no, best to keep that under.
Laura: I would watch it.
Ryan: Yeah, that's fine. I mean, when you look at someone and it's on the tv, you can. It's like you can see a smell coming from them.
Laura: It's always funny, um, like that a friend of ours who always ends up seeing people in the street or around town that are just jerking off, like in broad daylight or at night, but, like, in the streets. And I've never seen that before, but a friend of ours always sees it and he draws pictures of them.
Ryan: Oh, I know.
Laura: You know?
Ryan: Yeah, I know what you're talking about. Yeah.
Laura: Uh, and I think it's really great.
Ryan: You're kind of weirdly like, like, innocent, but you're also completely unaware of, like, your surroundings at points.
Laura: I did one time see a guy really early in the morning peeing outside.
Ryan: That's nothing.
Laura: That's. Yeah, I know, I know. I want to see more weird stuff.
Ryan: You just like, look at him. You're like, he's committing a crime.
Laura: No, I'm like, oh, look at him peeing. Saw the guy's wiener this morning. I remember I told everyone about it that day.
Ryan: I remember. I used to. I used to, back home when I was. I was still at college, uh, which is the UK college, not, obviously american college. Here's, I don't know, like community college, you would probably call it here. It's the. It's the place you go before you go to university, basically because you were.
Laura: Same thing here.
Ryan: You were underqualified to go the first time. Same. But, uh, yeah, well, no, I tried to go into art school. They kept on saying they didn't want me, so fuck them.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Um, because I fucking did it. And I fucking helped your students over there who were fucking garbage. Um, anyway, not to talk about the Edinburgh College of Art. Anyway, let's carry on. But, you know, I remember once I finished, I was working a job. Used to work late weekends all the time. And my bus was always late. So I lived in Livingston and I was in sight Hill. And if anyone's aware of Sight Hill, it is a fucking hellhole. You do not want to be hanging out there late at night. And I'd be at the bus stop waiting for my bus. Usually a 40 minutes wait was crazy. And I, uh, remember a bunch of folk came out from behind, like, where the bookies were. Um, because that area was really dark. It was like a kind of market. Used to be shops and stuff there. And I saw a dude get a blowjob, and there was a group of, like, eight of them.
Laura: They were, they were just watching?
Ryan: Well, no, they were like, they were.
Laura: All giving each other blowjobs.
Ryan: Well, they were probably drinking and they were probably high, and they were smoking. And one of the dudes, tall lad, ah, some lassie, just, like, pulled his trousers down and started sucking them off. And I just kind of hid at the bus stop, which was actually incredibly well lit.
Laura: I'm sure that was totally normal.
Ryan: Yeah, well, I didn't want to watch, obviously. But then it's like, there's that perverse curiosity where it's kind of like, well, I don't know about anybody, but I like seeing things that are, like, fucked.
Laura: Up because, I mean, I just, I want to see more weirdos, so.
Ryan: Yeah, I know, but you, you have to put yourself in situations where you're going to be.
Laura: No.
Ryan: Uh, no. You're gonna be exposed to weirdos.
Laura: No, I'm not gonna do that.
Ryan: Well, there you go. See someone who's in their twenties or, like, their late teens. Like, that's something that happens. I mean, Christ, I saw fucked up things when I was a young teenager as well. Like, I mean, that's just something that happens. In Scotland.
Laura: Director did this ties into kind of what we were talking about, because this is, it's not based on a real story, but the characters, at least the two main characters, are based on people that the director knew. And this lake, although it is not the cruising lake that he knew of. Um, that lake, you know, there is a cruising lake in France that he is basing this off of. So a lot of these things and the people, you know, the characters that are walking around the woods, those all came from people that he's met around the lake.
Ryan: Cool.
Laura: So a lot of this comes from things that he's definitely seen before. Um, but what's interesting is that, uh, Alan originally thought that Frank would be around 35 and Michel would be older, like 50, 52, and Henri would be in his sixties. But then when he met the actors, he kind of changed things around. He goes, I never thought that I would have Michel looking like Magnum PI or have Frank looking like some California surfer guy. But it just ended up working that way, and the chemistry was there.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So he made everybody younger.
Ryan: Yeah. No, I mean, you could tell that Michel was probably gay with that giant mustache. I mean, to be fair, I mean, our introduction to him, he's eating out someone's ass. So, I mean, that's also probably another big tale that he's gay.
Laura: Well, I don't, I don't even know why you're bringing that up. They're all gay in the film. All the characters are gay. They're at a beat.
Ryan: It was more like, it was, there.
Laura: Was the guy that was earlier in the film that was really funny when Frank is looking around because he caught sight of Michel before he went into the woods. And he was looking for him because he had his eye on him because he's pretty. And as Frank's looking for him in the woods, this guy comes up, he goes, where's all the sexy girls? He goes, I'm sorry. He goes, all the sexy chicks, where are they at? And he goes, I think you're in the wrong place. He goes, no, sometimes they're here. Just walks away.
Ryan: I'm like, oh, that was weird. There's a kind of, like, there's a weird, the minute they go into the woods, there's this weird kind of lynchian tone where you're just kind, it's like, it's like there's been, like a bomb's gone off or something and people are just, like, wandering around. Except instead of holding onto their bloody wounds, they're, like, holding onto their dicks. And they're just looking for, like, someone to accompany them.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: And that's all you can see. And all you can hear is just the, the trees swaying in the wind and stuff.
Laura: I love it.
Ryan: And the light slapping and kissing of, um, grown men, like, groping each other. It's such a weird, like, it's such a strange but very kind of, um, welcome. Like, series of, ah. Like, the tone of that, I think, is incredibly interesting.
Laura: It is, because it's so quiet and peaceful and it's just birds in the trees. And then you'll just kind of see a guy really far back and you'll just see, like, a fleshy color because everything's so green. And then you'll see a fleshy color down over here. And then a guy wanders by and, uh, you know, I don't know if that would work too well in Florida because there's just a lot of bugs.
Ryan: Too many bugs. That's super hot. And.
Laura: Yeah, probably do like a winter cruise.
Ryan: Well, guess you get a spider in your fucking anus. Like, it's not good. Lays eggs in your fucking head.
Laura: Oh, my God.
Ryan: Fuck that shit.
Laura: I mean, you're probably more worried about. Yeah. Mosquitoes and bugs and.
Ryan: Oh, you'd be bitten up to fuck. Yeah. You'd be fucking bitten up and things. Yeah. Oh, yeah, the snakes. There's stuff that can kill you here. I'm sure there's stuff that can kill you. In France, admittedly, at this film, uh, there's a man with a mustache going around murdering people. But here in Florida, it's more nature.
Laura: Yeah, I don't know. That guy's pretty good looking.
Ryan: All right, calm, um, down.
Laura: You know, like, if I were Frank, and I'd, um. Really. And that guy, you know, was going around murdering, I mean, well, here's, here's.
Ryan: The thing as well, though.
Laura: How far would I go for it?
Ryan: But the thing is, is like, yeah, I guess, like, Frank. I mean, initially, like, Frank's like, oh, right, okay. Cause he doesn't know that he's interested in, uh, Michelle from the off. But, like, this is a great, this is a gay cruising area. Like, they are, they, like, he wants to get himself, like, a prime specimen to have sex with. And Michelle is that specimen. It's only after he starts, you know, getting to know who he is and things that he's kind of wanting it to go further, even though Michelle's very much like, well, no, that's not going to, that's not going to happen.
Laura: Yeah. Very uninterested and taking this out of the beach.
Ryan: I mean, I also, I would also be kind of weirded out if I was that, uh, if I was Michelle as well. And I'm like, I'm like, look, dude, like, I'm here. I'm here to get my peace. You know what I mean? Like, that's why I come here. That's why we all come here.
Laura: You never know.
Ryan: Stop trying to overcomplicate it with your feelings. It's like, I was like, yeah. Cause, like, I mean, not to say that, like, straight people can't be promiscuous, but gay people are known for being more promiscuous.
Laura: Yes. Um, for a long time, people have been discriminated against, and, yes, they had to hide their actions and what they were doing, calling, uh, in general, people that are gay more promiscuous than straight people disagree. Um, people are people. Whether or not some people are promiscuous and some people aren't. And some people, like, frankly, are maybe looking to get out of that casual sex game and cruising, and he found someone that he really likes in Michel. But Michelle is not ready to get out of that sexy game.
Ryan: You know, I just don't know if that's the place where you find that partner.
Laura: But then but that's the easiest place to find someone like you and not have any judgment. Because if you're just out and about, you know, you don't wanna. Where do you meet people? At least you're meeting people that have similar interest to you.
Ryan: Well, the thing, this is 2013. You meet them out in the real world. Like, no one has to hide in secrecy with their homosexuality anymore. You go to the bar, you meet them at work.
Laura: I'm sure it's still a little bit more difficult than that.
Ryan: But I mean, there's also Grindr, there's hinge, there's Tinder. They give you options that you go into, and it's like, oh, uh, what am I looking for?
Laura: When did Grindr start?
Ryan: A while ago. But certainly you can go on a tinder, and you can definitely go, I'm looking I'm, um, a man looking for a man. And then that's I mean, it's very easy. But what I meant was that, like, the reason the reason that cruising and starting Christ, you can look at William Friedkin's movie. I mean, that's very much that. Like like, it was very much an underground thing that was frowned upon. And people who were living with homosexual feelings. That they buried deep inside themselves and continued to live very straight, heterosexual lives. Would go to places like this so that they could feel complete, you know.
Laura: So you can be yourself.
Ryan: Yeah, of course.
Laura: Yeah, of course. People want to go places where they can be themselves.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: So this is one of them.
Ryan: Yeah. So, again, we're, you know, the 21st century now. Um, you know, so they don't have to worry so much about that. But I do question personally if you go to, like, a cruising place. Like, I feel like Frank is expecting more than what I think he would ever get.
Laura: Sure.
Ryan: To be honest.
Laura: Yeah. But we're harping on this point. The fact is, is that Frank developed feelings for Michel because they were sleeping together. Or, you know, having sex every day for several days. And so he's thinking, oh, maybe, you know, maybe we can transition this.
Ryan: He only developed he only wanted to.
Laura: Give it a shot. Wanted to go get a drink.
Ryan: Hold on, hold on, hold on. He only developed feelings for Michelle after he witnessed him murder someone.
Laura: Why are the hearts for him before? I'm not saying it's a perfect love story or anything. I'm just saying, uh, that you can't stop. The heart wants what the heart wants. All right.
Ryan: Got himself a murder boner. Anyway.
Laura: Well, there were two endings to this film. Can you believe it?
Ryan: I mean, the way the film ends, at least the version we saw, it just ends pretty much with, uh. Well, no, hold on. It doesn't just end because it does end on a note. Um, because when everything goes fucking Pete tong, I don't think we need to go over that because we've not even gave time codes or anything for that. Because, like, literally from the minute the film starts, it's just dicks.
Laura: Yeah, I think we covered that pretty well.
Ryan: Yes.
Laura: There's no. We cannot break down any particular scene because it would be. It's like short bus.
Ryan: It's insane.
Laura: A lot more than short bus because it is consistent. Because you are at a nude beach.
Ryan: Percentage wise. It's higher.
Laura: Yeah, it's probably 90%.
Ryan: That last third. Um, like, everything's gone crazy, and I don't need to go beat for beat. Like, exactly what happens. Everything gets really fucked up and mental. But basically Michelle and Frank get separated. But, uh, Frank has witnessed all the murders, right? And Michelle's just wandering around and he's just, like, calling on Frank. And Frank's just in the woods and it's getting dark.
Laura: It's so scary. It's genuinely horrifying. And it's funny because when we watched it again, because this is my second time watching it, I thought about. I thought about Michel wandering in the woods because he just murdered, um, Frank's best friend at the beach and a detective.
Ryan: A fucking cop.
Laura: Okay. Boom, boom. Did this thing. He's wandering around and I'm like, if I were Frank, or, uh. I'm sorry. If I were Michelle, I'd be like, I can't leave. Like, I want to go home, but I can't go home until I either find out if I have to kill Frank or if we can just leave together.
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: Cause he's, you know, like, can we go home? Can we just, like, go? Or do I have to murder you or what's going on? Cause he can't leave. You have a witness?
Ryan: Yeah.
Laura: You have a straight up witness. You weren't sure before, but now you're definitely sure because he was with Henri, holding his sliced throat when they saw each other. And Frank runs away. So I was just thinking about how frustrated I would be if I couldn't go home. If I was so tired after all that murder. Uh, I would want to go to sleep after being in the sun all day. But it's interesting because, yes, there was another ending. So the ending in the. In the film, it's just anywhere is after Michelle is calling for Frank. Calling for Frank. Even saying things like, well, yeah, let's. Let's sleep over together. Yeah. Let's definitely, uh, do some stuff. After, uh, you know, all the things that Frank had wanted, he's calling out to him, which is very scary.
Ryan: It's like the sort of. Yeah, it's like a Craigslist date. This is like kind of how those things end.
Laura: Yeah. So in, you know, but then in the end, you have Frank calling out for Michelle after he doesn't hear him for a while. So Frank's calling out for Michelle, and then he's just quiet for a really long time. And then the movie's over. So you, you know, it's totally up to the audience to decide what happens. Does he get murdered? Does he not? I mean, do they just go home? Does he call the cops? Like, it could literally be anything. You have no idea.
Ryan: Well, he's not. He's not got. I don't know if he has a mobile phone or anything. Like, I don't even know. I mean, the thing is, is like he. When we leave him, he is presently, he is in a, like a, uh, holy shit sort of moment.
Laura: It's also so incredibly dark. Every time they would go to the parking lot and they would get into the cars and it was dark. It's dark.
Ryan: Yeah, there's no light.
Laura: It is super dark.
Ryan: Well, they're shooting on HM, that red epic. So they probably didn't need to use any lights because those cameras are very good in low light situations.
Laura: Well, there you go.
Ryan: So you just deal with that.
Laura: Uh, so the other ending, actually, is Frank calls out for Michel and they get close together, and then they walk out of the woods and drive off together.
Ryan: Don't like that ending.
Laura: Well, no, that's why they didn't use it.
Ryan: Yeah, I guess that's right. Yeah. It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense at all.
Laura: Yeah, it's on the blu ray, so.
Ryan: Okay, well, uh, when you pick up that blu ray, we can maybe watch that. But that's. That is a. That is a weird ending. It's a weird ass movie, but that ending. Yeah, that ending's. I'm glad it's not there.
Laura: Desire takes them all the way home.
Ryan: Yeah. Um, at that point, I'm like, frank, you're a fucking idiot.
Laura: Well, no, he is. Obviously. He is.
Ryan: You're a clone.
Laura: He is. But I don't know. They make a great looking couple. So uh, Alan had a film at Cannes this year called Misericordia, which, as I mentioned earlier, you mentioned earlier, uh, Janice films and Sideshow picked it up for the north american release. So I'm really looking forward to seeing that when it comes out. Um, and, yeah, you already mentioned that it won the queer palm, but, um.
Ryan: I don't think it won the queer palm. I think it was nominated for it.
Laura: Um, I believe it won.
Ryan: I'm sorry.
Laura: Look, I do my research.
Ryan: The Internet is trash.
Laura: I did my research.
Ryan: Great. Trash.
Laura: Um, and Allen also won best directory in the une surtain Lagarde section of Cannes.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: And it was nominated for eight Cesar awards that year.
Ryan: Yep.
Laura: Um, and in 2016, it placed. The film placed number 22 on BFI's best LGBTQ films of all time.
Ryan: Oh, good. So what's BFI's best?
Laura: The number one film, uh, on that poll was Carol Todd Haynes.
Ryan: Hmm.
Laura: Yeah.
Ryan: Okay.
Laura: So, for me, uh, if we get to the ratings here, um, in terms of visibility and context, if you don't put it at a five, I think if we had something higher than a five, I would put it there. But, um, yeah, you set a film at a cruising beach with men having sex and doing sexy things to each other and getting a suntan. And also, the director says that he wanted to put genitals at the forefront of the film. Then. Ten out of ten. Five out of five. Congratulations. You've achieved your goal. And making, uh, genitals and desire the star of the film? Hell, yeah.
Ryan: So I'd probably give the visibility in context. A four.
Laura: You're gonna have to explain yourself, unless you're just trying to be funny.
Ryan: I was trying to be funny. I just give it five. Yeah. Yeah. Cause, um. Yeah, I'm not going to explain anything. I don't think I've done a very good job of explaining much.
Laura: Oh, we've just spent the last hour.
Ryan: Just chatting, pretty much, yeah.
Laura: I'm not very clever for the film. I gave it a four. I think that it's a very pretty film. I always really like films, especially french films. It's, uh, Eric Roemer summer for me. Um, which. This isn't really like that at all, but it is french. I love things set by water. I love pretty things. I love a mystery murder. That's not a mystery. Just kidding. That's just a murder, and it's not very long, and you're not wrong. You kind of went off a little bit about the things you didn't like about it, Ryan. But I don't totally disagree that there is a part, weirdly, after the murder, um, and before the end of the film, where it shouldn't feel slow, but there is a part where you're like, all right, all right. What's going on? And then it kicks off, and then you're. And you're good to go. But there is a. I don't know, maybe that extra seven minutes was a bit too much, but it's fine. I don't begrudge it for that. I think it's really. It's still really interesting. It's really fun, and it's a little scary. I don't think I would call it sexy. Um, but, you know, these guys are nice looking, and, um, they are enjoying themselves. But I enjoyed myself watching this film, and I gave it a four. Yep.
Ryan: Yeah. I mean, for everything that I've kind of pointed out, uh, like, it's 97 minutes, which is nice. It could have been 70.
Laura: Oh, gosh.
Ryan: Or, like.
Laura: Yeah, like, I don't even think. I don't think that.
Ryan: I definitely do think, and I'm glad that you agree with me, that there is a portion of it that does feel a little bit slow. And I do feel like that slowness kind of. It kind of kills a little bit of the motivation for it. For me, it feels imbalanced when that stuff starts to get a little bit slow when it shouldn't, technically. Um, so you gave it a four, but I gave it a three and a half, which I think is fine. But I do think that slow period probably affects it more than, uh, it maybe affects your viewing of it. Um, but, yeah, gave it a three and a half because it's still interesting and certainly, like, it was a three by the time that started happening. I'm like, oh, my God, this is getting real sleepy. And then when that shit starts kicking off at the end, I was like, all right, it can get an extra half star because that's fucking crazy.
Laura: It was crazy.
Ryan: Uh, I think three and a half, for me, is probably the most I'll ever give. Stranger by the lake as much as, like, I think there's a lot of stuff to appreciate. I think it just kind of. Yeah. Spoils itself by being. Would you say it's a little indulgent by that point, and you kind of feel like you've had enough of it by then?
Laura: Nope.
Ryan: Yeah, I think it. Yeah, maybe you just feel like it gets lost a little bit in there and there's, you know, the. When their relationship starts to blossom, I think maybe that's when it's, it starts to stop being as interesting as it was before, um, where it was quite observational. And it's more about, like, the relationship. And I was like, I just want more. Like, I want a little bit more to do. Like, hold on. This murder that just happened, I got.
Laura: Almost as excited as Frank did every time Michelle showed up at the beach, because you didn't know if he was going to be there or not. And I was always really happy. There is that shot of Michel swimming back to shore, and it's just the camera, as you're saying. Like, it doesn't move too much. There's no fancy work on the camera.
Ryan: Yeah, it's usually a static camera.
Laura: So it's just holding on him. And he walks right up to the camera, and it probably says, like, oh, bonjour. And it's incredible. He looks like some sort of mythical greek man chiseled out of stone. Like, it's such a weird.
Ryan: I mean, that it looks beautiful. It's straight out of James Bond.
Laura: Yeah, yeah. But it's almost just like this mythic guy, like some sort of siren coming out of the water or something.
Ryan: Yeah, he's very. Yeah, he's. I mean, a lot. Yeah, I mean, a lot of the. At least the main, like, the main, uh, men that we focus on in this film are relatively, uh, quite good looking for the most part.
Laura: I would watch this movie again. I wasn't sure how it'd feel on a second viewing, and I still really liked it. My rating didn't change from the first time, but I would like to watch this with more people. I think it would be really fun, you know? So I'm gonna set something up.
Ryan: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, it's gonna take me a while to want to get the motivation to watch it again, like, anytime soon, but, yeah, I do think, I do think it probably deserves another viewing, but maybe another couple of years or something like that.
Laura: That's fine. Well, thank you so much, Ryan, for watching stranger by the lake.
Ryan: Yes. I'm glad I was able to come here and provide you a whole m bunch of garbled nonsense for an hour and 15 minutes.
Laura: Um, merci. Uh, a bientot.
Ryan: I don't have any idea what you’re saying.
Laura: Coming to you from a catfish ridden cruising beach. I have been Laura.
Ryan: And I've been gay.
Laura: Je m'appelle Laura.
Ryan: Um. What? Okay.
Laura: Au revoir.