Stranger Danger: Alain Guiraudie on Stranger by the Lake

Stranger by the Lake is a film that takes place in a single location and is populated by just a handful of characters – but from these meagre ingredients director Alain Guiraudie has crafted one of the most taut and pulse-quickening thrillers in recent years. The lake in question is a beautiful spot, hidden away from prying eyes, where gay men can go to relax in the sun or to hook up and have casual sex in the forest that cuts them off from the rest of the world. Guiraudie immerses us in this community, making a film that is both explicit, in terms of its frequent sex scenes, and implicit, in the way it explores a darker side of homosexual desire.

All of this may make Stranger by the Lake sound like an unlikely candidate for a crossover hit, but ever since it premiered at Cannes last year the film has quickly become Guiraudie's most successful feature. This has come as a particular surprise to the 49-year-old director, who saw his sixth feature as an opportunity to confront his own sexuality for the first time. “In The King of Escape, sexuality and homosexuality isn't really addressed,” Guiraudie explains, referencing his last film. “Passion, even less so – and neither is what it means to have someone get under one’s skin.”

The film’s central relationship occurs between Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) and Michael (Christophe Paou), the man Franck becomes obsessed with despite watching him murder a previous lover. The association of an erotic charge with a sense of danger seems intended as a comment on the risk inherent in cruising for sex, but Guiraudie insists that his intention is to make something more universal. “Franck is not especially attracted by danger, even if danger eroticises the relationship a bit more,” he argues. “The film is more rooted in a romantic tradition which means that, in love, we explore, we transgress, we go as far as possible with our partner without worrying about the risk we incur.”

Guiraudie depicts this in Stranger by the Lake partly through an uncompromising series of sexual encounters that leave nothing to the imagination. But these scenes don’t feel like they have been inserted for titillation or shock value. Instead, they become integral to our understanding of the story and the complex relationships within it. “Yes it’s true that those scenes take up a lot of space,” the director admits. “Let’s say that for me, sex is an integral part of love and it’s time to show the organs as well as the loving embraces. Furthermore, because we’re always so scared of sex, it’s also an element of tension in the film.”

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“In love, we explore, we transgress, we go as far as possible with our partner without worrying about the risk we incur” – Alain Guiraudie

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One cinematic predecessor that Stranger by the Lake’s blend of eroticism and tension recalls is Jean Genet’s extraordinary short Un chant d'amour, but the most common comparison that the film has drawn so far is to the work of Alfred Hitchcock. It's easy to see why, with the expertly modulated thriller narrative tightening its grip with every minute that passes, but the director demurs when asked about this influence. “I didn’t really think of Hitchcock when I was making the film, but he’s so important in cinema that it’s hard not to be a little influenced by him,” he says. “I don't have a particular connection to film noir as a genre. I do like it, but just as I like westerns or films with capes and swords in them.” Instead, Guiraudie drew inspiration from a much more eclectic range of sources. “I talked about Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives by Weerasethakul, because of its subtleties in the treatment of the twilight scenes, and about Wang Bing's The Ditch, for the sensuality and the naturalism of his daylight. Night of the Hunter was an influence, and I showed Martin Parr photos and Jeff Wall's ones too.”

The film's visual scheme is key to its potency. Cinematographer Claire Mathon uses the lake as both a glistening backdrop and a metaphor for the hidden dangers that lurk under the film’s gorgeous, placid surface. So much of the tension that Guiraudie generates comes through his expert composition, the gradual darkening of the image as night falls, and the evocative sound design. But the director was determined to let the location do much of the work. “Everything was shot in natural light,” he says, “except the night scenes with the cars, where we used little battery operated projectors. Roy Genty, the artistic director of the film, was instrumental in this process, and we approached the sound design in the same way as the visuals. We wanted to work with what nature would give us there on the spot.”

The result of this skilled craftsmanship is a film that quietly seduces us before grabbing our nerves and refusing to let go, right up to its stunning climax. Stranger by the Lake is a film that deserves to find a large audience, and although the hardcore sex it contains would normally restrict its chances of success, the reception it has received has been surprisingly mature. Indeed, the film earned the showcase of a gala screening at last year’s London Film Festival alongside Blue Is the Warmest Colour, another film that suggests we might be seeing a new wave of movies that can emerge from the LGBTQ film festival ghetto and connect with a wider audience. “Yes, I think that modern times have driven us to that,” Guiraudie agrees, “but it’s not straightforward. The film still needs to leave the confines of the simple gay story to be able to ask more universal questions around desire, love and passion.” That, in essence, is the secret of Stranger by the Lake’s provocative and lingering power.