Director: Alain Guiraudie
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 2.0
In a (relatively) secluded cruising spot for gay men, Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) befriends pudgy loner Henri (Patrick D'Assumçao) but is really infatuated with Tom Selleck-ish Michel (Christophe Paou) - things get romantic for them for a bit but soon there's a mysterious drowning in the lake and a police inspector (Jérôme Chappatte) shows up to ask a lot of questions. The pacing by Guiraudie is inspired by Bresson - nothing hurried, shots are repeated to full effect - and perfectly replicates the leisurely nature of the locale (and its inhabitants) but the inherent shallowness of not only the characters but the scenario prevents the dramatic aspects from having much of an emotional effect - the psychology of the Michel character is strongly in question, and one is left wondering whether or not his self-loathing (uh-oh, murderous gays again) is what causes his violent outbursts. Hitchcock's name comes up a lot when talking about this, but Hitch would have been sure to develop the characters a lot more ... and kept out the cum shots.
