The French
born director and screenwriter Alain Guiraudie is best known for LGBT movies
and his latest Stranger by the Lake (2013) is no exception offering a refreshingly honest
depiction of gay sex and cruising, all wrapped up in a murder mystery. If you
enjoyed that movie then I am sure you would enjoy his previous film The
King of Escape made in 2009. Although this lighthearted offbeat comedy
is nowhere near as dark as Stranger
it's equally as entertaining.
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| Will the affair between Armand and Curly last.... |
The story
involves a rather plump 43-year-old tractor salesman who has a sexual liking
for mature married men whom he picks up in what can only be described as a
cruising lay-by situated just outside the small French town where he lives and
works. It's when Armand comes to the rescue of a sixteen-year-old girl who is
being harassed by four young thugs that his life begins to take a different
direction. Curly not only turns out to be the daughter of one of Armand's work
colleague but she also takes a strong sexual liking for our tractor salesman.
The movie then asks us to believe that this overtly gay man falls for this
rather sexy young woman! But eating some magical roots that he digs up in a
nearby forest help this partial transformation. The excitement really takes off
when Curly's father persuades the local police to get his daughter back and
Armand and the teenager go on the run. Will Armand stay with the girl or will
the temptation of randy old men draw him back to his previous life style?
 |
| ....not if her father has his way! |
Yes there is a
lot of sex and nakedness but never in an embarrassing or offensive way in fact
I enjoyed the casualness of the whole movie. The acting is first rate especially
by Ludovic Berthillot who underplays Armand Lacourtade to great effect and
Hafsia Herzi, who played Samira in House of Tolerance (2011), is great as the horny teenager Curly Durandot.
But I must give credit to all the actors involved in this production right down
to the smallest of parts who make this story very believable, funny and
enjoyable. Never receiving a general release in UK cinema’s its now available
on DVD.
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