So what is "Stranger by the Lake" talking about behind those erotic elements? In fact, a lengthy dialogue not long after the film starts has already touched the point. In the first dialogue between the male protagonists Frank and Henry, which is also the first dialogue in the film, the two are talking about catfish. Henry said there was a five-meter-long catfish, Frank didn't believe it because no one had seen it; Henry said someone had seen a four-meter-long catfish, so it was possible that five meters long, Frank said it must be a joke or he Should have met long ago, Henry said maybe it was just because Frank didn't meet the right place at the right time. At a same-sex nude lake, two men are discussing the issue of length, which may have been a dialogue to attract the attention of the audience. But if you know what will happen next, and then look back at this dialogue, you will find that it is not actually a catfish at all, but a legendary thing that Frank also never saw. , an equally terrifying and deadly thing.
Looking in a small direction, catfish can be AIDS. The lakeside and the woods in the film constitute a closed space isolated from the world, where gay men chat with each other in the forest with their eyes, just like the bystander Detective Dan Rod said, the circle is small, and the way of falling in love is very ridiculous. The male protagonist Frank is obviously a person who does not pay attention to safety. He easily believes what other people say and is willing to have oral sex without a condom. He also chooses bareback sex driven by desire. And it's all in line with his behavior of getting caught up in his feelings for Michelle like a moth to a flame. Therefore, when Remière's body was found, the comrades were all afraid to guess whether it was the catfish, and the tranquility of the lake was destroyed. "Who would want to swim in the lake where the body was soaked?" However, To the surprise of Detective Dan Rod, the comrades still came back here and continued to shoot casually, as if nothing had happened, and there was no collective consciousness and no sense of security. All of this is clearly insinuating the desire-driven unsafe sex of the gay community.
So looking in the big direction, catfish can also be desire. Frank is indeed in love with the bearded man Michelle, but the mysterious danger of the other party has a fatal attraction to Frank. But in another seemingly lengthy and boring dialogue between Frank and Henry, it seems to make people doubt the nature of their love. Henry said he started asking himself if it was only by fucking him that he could fall asleep with someone else. The implication is whether people can finally get rid of loneliness in society through sex. Of course, this will make Frank's heart also question, how much of his admiration for Michelle is sexual desire, how much is loneliness, and how much is love. Also for Henry, he doesn't want to sleep with Frank, but he obviously likes Frank, what is this love. At the end of the film, Frank calls out Michelle's name alone in the dark, and his trembling voice is mixed with fear and expectation, but the film ends abruptly here. This seems to be the general emotional state of the gay community, and even the psychological state of each individual when confronted with desire. Fear but expect. Desire is dangerous, and love is even more thorny, but people will always satisfy their desires and feed their emotions like moths to a fire, but why do we fall in love with someone? What is behind this kind of affection and admiration? Such desires are driving, whether they don't want to be alone by the lake and don't want to sleep alone, or those dirty and raw fast-food sexual desires hidden in the bushes.
"Stranger by the Lake" tells this story about desire in the most minimalist and direct form. Some say it resembles a minimalist version of Hitchcock, while others say it resembles a film noir version of Rohmer. This form is not only suitable for the film The theme also provides the audience with more space for interpretation and thinking. In the end, I just hope that everyone will treat this film with a normal heart. Don't watch it for the sake of masturbation, and don't stop watching it because it's a gay movie. Just pass by but don't miss it.
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