Really Surprised!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Set in a cruising spot for gay men by a lake in France, Frank falls for the attractive but dangerous Michel, while befriends the lonely and sympathetic Henri. If you are fond of richly photographed lakes, you will find something in Alain Guiraudie's otherwise flat thriller, but then I'd rather recommend the works of James Benning. Though his entertaining talent and understanding of the Chabrolian aspect of fatal attraction are evident at times, his characters are rather one-sided, or even unnecessary. Facing depression apparently, the most interesting of them was Henri for me, but sadly enough Guiraudie's camera never stays with him too long. Despite all this, I was somewhat impressed with the ambitions of the ending.

This movie made me very nervous - a lot of male sex and nudity out in the open, on the beach, and with no protection. No sunscreen. At all. Shocking! (haven't the French ever heard of skin cancer?)While it sometimes verges into Serious Movie territory, breaking sexual taboos in a very realistic and honest way, too much of the film is just silly and arbitrary. The randomness of actions among the characters seemed guided more by the writer's keyboard than by actual human behavior. Which is a shame because so many of the film's elements: acting, direction, music, editing et al. are is so first-rate, and many of the scenes on their own feel so emotionally authentic.But in a world where anything can happen for no apparent reason, nothing carries any import. And then one's mind is free to contemplate the clumsiness of the film's obvious symbolism and how uncomfortable it must have been for the actors to have to sit on that rocky lakeshore bare-assed.And eventually, it all just spirals out of control. Which made me feel sad, but for all the wrong reasons.

Rarely does a film show such brilliance in writing and directing as this. Alain Guiraudie does both. This thriller and drama is right out of the pages of Alfred Hitchcock . Plus he leaves it to the viewer to decide the fate of two central characters. And, the question of "Why" for a third. His control of his audience is masterful. As soon as you think you know the outcome, he pulls you away in another direction, only to end with the task of figuring out what really happened. But don't fear frustration. You are not left hanging for long. There is only one logical ending, and eventually he will let you figure it out. Brilliant!

At one point, after two men have had sex, they shake hands, as in, nice meeting you. If you're gay, like me, the absurdity of the situation may be familiar. This story of lust and death portrays gay men cruising and having sex with a clinical detachment that doesn't flinch. Clearly, many straight people will be appalled. But if you're gay, that probably won't bother you, but you will be appalled by the irresponsibility of the main character, Franck. He puts himself at risk every time he has condom-less sex. When he pursues and has sex with a man he has seen kill someone, it's no longer mere irresponsibility. That you're not sure what Franck's motives are keeps you from dismissing him outright as a Grade A idiot, but that remains a possibility up to the bitter end.I understand why this is seen by many as a metaphor for human alienation in general. From a gay perspective, however, it's not a metaphor, it's a slice of life. So I'm not sure if us gay folk have been used or been celebrated here. Made fun of or commiserated with. Maybe a little of each. The fact that it's not obvious is probably what tilts this film in the direction of Art.Granted, this movie didn't just hold my interest, it was gripping. However, as much as I admired the storytelling technique, it was tempered by a suspicion that the auteur's seemingly detached depiction of a part of our lives was in fact a moral judgment.