Shudder Saturday: Bloody Oranges (2021)

While people may check this out because it is labelled, in some places anyway, as a comedy horror, I'd warn people against using that as an indicator of what they may be in for. Personally, there's nothing here that feels like real horror, not when thinking of most of the genre standards anyway, and the comedy is about as twisted and black as you can get. Bloody Oranges is best considered a dark comedy that is SO dark that you can't always see the humour. I'm not sure whether I will ever watch it again, and it took a while for everything to click into place on this viewing, but I am sure that I'm now intrigued by the (currently quite small) filmography of director Jean-Christophe Meurisse, who also co-wrote the thing with Yohann Gloaguen and Amélie Philippe.

The main players here are an elderly couple (played by Olivier Saladin and Lorella Cravotta) who are hoping to win enough money in a dance competition to help them clear the debt they have accrued, a lawyer (Alexandre Steiger) who is trying to make the world a better place, a government minister (Christophe Paou) who isn't, and a young woman (Lilith Grasmug) nervous about potentially having sex for the first time. There are also a couple of important characters played by Pascal Tagnati and Fred Blin. All of these people, some related to one another and some not, find their lives interconnecting in a number of ways, and they're all about to go through various ordeals.

Starting off in a slightly quirky way that could lull unsuspecting viewers into a false sense of security, Bloody Oranges tilts into full-on madness about halfway through the runtime. While it doesn't go as far as the titles I am about to mention, there's a feeling of this having tissue connected to films as uncomfortable and brutal as A Serbian Film and Salò, or the 120 Days Of Sodom. Many of the main characters here feel as if they are trapped in a dehumanising and devouring society that has too many holes in what should be a giant safety net for all. Whether abuser or victim, the resulting damage has the same repercussions through the lives of people who are only a few degrees separated from people they may not even be aware of.

All of the cast members are excellent, and everyone pitches their performance towards the seriousness of their actions, leaving Meurisse to deliver any potential comedy via juxtaposition and the commentary that weaves through many of the main scenes. Steiger and Grasmug are the standouts, although both Tagnati and Blin steal a couple of moments, but there's nobody onscreen I can fault.

This is one of those films that keeps reminding you that somebody is puppeteering everyone onscreen though, and Meurisse is the one pulling the strings. He doesn't seem to have mastered every move, but his anger and cynicism make up for the narrative mis-steps and pacing issues. This feels like a balled fist. The eventual punch may miss the mark, but it still manages to clip you on the chin and leave you a bit taken aback by the impact.

7/10

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Mubi Monday: Stranger By The Lake (2013)

A strange and intriguing drama that languidly moves into straightforward thriller territory, moving there like any character in the film who steps into the titular lake before heading for a swim in the deeper waters, Stranger By The Like is a film that works on at least a couple of different levels, both running parallel with one another without one aspect ever upsetting the other.

With the setting just as important as the main characters, as the title may have signified, this is a film set in a popular cruising area. Gay men hope to meet one another, either hook up or indulge in some of their various kinks (one man just likes to look on while he masturbates), and sometimes the thrill is increased by having a close encounter with a sexy stranger. Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) eventually has a great time with Michel (Christophe Paou), but that comes after he has witnessed Michel committing an act of, well, assisting someone in their departure from this mortal coil. Things soon heat up, in more ways than one, but it’s obvious that Franck is willing to overlook a lot for the sake of this connection.

The kind of film that creates a sexy atmosphere via a mix of hot temperatures, tanned bodies, and moments of intimacy, it’s worth noting that Stranger By The Lake is also a perfect film to throw on if you want to enrage any pathetic homophobes you may have in your life. There’s a lot of male nudity, some unsimulated (I think) oral sex, and a consistently frank attitude towards pleasure and sex. As much as told through physicality as through dialogue, and there’s no sense of anything being rushed towards a conclusive ending (although it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome).

Writer-director Alain Guiraudie does an excellent job with the material, never shying away from the nature content, but also ensuring that it always feels integral to the unfurling plot. This is a film with a dark heart, but it’s also a film about wanting to be with someone that you know has a dark heart. Is that part of the attraction, or is life too hard sometimes that people need to overlook some major flaws when they feel such a strong attraction to someone they can keep hold of for a while? This is what I felt was running through Stranger By The Lake, and the setting and sexuality of the characters are essential to the way that theme is explored. Because why would you rush to judge someone when you have spent your entire life already being judged by others? And why not overlook a crime when there are still so many places in the world where your own human nature is deemed to be criminal?

Deladonchamps and Paou are both excellent in the main roles, both giving natural and confident performances that show their trust in Guiraudie (who is no stranger to this kind of material). They work very well together, but Deladonchamps also has some enjoyable scenes with other characters around the lake, particularly a man named Henri (played perfectly by Patrick d'Assumçao). Jérôme Chappatte plays the other main character, an Inspector investigating the discovery of a dead body at the lake, and does very well with his small amount of screentime.

With the ambient sounds of the location, the sunshine constantly beating down, and the many moments without dialogue, this is a film that allows viewers to think things over as much as the main characters. If you come away from this with a reaction that is nothing more than “ewwwww, I saw willies” then the fault lies with you, not the film. Anyone mature enough to handle the nudity and sexual content will find a lot to appreciate here, and, while it feels very specifically tied to the sexuality of the leads, it also speaks to a desperate need for closeness and intimacy that almost all of us have experienced, at one time or another.

8/10

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