The Stranger is an adaptation of Albert Camus’ novel, reflecting the life of a young Frenchman, Meursault, living in French-Algeria circa 1938. Director Francois Ozon presents a master class in filmmaking. Shot in black and white, the cinematography, lighting and art direction are impeccable. Rule of thirds, leading lines, perfect composition, soundtrack? It’s all here. Stark, stunning and an eyeful in every frame.
As per Camus’ novella, Meursault (Benjamin Voisin) is a disengaged, detached youth who journeys through the death of his mother, his work and a new relationship without appearing to care one way or the other. Partly the film’s narrator, he’s a deeply unsympathetic character, but Voisin’s performance, like everything in this film, is perfectly nuanced. “Nothing matters; the whole of life is absurd.” The keen-eyed will also pick up Ozon’s many allusions: Le Schpountz, No Natives Allowed and The Meursault Investigation.
Meursault’s new girlfriend, Marie (the talented Rebecca Marder), is equal parts nonplussed and attracted to her lover’s indifference to her. “Shall we be married?” she asks. “If you like,” Meursault replies, unmoved by the prospect; he appears more interested in cigarettes than l’amour.
A neighbour, Raymond Sintès, exuberantly performed by Pierre Lottin, who almost steals the show, invites Meursault in for sausage and wine. Meursault gets drawn into an altercation with Raymond’s ex-lover, upsetting her Arab relative in the process.
A beach outing goes awry when Meursault shoots and kills the Arab, blaming the reflection of the man’s knife and the hot sun for the killing. No spoilers, but a court case ensues where it is not so much the crime but Meursault’s passive indifference that appears to be on trial. In his own mind, the only explanation he can summon is, “I upset the balance of the day.”
This is a stark film and an excellent adaptation that captures the spirit of Camus’s work
My rating: A Gauloise smoked indifferently through the open window of a Citroën.
Four étoiles out of five, bravo!