The Stranger

            Director Francois Ozon’s mesmerizing, masterful adaptation of the 1942 novel by Albert Camus– which was a haunting, existential novel of a young man’s senseless murder of an Arab.

            The film is about Meursault, (Benjamin Voisin from Ozon’s Summer of 85), a settler in French Algeria in the 1930s who receives a telegram that his mother has died in a retirement home in the country. He takes some time off from work, borrows a tie from a friend and heads by bus to the funeral, sitting by the coffin in a detached, emotionless manner (his passive deportment comes back to haunt him during the trial). He returns home and takes up with the beautiful Marie (wonderful Rebecca Marder) at the local beach. They go to the movies and see a Fernandel comedy and return home to his flat to make love. “Do you love me?” Marie asks him, to which he coolly replies, “That means nothing.” What’s fascinating about Meursault is that he doesn’t say that in a mean way- but in a matter-of-fact, oddly truthful way. It’s his entire outlook of life.

            He is friendly to the rough and thuggish pimp living next door- Raymond (Pierre Lottin– who was so wonderful in Ozon’s When Fall is Coming). Raymond is always on the lookout for the angry Arab brother of his girlfriend who stalks him. The Arab is furious at how violently his sister is treated by Raymond. And Meursault vaguely acknowledges the lonely old man (Denis Lavant) who beats his dog in the hallway. But there is always something slightly off about him.

            The murder itself, which takes place on the beach under a blazing sun has a wonderfully strange homoerotic touch to it. But much of the movie is set during the trial, in which the prosecutor turns Meursault’s passive, affectless demeanor against him- creating a portrait of a remorseless killer, which he clearly is not. Not that Meursault helps himself at the trial- his answers to the judge are emotionally devoid of feeling, causing members of the court to jeer at him.

            What I absolutely love about Francois Ozon is that his films are all dramatically different but his take on each subject is meticulous, always surprising, and infused with great passion and artistry. This film’s black and white cinematography is by Manu Dacosse and is stunningly beautiful- it creates this exotic, insular world for Meursault to inhabit. Benjamin Voison has a perfect, angular, extremely handsome but placid face, which is just perfect for the role. A scene at the end where he explodes in anger at a priest (Swann Arlaud) who comes to his cell is exhilarating and cathartic. His rage liberates him, and makes Meursault hope that a large, angry crowd will be there for his execution. During the film’s credits, the use of The Cure’s 1980 “Killing an Arab” (also based on the Camus novel) is just genius.

            This truly unforgettable film opens April 3 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center (165 W. 65th Street).