7 November 2025
L’ÉTRANGER ***1/2 (vo French)
The inimitable French auteur François Ozon has done it again, with his usual elegance and discretion, as with his other superbly varied films such as “Huit Femmes”, “Potiche”, Frantz” or “Grâce à Dieu”.
This time he has taken the Albert Camus novel ‘The Stranger’ and given it the old patina of the 1930s/´40s era in luminous black and white.
The atmosphere of Algiers and the indifference of the French towards the native Arabs is much on Ozon’s mind, along with an updated gender consciousness that is a slight divergence from the book, which was more concerned about the hero’s existential alienation and his philosophical stance towards the absurdity of life.
The stranger is Meursault, a French bachelor living in Algiers, with a regular job and a comfortable flat. His mother, who was in a home for the elderly, has just died. He takes time off to go to her funeral. We notice his indifference to everything around him. He is a handsome, detached man, with little conversation and extremely frank when he does speak. A loner. Benjamin Voisin portrays him to perfection, with his penetrating yet strangely empty eyes. His newly found lover is played by the delicate Rebecca Marder. There is also a trouble-making friend/neighbor, interpreted by the versatile Pierre Lottin. Meursault seems detached from them, despite his carnal or comradely connections to them, as he was from his mother.
Ozon carries this mystifying, hypnotic atmosphere through to the turning point of a murder on the beach. The film is spellbinding as it turns to prison, the trial and Meursault’s continued moral distance from all these situations.
Here is a solid portrait of the existential philosophy of the era of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Weil and Anouilh, embodied in this stranger in another land. Fascinating.
THE SMASHING MACHINE **1/2
Despite its violent subject, this biopic is a delicate, warm-hearted hulk tale. It’s the true story of Mark Kerr, an overpowering martial arts fighter who loved his career. It’s about his joy in fighting, his girlfriend who was often a hindrance to his ambitions, his drug problems and his attempt at a comeback.
Dwayne Johnson puts all his muscle and heart into this portrayal of a good but troubled man. Emily Blunt is excellent as his needy girlfriend. Painful yet tender.
T’AS PAS CHANGÉ * (vo French)
Despite such fine actors as Laurent Lafitte, Francois Damiens and Vanessa Paradis, this is another one of these throw-away comedies the French keep churning out.
Bad script and amateur direction drown this tale of old high schoolers getting together years later. Don’t bother.
KIKA – (vo French)
Now this one should never have been made. It is one of the most disgusting and probably dangerously immoral films I have ever witnessed, about the deviant profession of sex-workers who cater to the sado-maso crowd.
Unfortunately with far too many nauseating examples – in your face! And some critics are calling this a comedy?! Sickening.
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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