At the DVD rental my eye fell on another Grandrieux. Strange that they do not have “La Vie Nouvelle“, the (I think) better (known) film of Grandrieux. “Un Lac” is by far no “La Vie Nouvelle” or “Sombre“. It is a very minimalistic and slow film, but not dark or disturbing. “Un Lac” reminds more of “Winterstilte” or perhaps of some scenes of “Calvaire“.
A family lives in a remote house in a wintery mountain landscape, near a lake and a forest. The only occupation of Alexi (the ‘main character’) seems to be cutting trees. Alexi suffers a rising number of epileptic seizures. Slowly we get to know other family members. There are hardly any conversations, the filming is of the shaky handheld kind, nothing much happens and Grandrieux uses very long shots. When a stranger arrives, something of a story unfolds.
Yep, this is one of those films only for people who enjoy slow, experimental dramas without much of a story. The atmosphere is alright, but I personally prefer Grandrieux’ darker films.
