Summary
Sixty-something Louis Trebor lives a hermit-like existence in the Jura
mountains, his only companions being his two dogs. He finds it
hard to communicate with his estranged son, Sidney, who lives with his
own family on the Swiss border. After a heart transplant, Louis
acquires a sudden jolt of wanderlust. He leaves his native France
and heads off to the South Pacific, in search of his lost past...
Review
One of France’s leading avant-garde filmmakers, Claire Denis is
becoming more impenetrable with every film she makes. She
followed the supremely distasteful vampire oddity that was Trouble
Every Day (2001) with the equally mystifying Vendredi
soir (2002), a film that apparently glorifies the one-night
stand. Denis’s next film, L’Intrus
trumps both of these in its visual artistry and
frustrating lack of cohesion.
As a purely visual experience, L’Intrus is quite remarkable. The haunting location photography makes this a potent study in solitude and estrangement. Dreams and reality crossover into one another so that we can never be sure which is which, or indeed if anything we see is real. The film’s abstract nature allows the spectator to read into it whatever he or she chooses, but loosely speaking the film appears to be about man’s inability to feel at one with the world in which he lives. He is always an outsider, an intruder in paradise - at least that is one possible interpretation of the film’s title.
This is not an easy film to watch, however. Its generous two-hour runtime and its complete lack of anything resembling a plot place great strains on the spectator’s patience and concentration. Despite the beautiful images that award-winning cinematographer Agnès Godard treats us to, L’Intrus feels aimless and ultimately unsatisfying. It is hard to identify with the film’s leading protagonist (Michel Subor), who is a tad too egoistical and saturnine to be remotely likeable, and the lack of clues as to what the film is about is as off-putting as it is liberating. You will either love this film or hate it.
© James Travers 2010
Write a review for this film...
As a purely visual experience, L’Intrus is quite remarkable. The haunting location photography makes this a potent study in solitude and estrangement. Dreams and reality crossover into one another so that we can never be sure which is which, or indeed if anything we see is real. The film’s abstract nature allows the spectator to read into it whatever he or she chooses, but loosely speaking the film appears to be about man’s inability to feel at one with the world in which he lives. He is always an outsider, an intruder in paradise - at least that is one possible interpretation of the film’s title.
This is not an easy film to watch, however. Its generous two-hour runtime and its complete lack of anything resembling a plot place great strains on the spectator’s patience and concentration. Despite the beautiful images that award-winning cinematographer Agnès Godard treats us to, L’Intrus feels aimless and ultimately unsatisfying. It is hard to identify with the film’s leading protagonist (Michel Subor), who is a tad too egoistical and saturnine to be remotely likeable, and the lack of clues as to what the film is about is as off-putting as it is liberating. You will either love this film or hate it.
© James Travers 2010
Write a review for this film...
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Useful links
- Best French films of 2011
- Best French films of the 2000s
- Best of the French New Wave
- Best of French film comedy
- The best 100 French films
- The most successful French films
- Great French filmmakers
Related links
- Other French films of the 2000s
- The best French films of the 2000s
- Other French dramas
- The best French dramas
- Biography and films of Claire Denis
To buy this film
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Credits
- Director: Claire Denis
- Script: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Jean-Luc Nancy (novel)
- Photo: Agnès Godard
- Music: Stuart Staples
- Cast: Michel Subor (Louis Trebor), Grégoire Colin (Sidney), Yekaterina Golubeva (Young Russian Woman), Bambou (Pharmacist), Florence Loiret (Antoinette), Lolita Chammah (Wild Woman), Alex Descas (Priest), Dong-ho Kim (Ship Owner), Se-tak Chang (Ship Owner’s Associate), Hong-suk Park (Man at the Fish Market), Edwin Alin (Le patron de la quincaillerie), Henri Tetainanuarii (Henri), Jean-Marc Teriipaia (Tony), Anna Tetuaveroa (Mother), Béatrice Dalle (Queen of the Northern Hemisphere)
- Country: France
- Language: French / English / Korean / Russian
- Runtime: 130 min
- Aka: The Intruder
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If you like this film you may also like the following:- Depuis qu’Otar est parti (2003)
- Elle s’appelait Sarah (2010)
- L’Ennemi intime (2007)
- Les Fragments d’Antonin (2006)
- L’Homme qui marche (2008)
- Je l’aimais (2009)
- Mères et filles (2009)
- Plus tard tu comprendras (2008)
- Stand-by (2000)
- Un amour à taire (2005)
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Important French filmmakers






- François Truffaut
- Jean Cocteau
- Abel Gance
- Jacques Demy
- Jacques Rivette
- Jean Renoir
- Jean Grémillon
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Marcel Carné
- Claude Chabrol
- Claude Lelouch
- Réné Clair
- Marcel Pagnol
- Eric Rohmer
- François Ozon
- Bertrand Tavernier
- Bertrand Blier
- Claire Denis
- Jacques Tati
- Jacques Audiard
- Maurice Pialat
- Robert Guédiguian
To buy L’Intrus:

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