The Intruder (French: L'intrus) is a 2004 French drama film directed by Claire Denis. The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2004. It was released in France on 4 May 2005.
| The Intruder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| French | L'intrus |
| Directed by | Claire Denis |
| Written by |
|
| Based on | L'intrus by Jean-Luc Nancy |
| Produced by | Humbert Balsan |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Agnès Godard |
| Edited by | Nelly Quettier |
| Music by | Stuart A. Staples |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Languages |
|
| Box office | $40,853[1] |
Plot
editLouis Trebor, an ex-mercenary living in the Jura Mountains, is suffering increasingly from a heart condition. He abandons his home, beloved dogs, and estranged son in pursuit of a black market heart transplant in Korea before traveling to Tahiti, where he spent time in his youth, in the hope of connecting with a son he has never met.
Cast
edit- Michel Subor as Louis Trebor
- Grégoire Colin as Sidney
- Katia Golubeva as The young Russian lady
- Béatrice Dalle as Queen of the Northern Hemisphere
- Florence Loiret Caille as Antoinette
- Alex Descas as The priest
- Bambou as The pharmacist
- Lolita Chammah as The wild woman
Production
editThe film is inspired by a brief essay of the same name by Jean-Luc Nancy.[2] Claire Denis also takes inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's writing and Paul Gauguin's South Seas paintings.[3] Footage from Paul Gégauff's film Le Reflux is used in the film.[4]
Release
editThe film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2004.[5][6] It was released in France on 4 May 2005.[7]
Reception
editOn review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 29 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The impressionistic narrative may confound the viewer, but Denis crafts wonderfully poetic, dreamlike imagery."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]
Amy Taubin of Film Comment commented that "Denis is one of cinema's greatest narrative poets, and The Intruder, the story of an adventurer, is her most adventurous cinematic poem."[10] Jay Weissberg of Variety wrote, "More opaque than her past works and unlikely to garner her new fans, Denis gives near equal weight to reality, dreams, nightmares and premonitions, resisting a traditional narrative in order to question the possibilities of escape within the modern world."[11]
Slant Magazine placed the film at number 77 on the "100 Best Films of the Aughts" list.[12]
References
edit- ^ "The Intruder". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Sweeney, R. Emmet (July 2005). "The Hither Side of Solutions: Bodies and Landscape in L'intrus". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Dooley, Kath (June 2012). "The Intruder". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Smith, Damon (April 2005). "L'Intrus: An Interview with Claire Denis". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Venezia 61 - In Competition". Venice Biennale. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Thursday, September 9, 2004". Venice Biennale. Archived from the original on 11 September 2004. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "L'intrus". AlloCiné. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "The Intruder (L'Intrus)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "The Intruder". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Taubin, Amy (May 2005). "Distributor Wanted: The Intruder". Film Comment. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Weissberg, Jay (17 September 2004). "The Intruder". Variety. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "The 100 Best Films of the Aughts". Slant Magazine. 7 February 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
Further reading
edit- Dooley, Kath. "Foreign Bodies, Community and Trauma in the Films of Claire Denis: Beau Travail (1999), 35 Rhums (2008) and White Material (2009)." Screening the Past (2013). Accessed May 25, 2017.
- Morrey, Douglas. "Open Wounds: Body and Image in Jean-Luc Nancy and Claire Denis." Film-Philosophy 12, no. 1 (2008): 10–30. ISSN 1466-4615
- Nayman, Adam. "Best of the Decade #7: L′Intrus: Second Helpings." Reverse Shot (December 25, 2009). Museum of the Moving Image. Accessed June 4, 2017.
- Smith, Damon. "L’Intrus: An Interview with Claire Denis." Senses of Cinema 35 (2005). Accessed May 25, 2017.
- Sweeney, R. Emmet. "The Hither Side of Solutions. Bodies and Landscape in L’intrus." Senses of Cinema (2005), no. 36. Accessed May 25, 2017.
External links
edit- The Intruder at IMDb