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Let’s get metaphysical! Existentialist cinema is back, if anyone cares
The philosophy was embraced by film noir, the French New Wave and modern hitmen questioning life’s purpose. Now dust off your turtlenecks, for Sirāt and a new version of Albert Camus’ The Stranger look set to make ennui on-trend again
TL;DR
- François Ozon's new film adaptation of Albert Camus's "L'Étranger" is a tasteful interpretation, with Benjamin Voisin praised as Meursault.
- The film updates the story by focusing on colonial power relations, a departure from Camus's original novel's more muted stance on racial disparities.
- Existentialism, a philosophy questioning life's purpose in the absence of God, feels distant from today's world, overshadowed by technology.
- Cinema has had few direct adaptations of existentialist literature, with "The Stranger" and Camus's "The Plague" being notable exceptions.
- The French New Wave and American film noir explored existentialist themes, portraying alienated characters grappling with a senseless universe.
- Modern films like "Taxi Driver," "Blade Runner," and "The Truman Show" continue to showcase existentialist narratives.
- Ozon's "L'Étranger" is seen as a cultural Rosetta Stone, helping understand the roots of metaphysical questing in cinema.
- However, Ozon's political focus and moralizing tones might detract from the novel's subjective existentialist core.
- Despite being dismissed as navel-gazing, existentialism's emphasis on austere individuality offers appeal against homogenizing influences.
- Olivier Laxe's "Sirāt" is another recent film capturing the existentialist tightrope walk, set against a backdrop of potential global conflict.