The Intruder (2004 film)

Louis 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 listing|

• 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

}}

The film is inspired by a brief essay of the same name by Jean-Luc Nancy.{{cite web|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/feature-articles/intrus/|title=The Hither Side of Solutions: Bodies and Landscape in L'intrus|work=Senses of Cinema|first=R. Emmet|last=Sweeney|date=July 2005|accessdate=8 April 2020}} Claire Denis also takes inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's writing and Paul Gauguin's South Seas paintings.{{cite web|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2012/cteq/the-intruder/|title=The Intruder|work=Senses of Cinema|first=Kath|last=Dooley|date=June 2012|accessdate=8 April 2020}} Footage from Paul Gégauff's film Le Reflux is used in the film.{{cite web|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/conversations-with-filmmakers/claire_denis_interview/|title=L'Intrus: An Interview with Claire Denis|work=Senses of Cinema|first=Damon|last=Smith|date=April 2005|accessdate=8 April 2020}}

The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 9 September 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/61miac/line-up/competition.html|title=Venezia 61 - In Competition|work=Venice Biennale|accessdate=8 April 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011074009/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/61miac/line-up/competition.html|archivedate=11 October 2004|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/61miac/screenings/sept9.html|title=Thursday, September 9, 2004|work=Venice Biennale|accessdate=8 April 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911040802/http://www.labiennale.org/en/cinema/61miac/screenings/sept9.html|archivedate=11 September 2004|url-status=dead}} It was released in France on 4 May 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=53974.html|title=L'intrus|work=AlloCiné|accessdate=8 April 2020}}

On 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."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10005104_intruder|title=The Intruder (L'Intrus)|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|accessdate=8 April 2020}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-intruder|title=The Intruder|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=8 April 2020}}

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."{{cite web|url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/the-intruder-claire-denis/|title=Distributor Wanted: The Intruder|work=Film Comment|first=Amy|last=Taubin|date=May 2005|accessdate=8 April 2020}} 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."{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2004/film/reviews/the-intruder-6-1200530995/|title=The Intruder|work=Variety|first=Jay|last=Weissberg|date=17 September 2004|accessdate=8 April 2020}}

Slant Magazine placed the film at number 77 on the "100 Best Films of the Aughts" list.{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/best-of-the-aughts-film/|title=The 100 Best Films of the Aughts|work=Slant Magazine|date=7 February 2010|accessdate=12 December 2022}}

{{Reflist}}

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• Dooley, Kath. "[http://www.screeningthepast.com/2013/09/foreign-bodies-community-and-trauma-in-the-films-of-claire-denis/ 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. {{open access}}
• Morrey, Douglas. "[http://www.film-philosophy.com/2008v12n1/morrey2.pdf Open Wounds: Body and Image in Jean-Luc Nancy and Claire Denis]." Film-Philosophy 12, no. 1 (2008): 10–30. {{ISSN|1466-4615}} {{open access}}
• Nayman, Adam. "[http://reverseshot.org/symposiums/entry/1680/7_lintrus Best of the Decade #7: L′Intrus: Second Helpings]." Reverse Shot (December 25, 2009). Museum of the Moving Image. Accessed June 4, 2017. {{open access}}
• Smith, Damon. "[http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/conversations-with-filmmakers/claire_denis_interview/ L’Intrus: An Interview with Claire Denis]." Senses of Cinema 35 (2005). Accessed May 25, 2017. {{open access}}
• Sweeney, R. Emmet. "[http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/feature-articles/intrus/ The Hither Side of Solutions. Bodies and Landscape in L’intrus]." Senses of Cinema (2005), no. 36. Accessed May 25, 2017. {{open access}}

{{refend}}

• {{IMDb title|0422491|The Intruder}}

{{Claire Denis}}

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Category:2004 films

Category:2004 drama films

Category:French drama films

Category:2000s French-language films

Category:Films directed by Claire Denis

Category:2000s French films

Category:Films scored by Stuart A. Staples