The exact etymology of the word “farang” is almost impossible to trace today. It has roots in Muslim and Asian cultures, but almost always means “European.” Moreover, in an offensive manner, given Europe’s colonial past and its blatant interference in the lives of other countries. So a conventional farang is someone unpleasant and certainly trying to ruin everyone’s life. The film Farang exploits just such an image, but at the same time tries to show what the origins of the “outsiders” may be. How successful it turned out – read the review below.
Pros: excellent battle staging, which is reminiscent of “Raid”; extremely focused and logical plot; a nicely simple and accessible story. Cons: noticeable lengthiness of the first half of the film; Indonesian aesthetics are not fully revealed here
“Stranger” / Farang
Genre crime drama
Directed by Xavier Jeans
Starring Nassim Si Ahmed, Vithaya Pansringarm, Olivier Gourmet, Kenneth Vaughn, Gigi Velicitat,
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2023
IMDb website
Frenchman Sam (Nassim Si Ahmed) diligently serves his time in prison, which helps him to be released early. He decides to start a new life and moves to Thailand, where he finds a family. Together they dream of buying a plot of land and developing it according to their tastes. But a local criminal representative is interested in this same area. He agrees to give the land to Sam in exchange for a supposedly simple assignment. However, this assignment can forever break the life of the main character.
“The Stranger” is the most French movie possible, even if it tries to captivate with Asian aesthetics.
This results in a lot of long, close-ups in the film, focusing on the emotions of the characters. And there is nothing wrong with this approach, but for some the film will seem a little drawn out because of it.
This is especially true for its first half. The director is extremely careful in leading up to the turning point in Sam’s life so that you are fully immersed in all the circumstances of his new life. That’s why The Stranger feels like an extremely personal, almost intimate story of one person whose life went wrong. And you know that only problems await him from the very first minutes of the film.
The Outsider does a great job of building tension that never reaches critical levels, but is still present in every frame. Because of this, the movie feels heavy and oppressive. Therefore, it is better not to hope for an easy and unobtrusive viewing here.
Even the landscapes of Thailand are presented here as something frightening and rejecting outsiders. They seem to threaten to devour the main character, who already has enough problems. And for viewers, this means that “The Stranger” is also an aesthetically pleasing film from a visual point of view. Local Thailand is extremely pleasant to look at, and the film crew does not hesitate to show it from a variety of sides.
Another advantage of the film is the choreography and overall staging of the battles. The source of inspiration here is obvious – the Indonesian “Raid”. Even if “Stranger” did not manage to reach the level of naturalism of “Raid,” all the battles here are still extremely tactile and feel at a decent level.
The film crew also depicts cruelty in an extremely lively and disgusting way. Blood and mutilation flash regularly in the frame and only emphasize the gravity of the situation in which Sam finds himself. But the film doesn’t descend into completely outright dismemberment, so as not to ruin the overall atmosphere.
The film understands well why and how exactly it was made. He has a clear focus that he sticks to throughout the entire duration. Even the initial prolongation ultimately only plays into the hands of the overall impressions. So after watching you are left with an extremely pleasant impression.
Yes, you can try to criticize the script structure and directorial decisions of the film. There is no smell of special “high cinema” here. But Xavier Jeans has created a story that is as humane as possible and understandable to everyone, which also combines Indonesian aesthetics with the French spirit in an interesting way.
There aren’t many films coming out these days that aren’t overly pretentious. “The Stranger” in this regard is reminiscent of an alien from the past, somewhere from the 90s, when just good films about people without any extremes were released regularly. And this is its simple, but still catchy magic.
The Outsider will even help you forget that Xavier Jeans also directed the extremely disgusting 2007 Hitman. Or at least you can forgive the director for this oversight.
Conclusion:
“The Stranger” is noticeably out of step with the modern climate of films, but this is its small charm. This is a good and accessible movie that will captivate you for an hour and a half with its sad and cruel story. The French charm of which is noticeable even among the colorful locations of Thailand
