Kermode & Mayo’s Take THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE: Enchanting or just lost in the woods?
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Mar 26, 2026 
François Ozon, a prolific French director and screenwriter, talks about adapting Camus and making L'Étranger (The Stranger). He discusses why he modernized the context, chose black-and-white, directed Benjamin Voisin toward a Bresson-like detachment, and how he expanded female and Arab roles. Short, cinematic, and focused on filmmaking choices and sensitive historical context.
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Adapting The Stranger For Modern Context
- François Ozon adapted Camus' The Stranger to speak to today's audience by reframing the story with contemporary social and political context.
- He convinced Catherine Camus by arguing the film must be seen through the eyes of 2026, not 1942, to make it relevant.
How Ozon Secured Camus Family Approval
- Ozon recounts that only one previous director, Visconti, adapted The Stranger and Camus' family refused many requests until he persuaded Catherine Camus.
- He described meeting her and persuading her with his modern reinterpretation to gain rights.
Contextualizing The Stranger's Colonial Blindspot
- Ozon foregrounded Algeria-France history to explain Camus' original ‘invisibilization’ of Arabs and avoid misreadings of colonial sympathy.
- He consulted historians and emphasized apartheid-like structures and second-class status of Arabs in French Algeria.
