Meursault is a man who feels utterly isolated from everyone and everything around him. This alienation results in sudden, inexplicable bursts of violence, culminating in murder.
Acting
Mastroianni's vacant eyes contain multitudes of nothing.
Cinematography
Blinding Algerian sun becomes a character—and a catalyst.
Direction
Visconti lets Camus breathe through silence and sweat.
Director
Luchino Visconti
Marcello Mastroianni
Arthur Meursault
Anna Karina
Marie Cardona
Bernard Blier
Defense Counsel
Alfred Adam
Prosecutor
Pierre Bertin
Judge
Angela Luce
Madame Masson
Jacques Herlin
Director of Home
Mimmo Palmara
Masson
Jean-Pierre Zola
Employer
Jacques Monod
Prison Guard
Vittorio Duse
Lawyer
Brahim Hadjadj
Arab
Valentino Macchi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Camus himself attended the premiere and reportedly approved of Mastroianni's performance, though he died before the film's release in 1967.
Visconti, typically associated with lush period melodramas, strips his visual style bare here—mirroring Meursault's own detachment from aesthetic pleasure.
IT
