Redeveloping a book for the cinema is always "a betrayal," French filmmaker François Ozon confesses, but his new work — a French-language version of Albert Camus  existentialist novel  The Stranger , hopes to reignite debate about one of France s most powerful novels.

Shot in black and white throughout, the film tracks down Meursault, a withdrawn young Frenchman in 1930s colonial Algeria, whose existence is suddenly diverted after he shoots an Arab on a beach and is put on trial under the shadow of a possible death sentence.

Ozon, 57, who has directed movies like Swimming Pool, 8 Women, and By the Grace of God, explained the concept came when he re-read Camus  novel from 1942, which he read for the first time as an adolescent. "I realized how much the book still has relevance today," he said in an interview with Reuters, admitting to dangers of re-telling a literary classic.

The novel was previously filmed in 1967 by Italian director Luchino Visconti, featuring Marcello Mastroianni. This time, Ozon was insisting on making a French version of the novel. "Adapting a book always implies betrayal, but cinema is a language," he explained.

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It is the themes of absurdity, alienation, colonial injustice, and social unrest which are as pertinent today as ever, Ozon suggested, citing international wars, political extremism, and ecological destruction.

Actor Benjamin Voisin, who stars in Meursault, confessed the role was specially challenging. "I found it difficult to be asked never to  act ," he confessed. "I had to strike a balance between Camus  philosophy and Ozon s vision."

The Stranger is one of 21 films vying for the Golden Lion, to be awarded on September 6.