Week-end

The IMDb summary of the film does it no justice whatsoever. This piece of art depicted the most genuine and sincere definition of love in any motion picture that I have seen. Besides the fact that the script was well-written, the actors carried the story to fruition in their slightest of gestures, glances, and articulations. You really fall in love with Glen and Russell and want them to be with each other. There are parts where you'll laugh, parts where you might tear up, and parts where you might wonder if you've ever felt what these characters feel for each other. There are some wonderful scenes cinematically as well. The ending is satisfying and resonant of real life, which is a nice change of pace when compared to other love stories. This is the movie that you should see, and I hope you will.

Just back from seeing Weekend at a mainstream cinema in London and simply wanted to say that the other reviewers here have hit the nail on the head perfectly. This film is literally flawless - so real, so well acted, naturalistic dialogue spoken utterly naturally. It captured my 20s in a bottle. Thank you to all involved. I'd forgotten cinema could be this fantastic. I liked the fact that the film's location was kept anonymous - most appropriate, given that the film was so accurately observed and depicted that it could have been about many of my friends, all over the UK. Some excellent cinematography too - lingering shots of a normal British city, captured at sunset/mid-afternoon/anytime, worked well at keeping the pace reflective. Finally, the moments of passion were handled sensitively, but, again, so realistically. One particularly stunning moment was the cut away and sudden fast forward to the morning - somehow capturing instantly the bleak moment that follows ecstasy, but doing it in a non-showy way. I will be watching for more of Andrew Haigh's work.

I'm not English, male, or gay, so I probably missed some subtle points in this film, but I liked it a good deal. (Seven is a good rating for me, and this almost qualifies for an eight.)

The story of two new lovers getting to know each other after a drunken one-night stand is touching and revealing of the workings of the human heart. Not-quite-closeted shy Russell and in-your-face Glen are complex characters who change in the weekend they get together. Talking about points of disagreement helps each understand more about what they really feel about various issues. I felt the filmmaker captured what it is to be a real person having real discovery-type conversations. (I had a quick flash of Before Sunrise, when that film worked for me.)

The lovemaking scenes are indeed lovemaking. I was bothered by Brokeback Mountain's because the sex in it seemed so brutal (and I thought more than once "and that doesn't equal love; I'm unconvinced these two are in love at all"); but here, I felt I was witnessing two sane (or as sane as most of us are), healthy men interacting sensually and falling for each other, the sex being part of the increased tenderness and vulnerability between them. I mused on who would find it comfortable/uncomfortable to watch, and I wish I could tell people via this review if they could bear watching the two more explicit scenes or not. Probably if you're willing to watch this film at all, knowing the subject matter in advance, you'll be okay with the level of detail in the sex scenes. There are many moments not sexual which are more intimate and moving. Smart writing in those post-sex intimacies that comprise the bulk of the film.

I also liked the framing of many shots, particularly of Russell in his solitary moments, as the framing told the story of his alienation so clearly. (At one point I flashed on Jim Jarmusch--if someone gave him some color stock, it could have been a Jarmusch moment.) I particularly liked the insert of a scanning surveillance camera, as it heightened the sense that Russell is always aware of and reacting to the panopticon of homophobia all the time. Again, I thought, there is real intelligence in this filmmaking.

A smart, authentic, artistically done film, a terrific addition to the list of thoughtful, small/focused relationship films.

I watched this film after a friend highly recommended it. The gay film festivals and critics' awards and nominations it's been getting are much deserved.

Russell (Tom Cullen), a young gay man in Nottingham, UK, picks up Glen (Chris New) at a nightclub. They have a one-night stand but realize they share much more than animal attraction. They spend a weekend together trying to figure out whether or not they can turn this into something "concrete".

"Weekend" is part of the 'brief encounter' subgenre I am a big fan of. It's a 'talkie' for excellence; if you love films like "Lost In Translation", "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset", you'll probably be smitten by this as well. A naturalistic approach to filmmaking - especially to such a dialogue-driven narrative like this - is very hard to pull off; but writer/director/editor Andrew Haigh knows how to create sparks. Special kudos go to the excellent protagonists, Tom Cullen and Chris New, whose on-screen chemistry is palpable, moving, and simply a pleasure to watch. This is a weekend you shouldn't sleep through.

In "Weekend," a beautifully acted and written indie drama from writer/director (and editor) Andrew Haigh, two gay men fall heavily for each other over the course of a 2 or 3 day period, each getting at something in the other that no one before had managed to do. But this is not a "gay" movie, and people who stay away from it because they think it has a gay agenda, or that it has nothing to say to them, or who are simply uncomfortable with the sight of two men having sex, will deny themselves the pleasure of seeing a film with a universal message about what it's like to be lonely and the search for meaningful human connections that kind of loneliness motivates.

It's not that Haigh avoids addressing the complications of being gay in the present day. Part of what I admired about the film was that it put being gay, and the constant energy it takes on the part of gay men to either fight or ignore the ignorance and hostility they must constantly endure, in a context that anybody can understand. The film's central character, Russell (Tom Cullen), has been raised as a foster child in a "straight" environment. His foster brother knows he's gay and is accepting of it, but even at that, Russell's time with his brother and his brother's family only accentuates the desolate fact that the kind of "normal" happiness his brother enjoys (the solidarity of a strong marriage, children) is something that at best he will have to fight for or at worst will be denied altogether. The bitterness this harsh reality can create in gay men is illustrated in the character of Glen (Chris New), a crusader who believes happiness in marriage is a sham perpetrated by the straight community and that attempts at finding contentment and satisfaction in a life partner are akin to tilting at windmills.

Cullen and New deliver award-worthy performances, so it's a shame that this film's size and subject matter will deny it any kind of major awards attention. The film is actually breathtaking at moments, albeit in an unassuming way, in its frankness and its ability to capture perfectly in words ideas about the way our societies treat relationships, commitments and love that I had only half articulated to myself. It would be easy to believe that Haigh found two non-actors roaming the streets, asked them to star in a movie, gave them situations to play out without a script, and filmed the results. It's that authentic.

I hope people see this movie.

Grade: A