Jean-Luc Goddard's film Weekend is something that is simple yet intricate. On the face of it we get a film that relies little on plot or coherence, seemingly ambling its way through different settings until the story, if it can be described as such, comes to a strange end. However, while mainstream cinema aims to entertain, the avant-garde aims to challenge and subvert and it is within this ethos that Weekend is born. It is a clever film, one that given time will come to be seen as so. On first viewing it is simple to cast it away as nonsense or as a 'bad film' - someone has likened it to being as bad as Street Fighter. Yet the two are incomparable, as Weekend relies on cinematic constructions and subtle political messages rather than attempting to force feed you the story in a linear manner. To draw this comparison is like comparing a Marvel comic to a Jackson Pollock painting.
Although Weekend is not my favourite film from the French New Wave era, it is a good example of the 'genre'. as it were. A lot can be taken from viewing this film, with many subversive political messages being implied about society and the way we live as individuals. It runs in a similar vein to Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, although that is perhaps a more accessible film. If you have the patience and can obtain meaning from one of the longest shots of a traffic jam you're ever likely to see, Weekend may be for you.
Although Weekend is not my favourite film from the French New Wave era, it is a good example of the 'genre'. as it were. A lot can be taken from viewing this film, with many subversive political messages being implied about society and the way we live as individuals. It runs in a similar vein to Bunuel's Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, although that is perhaps a more accessible film. If you have the patience and can obtain meaning from one of the longest shots of a traffic jam you're ever likely to see, Weekend may be for you.