Weekend directed by Andrew Haigh

Weekend

One of the interesting things about this film is while it is a ‘gay’ film there is an ordinariness about the characters.  The main character, Russell, living in a tower block furnished in charity shop chic is a highly unusual depiction of a gay man.  It is rare to see working class gay man on screen, and when they do appear it is usually in the context of some major issue like them being a rent boy or an abuse victim.  While Russell is not without ‘issues’, they are low level everyday angst - his characterisation of himself as ‘fine’ rings true.

Glen, the other half of the film, perhaps has bigger issues – but again these are the ordinary feelings of a failure to launch, in his twenties he hopes to be an artist but had clearly become stuck in a rut with the growing realisation that youthful dreams might not be coming true.

They talk and argue about the nature of relationships, and particularly the desirability of ‘gay’ marriage, but this is not really what the film is about – by placing these two people with differing views sparing against each other the film avoids taking either view as an ‘agenda’.

It is a slow paced film, with lingering shots which at times hold you uncomfortably in the midst of the intimate moments which in the early days (hours) of a relationship can be so tense. 

It can hold its head up well as it finds its place in the long pedigree of British Kitchen Sink dramas. 

I wonder at the 18 certification of the film, this will be due to both the sex and the drugs.  The drug use ‘deserves’ an 18 because it is recreational and inconsequential – it would not do to allow impressionable young people to see that reasonably well adjusted people who are successfully holding down jobs take coke and smoke joints.  I am less clear about the sex, where is the line that makes this an 18 while there seems to be plenty of romping in the average 15? But it is interesting to think about whether the depictions of  either activity are integral to the film – given Glen’s rants about the public expressions of gay sex and relationships it would have been incredulous for the film to shy away from their sex. But what about the drugs, perhaps you could have left them out but they do seem to be a token of authenticity which would have been lost if rather than having another line they had had another cup of tea.