The French title is, of course, richly ironic, as the movie describes the very specific evil which arises when a man-made catastrophe hits an area (in this case, a smiling beach and an hospitable town) made for summer picnics and lazy walks. Moreover, the movie makes the point (and how) that two days last an eternity for people surrounded by nerve-wracking danger.
Serpent-like, the movie moves easily and fluidly from humor to sadness, from profundity to absurdity, from banality to despair and from bitterness to resolve. The war atmosphere is convincing and realistic and there are some fine performances. Belmondo, who is both the hero and anti-hero, gives a performance of rare humanity and maturity ; in my humble opinion, this is one of his best roles.
This does not mean that "Weekend" is free of tonal missteps. I have always been amazed by the weird "love affair" tacked unto the story ; it may have been meant as a ray of sunshine or a beacon of hope but if so the effect misfires badly. This is pretty much the passive / aggressive relationship from hell, born in darkness and quite as scary as any of the military mayhem flattening the town.
There looms a chasm between "Weekend" and the very recent "Dunkirk" : both movies are radically different in structure, scope, tone and ambition. It's remarkable how the human imagination can shed such different lights on identical (or at least vastly similar) events.
Serpent-like, the movie moves easily and fluidly from humor to sadness, from profundity to absurdity, from banality to despair and from bitterness to resolve. The war atmosphere is convincing and realistic and there are some fine performances. Belmondo, who is both the hero and anti-hero, gives a performance of rare humanity and maturity ; in my humble opinion, this is one of his best roles.
This does not mean that "Weekend" is free of tonal missteps. I have always been amazed by the weird "love affair" tacked unto the story ; it may have been meant as a ray of sunshine or a beacon of hope but if so the effect misfires badly. This is pretty much the passive / aggressive relationship from hell, born in darkness and quite as scary as any of the military mayhem flattening the town.
There looms a chasm between "Weekend" and the very recent "Dunkirk" : both movies are radically different in structure, scope, tone and ambition. It's remarkable how the human imagination can shed such different lights on identical (or at least vastly similar) events.