Weekend (1967)
"Week End" (original title)

A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard

Stars:

Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Kalfon

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Mireille Darc	...	Corinne Durand
Jean Yanne	...	Roland Durand
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Le chef du Front de Libération de la Seine et Oise

Storyline

A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations

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Plot Keywords:

traffic jam | murder | terrorism | cannibalism | cruelty | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 September 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Weekend

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Comacico, Films Copernic, Lira Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The chant by the drummer is from the Comte de Lautréamont's "Chants de Maldoror".

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Quotes

Saint-Just: [in the midst of a bourgeois' car collision] From French Revolutions to Gaullist weekends, freedom is violence.

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Connections

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

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Soundtracks

"Piano Sonata No. 18 in D, K. 576: I. Allegro"
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Played by the pianist at the farm

User Reviews

A surrealist fantasy - or nightmare

Yeah, it's super bizarre and it's probably Godard's strangest work (which is saying a lot) that I've seen, but I still couldn't look past the glaring flaws and just love the wonderfully surrealist images. The first hour or so of the film is pretty much perfect, combining a brutally random sense of violence with some delightfully weird fantasy images and a dark, dark sense of humour. The infamous ten minute long tracking shot of the traffic jam manages to remain entertaining throughout by linking a series of hilariously comic moments. I also especially liked the bit with the guy with the Porsche singing into a pay phone and the inexplicable appearance of Emily Brontë, who is dismissed as a fictional character and lit on fire. However, once Godard's political beliefs begin making their presence felt in an all too explicit and blatant manner, the film grinds to a halt. I was simply bored during the long monologues on America's foreign policy, which seemed a rather childish attempt by Godard to get his message across. The film never really recovers from this, as even the appearance of a group of cannibalistic revolutionaries can't bring back the same sense of black comedy that populated the first 2/3 of the film. Still, it's utterly brilliant for a majority of the time, and its bizarre images mask a mostly subtle and intelligent tirade against society and commercialism. Not for the faint-hearted, though.