Weekend ***** (1967, Mireille Darc, Jean Yanne, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Jean-Pierre Kalfon) – Classic Movie Review 5990

The thrilling 1967 post-modern black comedy movie Weekend is an outstanding example of French surreal avant-garde cinema from the prime of writer-director Jean-Luc Godard, in which Mireille Darc and Jean Yanne play a Parisian married couple, Corinne and Roland Durand, who drive into the French countryside for the weekend.

Along the road, they encounter auto wrecks, corpses, philosophers, writers, political activists and film-makers, in a bizarre adventure that culminates in kidnapping by cannibalistic masked guerrillas.

Dismissive of ‘logical’ linear storytelling, Godard chooses to relate his tale of the decline of Western consumer society in a fragmented, disrupted style that eschews Hollywood escapism. The result is brio satirical black comedy film-making and a French New Wave surrealist classic.

Also in the cast are Jean-Pierre Léaud as revolutionary Saint-Just, Juliet Berto, Anne Wiazemsky, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Yves Beneyton, Paul Gégauf, Daniel Pomereuille, Yves Alfonso, Blandine Jeanson, Virginie Vignon and Jean Eustache.

Weekend [Week-end] runs 105 minutes, is written by Jean-Luc Godard, is shot in Eastmancolor by Raoul Coutard, is produced by Raymond Danon, and is scored by Antoine Duhamel, with classical music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Godard married Anne Wiazemsky in 1967.

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar claimed the inspiration for the movie was his short story La Autopista del Sur (The Southern Thruway) and that while a British producer was considering filming his story, a third party presented the idea to Godard, who did not know its source.

The cast are Mireille Darc as Corinne, Jean Yanne as Roland, Paul Gégauff as pianist, Jean-Pierre Léaud as Saint-Just and man in phone booth, Blandine Jeanson as Emily Brontë and page-turner for pianist, Yves Afonso as Tom Thumb, Jean-Pierre Kalfon as the leader of Front de Libération de la Seine et Oise (FLSO), Juliet Berto as a member of FLSO and a bourgeoise in a Triumph, Jean Eustache as a hitchhiker, László Szabó as an Arab garbage collector and revolutionary, Omar Diop as an African garbage collector and revolutionary, Anne Wiazemsky as an audience member in the piano recital, and Michel Cournot as an audience member in the piano recital.

It is one of the best opportunities for French cinema icon Mireille Darc, who died on 28 August 2017, aged 79.

Jean-Luc Godard died aged 91 on 13 September 2022 at his home in Rolle, Switzerland, following an assisted suicide procedure. He was married to two of his leading women: Anna Karina (1961–1965) and Anne Wiazemsky (1967–1979). He lived with his partner Anne-Marie Miéville since 1970 in Rolle since 1978. His best period is from his first feature Breathless (1960) to Weekend (1967).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5990

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com

Mireille Darc (15 May 1938 – 28 August 2017) was Alain Delon’s longtime co-star and companion.