gavin6942 A supposedly idyllic week-end 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.Following World War II, the French grew increasingly supportive of communism. Maybe not as a whole, but the intellectuals (such as Sartre) embraced it, and it seems a natural reaction following the Nazi occupation of the 1940s. Rejecting the extreme right does tend to push ideology to the left.Here we have a surreal satire on the class struggle in France in the 1960s. One of the most radical countries during one of the most radical decades. Many have compared this to Luis Bunuel's "Discreet Charm" and with good reason. They can both be seen as the artistic expression of the disdain for the upper class. I dare say this is the better film, even if probably the lesser-known.

Mopkin TheHopkin Jen Luc-Goddard's "Weekend" is a strange art film. Goddard uses garish colour and strange camera shots and editing cuts throughout the film to give it an anarchistic feeling. Fitting, as this film is about the collapse of society during a weekend car trip. I think. The film features a number of characters who are completely off their rockers. There is a roadside robbery by Jesus (or God? or God's grandson?), inexplicable on camera animal killings (real, I think), cannibals, murder and a ton of car's honking. I do not know what else to say about this film really apart from what it made me feel, which was a bit confused. The film is about anarchy and chaos, and the way it is shot is increasingly disjointed as society continues to crumble. Their is also a ton of political commentary about consumerism, neo-colonialism and class division. When this film ended, I really did not know whether I liked it or not. It had some good dark-humour and was interestingly shot, but made little sense beyond that, and left me thinking of an art school project.All in all, this was a disjointed art film about anarchy, and I didn't like it or dislike it. It just is. It exists. Why, I cannot say. Recommended for fans of Goddard, and anarchists I guess. 5/10

tony randall this might be the snottiest film i've ever seen. Godard at his most antagonistic.throughout he is looking at us and saying"what are you gonna do about it?" just about every shot is in defiance of some kind of filmmaking rule or preconceived idea of what a director should,or could,put on screen- most notably the shootout near the end between the revolutionaries and the opening sex monologue.this is the film (i think) that established Godard's agenda that capitalism is bad and by logical extension the USA is to blame for most of the world's problems.how else could it possibly end but with one main character cannibalizing another?the story in a nutshell is of 2 unlikable people-a married couple who can't stand each other-trying to reach the husband's uncle's house to claim some kind of inheritance.husband and wife both hoping to keep it for themselves.along the way the run into an epic traffic jam (a beautifully done tracking shot),a couple of people dressed like Lewis Carroll characters,Jean-Pierre Leaud dressed as a napoleonic era soldier and again later as a young man with a fancy car among others until finally running into a group of revolutionaries.the screenplay has its similarities to the odyssey or apocalypse now as the couple's journey gets increasingly surreal and bloody as the road to oinville is increasingly littered with wrecked cars,dead bodies,and the colors red,white and blue.i really admire JLG'S hubris here especially the end credit which declares this film to be the end of cinema.the sex pistols (or John Lydon i should say) declared rock and roll dead after they disbanded and i was thinking a lot about them during this most punk rock of films.it's not that you necessarily buy that JLG,or Lydon either-and obviously history hasn't borne them out-but you certainly believe that THEY believe it.i think that's why the movie has so many people who love it and conversely the people who hate it still respect it for the same reason.as for me this may be the only movie i consider "great" that i really don't like..not that i don't like it,i do buuuut...i don't know..maybe this Mark Twain quote sums up how i really feel about it: (i'm paraphrasing) if a man at the age of 20 is not against the establishment in all its forms then he has no heart.if the same man hasn't joined that same establishment by the age of 30 he has no brain.Godard might be a genius but he sure as hell has no use for that quote...age 35 2/10....age 22 10/10...but that's just me...

jimmy-256 Warning: animal abuse, actual animal killed. Godard slaughters a pig on camera. Godard slaughters a duck on camera. If this sort of French snuff gets you hot & horny, then by all means enjoy the flick. However, if you give half a damn about animals, you might want to avoid this film. It's your choice, but whatever you do, don't be one of those hypocrites who says, "Oh I love animals, but it's totally cool if we abuse them in horrific ways for the sake of entertainment." If you're the latter, please stick your head in a toilet and flush.Other directors who kill animals because they're too cheap to use special effects or props: Tarkovsky, Bergman, Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Ki-duk Kim... just check out the IMDb keyword actual-animal-killed for a list of films to either avoid or grease up your pole to, depending on what floats your boat.