Like my tweet says, Weekend was an amazing movie.  I saw it last night with my friend Rob.  This movie is about guy named Russel who goes to a gay bar after hanging out with his straight friends.  He had told them he was going home but as the viewer you could see that he was sort of uncomfortable hanging around with his straight friends, even if he is the godfather for one of his friend’s daughters.  While at the gay bar, Russel picks up Glen after a little game of chase between the two.  We then fast forward to the morning where we see Russel in his kitchen making coffee for Glen.  Glen is an artist and he has this tape recorder in which he asks Russel to retell the night they spent together.  Russel is shy and embarrassed but they rehash the night into the tape recorder.

They end up spending the weekend together, in which Glen reveals that he’s leaving for America (this is set in England) the next day.  They have a great couple of days together, trying to make sense of their lives.  Glen embraces his homosexuality (and goes to say that one shouldn’t need to be sanctioned by straight ideals in order to feel happy) and Russel prefers to keep his sexuality on a need to know basis (although he’s out to everyone, he believes that that is perfectly acceptable for two men to marry even if they are playing into this “straight idea” that Glen is so against).

Although these two viewpoints are rather simplistic, as the movie progresses we find a sort of hidden backstory (isn’t there always?) for why these men feel the way they do.  After a wonderful, alcohol and drug induced night, they connect on a very deep level and although they cannot admit it to themselves, they formed an amazing connection to one another.

The weekend ends and Glen prepares to leave the country, Russel is off to his goddaughter’s birthday party.  Russel’s best friend senses a certain apprehensiveness present in Russel and pries the reason out of Russel.  The best friend then offers to drive Russel to the train station to see Glen off while Russel absolutely resists but of course he doesn’t resist too hard.

The train station scene was great.  The two men stood on the platform and their conversation is drowned out by the noise of the trains and passengers but we can see Russel’s hand movements and face as he tries to convey to Glen what is in both of their hearts.  They embrace and kiss and then Glen boards the train, not before giving Russel a gift – the tape recorder of the night they met.

I felt that the two actors, Tom Cullen and Chris New, had wonderful chemistry together and I felt bad sometimes because it seemed as if I was a voyeur into their lives.  Little movements and glances make up the rich subtext of their developing relationship.  Although nothing is certain and there’s potential everywhere, I am glad that the movie’s ending was bittersweet.  It adds a hint of realism that is uncommon in a lot of gay movies.

This is director Andrew Haigh’s second movie.  Straight from the director,

I wanted to tell an honest, intimate and authentic love story. I wanted to express that feeling of both fear and excitement that comes with the possibility of something new. I wanted to watch these two guys slowly fall for one another, fall for each other’s differences almost as if they were uncovering missing pieces of themselves. I wanted to capture those moments that two people share when they truly start to engage with one another, gently focusing in on the struggles at the core of their characters. Russell and Glen are two people navigating through life in very different ways but both are looking for same thing - to find their place within the world around them. They are trying to work out who they are, what they want and how they should define themselves, in private as well as in public. Obviously when dealing with two gay characters many of these issues become especially pertinent and it was important to me that I tried to say something truthful about the complexities of the modern gay experience. However, just as there are many ways to define a person, the same can be said of a film. I hope that rather than narrowing the resonance of the story, the gay context helps to amplify the themes felt at the heart of Weekend - those struggles we all face regardless of sexuality

I felt that the moment was captured, alright.  Like I said, there were times when I felt like I was a voyeur looking into their window (and there was a beautiful scene where Glen and Russel were embracing in an open window while the other windows in the apartment building where dark and theirs was the only one lit).  The modern gay experience is something I can relate to because now we have a choice to make – do we as gay men confirm and blend into the world and make our sexuality “no big deal”, an afterthought when describing a person or do we embrace it and fuck who we want and fuck the straight ways of living and fuck fuck fuck?  Is there a push or pull, is there a binary?

Both, either, any, whichever.  We all have these choices now.

I definitely recommend this movie.  It’s in select theaters now for a limited showing so see it while you can!