Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

[hearthesilence]

I finally saw "Weekend" on a decent 35mm print, and I absolutely loved it 3/4 of the way in. About then, the movie just fell apart for me - I'm referring to the final fourth where the two main characters are kidnapped by revolutionary cannibals. I guess there's something about the concept that is funny, but that last part of the film just drags too much, it just wasn't interesting. I thought everything else in the movie worked, usually with amusing results, but it didn't happen with the last part.

Whatever, anyone who swings for the fences and bats 3/4 deserves a hell of a lot of credit. I just hope a good DVD pops up SOON. I didn't realize one was unavailable until after it was over.

[swingo]

It has been released by Artificial Eye R2...


Axel.

[duane hall]

i hear ya, silence.

first i must say, i adore Weekend. when i first saw it a couple years ago it exploded my previous, naive notions of cinematic possibilities, and it's largely responsible for catalyzing my enthusiasm for film as an art form. ..so, for that, i'll always be indebted. but i do feel similarly about the last act.

with each of my 3 viewings of Weekend the ending has lost me somewhat. (notwithstanding the priceless drumkit playing.) i always feel like the film should end with the shot that rises over the drummer, looking out over the stagnant river as the as the guerilla voiceover proclaims, "Let us make a supreme effort, and, conscious of our duty, fulfill our destiny on this earth. Greetings, ancient ocean." ending the film there would only shave off five minutes, but it just feels right. of course, the last act can be defended from a conceptual standpoint, considering the fruitlessness and perversion of the guerrilla faction with which it's concerned.

as for the R-2 DVD, i just received it and watched it today. i echo ellipsis' approving, yet not ecstatic, comments found in this thread. i don't buy many DVDs (Weekend's my first R-2 purchase, actually), but it's hard to pass on essential Godard.

[Andre Jurieu]

Back before the board crashed, somebody mentioned that New Yorker is going to get their version out this year or next.

Apparently, we should expect it in April.

[Oedipax]

I watched the Artificial Eye DVD of this yesterday and second what everyone else has said about the transfer quality; it's very good, but not quite great. Still, I'm thrilled just to have it on DVD finally, and in such relatively good condition, plus the extras are pretty good. My only real gripe is that a few of the text flashes throughout the film go untranslated, either because they're on screen for just a second or someone happens to be talking while they are on. I know a little French so for me it's not a dealbreaker, but just on general principle it would've been nice had AE devised a way to translate all of it.

[Kirkinson]

New Yorker: Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend

"New Yorker's DVD transfer for Weekend looks to be a direct port of the Artificial Eye disc ... with one astonishing exception. When the film jumps its frame during the car crash, New Yorker's DVD makes a ludicrous attempt to re-splice it so that the frame remains in its proper position and we never see the black mask deliberately placed in the center of the screen. Of course, I've only seen the film on these two DVDs, so my guess that the AE disc is the "correct" version is merely a guess (it makes artistic sense: their car skews off the road, so Godard's film skips out of its sprockets), citing the horizontal splice lines that run through New Yorker's "corrected" version as evidence. A proper explanation is definitely in order, because if my guess is correct, the New Yorker disc commits artistic homicide."

I don't have the R2 DVD handy at the moment, but http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a332/ ... jpg]here's what the suspicious frames look like. Note the very conspicuous horizontal line indicating a half-assed-seeming "correction."

Anyone have the US VHS release on hand, and if so, how is this scene presented therein?

I rented it and just took a look at the scene in question. As bad as the R1 is, New Yorker committed equally egregious artistic homicide on their previous VHS: the frames in question are omitted entirely. On the R2 DVD the car passes the tractor, then the frame jumping starts, we hear massive amounts of tire screeching and a woman's scream before we finally settle on the wreck (some of which is also subjected to the frame jumping). The VHS, however, is missing about five or six seconds: it cuts straight to the wreck right after they pass the tractor. None of the stills in Eric's post show up on the VHS in any way at all.

Anyone who's seen it projected know if it's supposed to remain in frame like on the NYer DVD?

Seeing a film projected is supposed to settle these things, but in this case it has only added to the confusion. I attended a screening last week, and to my utter befuddlement, this scene played exactly as it does on the New Yorker disc...including the horizontal lines that run across the frame where (presumably) it has been spliced together.

I have e-mailed the people who organized the screening to ask them where they obtained their print. I have not received a response (of course I'll post again if I do) but I suspect they obtained it from New Yorker. If that is the case, then I will presume this is still incorrect -- at any rate, those horizontal lines are surely not supposed to be there. If the print came from somewhere else, I'm not sure what to think. Either there's been widespread mishandling of this film, or all these prints are being struck from a flawed source and New Yorker is simply trying to correct it (in which case I would assume Artificial Eye decided not to try messing with it any further).

Follow-up on the screening I attended:

Yes, we obtained Weekend through New Yorker Films.

And here is Artificial Eye's take on it:

The 'car crash' sequence in 'Weekend' has been the subject of quite some debate. We obtained a digi beta master of the film from Gaumont, the film's production company, who had made a new telecine transfer of the film. We asked them about the sequence, as it did look like a technical error, but they informed us that this is how it's meant to be presented and that the transfer had been approved by Jean-Luc Godard himself.

I did some digging into our archives and found an old VHS of Channel 4's first broadcast of the film back in the '80s. Their presentation of this sequence is, judging from your description, very similar New Yorker's. I then found a VHS of Connoisseur Video's VHS release, who obviously decided that the frame-rolling effect was a technical fault as it was completely removed from their version!

New Yorker did speak to me when they were authoring their disc and we discussed the pros and cons of each version. They also attempted to contact Godard himself, but unfortunately received no response. Therefore, I'm not entirely certain as to the reasons why two transfers differ, but can assure you that both are 'director approved' versions.

Although this explanation doesn't really leave you any the wiser, I hope it is of some help!

Best regards,

Steve Lewis
DVD Manager

It looks like we were a little quick to judge New Yorker in the other thread. They went as far as discussing the differences with AE and went to the trouble of trying to get in touch with Godard about it, and in the end they just went with what they thought was the best decision.

But if Gaumont endorses the frame jumping and they say they have Godard's approval, that pretty much settles it. New Yorker has it wrong -- though it's not like it ruins the whole film, and if Godard really cared one way or the other I presume he would have responded to their questions.

Exhibit F

[Oedipax]

If I had to guess I'd say the frame rolling was intentional - it certainly works in the context of the film. But it's nice to hear anyway that New Yorker at least made some effort to figure things out. Love that Weekend trailer, by the way - total insanity!

[Robotron]

I just saw this film, and all I could think about during the last fourth or so and for a while afterwards was how badly I wanted to kill Godard and how painful I wanted it to be.

[Michael Kerpan]

I just saw this film, and all I could think about during the last fourth or so and for a while afterwards was how badly I wanted to kill Godard and how painful I wanted it to be.

;~}

[domino harvey]

I just saw this film, and all I could think about during the last fourth or so and for a while afterwards was how badly I wanted to kill Godard and how painful I wanted it to be.

Wow, I didn't know 95% of my Intro to Film class posted here.

[Robotron]

I just saw this film, and all I could think about during the last fourth or so and for a while afterwards was how badly I wanted to kill Godard and how painful I wanted it to be.

Wow, I didn't know 95% of my Intro to Film class posted here.

Hello Snide, my name is Rebuttal.

[justeleblanc]

I just saw this film, and all I could think about during the last fourth or so and for a while afterwards was how badly I wanted to kill Godard and how painful I wanted it to be.

Would it involve a raw egg?