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Canberra Today 16°/17° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Review: “Weekend” (MA) ? ? ? ½

FOR his first feature, writer/director Andrew Haigh invites us to observe while Russell (Tom Cullen), after a Friday night family party, visits a gay bar where he allows Glen (Chris New) to pick him up.

At the session I watched, two women left after about 20 minutes, leaving me and a handful of other men there for whatever reasons. Walking out is a negative response making a positive statement.

How “Weekend” goes down with straight men or women will depend on whether they are tolerant or homophobic. I cannot answer whether it will persuade gay men of its emotional authenticity. Ditto whether it gives them an erotic buzz. What we see of naked bodies confirms their beauty while skirting around the dangly bits.

Its language is totally frank about the mechanics and the motivations driving gay sexuality at its coal face. The dialogue of gay love-making technique leaves no doubt about how it works, probably confirming the automatic assumptions of people of any sex who don’t go along that path or have tried it out of curiosity and decided it was not for them.

Alcohol provides a subtext throughout the film, together with grass, coke and other addictive substances. Do they give Dutch courage or heighten the orgasmic sensation? The film’s matter-of-fact treatment of these questions is somehow re-assuring, less frightening while avoiding direct mention of the elephant in the room, HIV AIDS. Visual reference to condoms is statement enough.

At Dendy

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Dougal Macdonald

Dougal Macdonald

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