A bit of Parisian class from me today as I have a petit look
at Le Week-End. Directed by Roger
Michell (who directed Notting Hill don’t
you know) and starring Jim Broadbent (Hot
Fuzz), Lindsay Duncan (About Time)
and Jeff “life…finds a way” Goldblum, the film follows Nick and Meg Burrows as
they celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in the French capital.
Once the obligatory shots out the window of the Eurostar and
marital exchanges about currency and passports are out of the way, our
protagonists arrive in Paris and (after a slight false start) begin to spend
both money and time aplenty throwing themselves into everything the city has to
offer. With the kids having left home and careers at a crossroads, both have
their reasons to express themselves and be free.
After the first twenty minutes of the film there is a
certain feeling of “oh, here we go again” about this kind of story, but Michell
(and Hanif Kureishi’s brilliant script) at this point bring us off the beaten
path and onto an altogether rockier trail. As keen walkers will attest though,
it is the paths that are hardest to traverse that reward us with the best views
and the best stories to tell afterwards.
By delving deeper into their characters’ motivations,
histories and values Michell and Kureishi manage to conjure up something
altogether more whole. Their understanding that a relationship is both the sum
of two parts and yet is simultaneously greater than that lets the viewer share
both the depths the characters plunge to and the heights they soar to as we
share in their story. Admittedly some of the exchanges have a slight dearth in originality, but then the point of a film like this is that these are real people who do bicker and quarrel with each other over little things like toothbrushes and choosing restaurants.
Broadbent and Duncan are superb in the main roles, giving us
the full range in two perfectly proportioned performances. Broadbent’s usual
bumbling old fool bit has an added bite to it that is pleasing to see, while Duncan
impresses yet again as a domineering yet caring matriarch. Typecasting does
exist for a reason you know – one would hazard a guess that the script was
written with these two in mind. And Jeff Goldblum, well I mean, what is there
to say that hasn’t already been said about this unstoppable behemoth of a man.
In a role that consign mere mortal actors to be forgotten, Goldblum steals
scenes at will, showing once again that he could well be the actor of his
generation.
I would certainly recommend Le Week-End then to viewers of
any generation – as my companion put it to me afterwards it was strangely easy
to relate to despite not even being married. Not the easiest film to watch, but
if you want easy then go and watch Pingu.
Until next time.
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