Long Weekend

Directed by: Jamie Blanks

Starring: Jim Caviezel, Claudia Karvan

Synopsis:

A young successful couple, Peter and Carla, try to save their marriage by spending a long weekend at a remote beach resort. When they arrive, their total disregard for the environment and callous attitude to the local ecology leads to such an outrage in nature that the local wildlife targets them for revenge.

The 1978 version of Long Weekend wasn’t particularly in need of a remake, but I guess in today’s “climate” of impending eco-disaster (depending on who you listen to), it kind of makes sense that one would be made.

Long Weekend is essentially a “two hander” – although you could argue that there is a third character in Mother Nature herself and how she reacts to this modern-day Adam and Eve. The couple’s infractions are many – mostly Peter, but Carla isn’t so innocent herself – and they are filmed in such a way that we the audience can’t fail to see – a carrier bag left to drift along the beach, a cigarette butt thrown from a car window, igniting a bush, etc. When Peter runs over a kangaroo on the road, he’s more concerned about the damage to his headlights.

Peter and Carla are very unsympathetic characters. They are constantly bickering and suffering under each other’s torment. It’s implied that Carla had an affair, got pregnant and had an abortion, while Peter is a boorish drunk who won’t get off his high horse. The change of scenery only magnifies their problems. They were meant to meet up with some friends at the beach but they never show up, leaving Peter and Carla isolated in each other’s company.

There are two particular acts which tip the balance – Peter shoots a dark shape in the ocean while Carla destroys an object found by their dog. These events make Mother Nature take off the gloves and launch a whole-scale ecological war against the couple.

The location and scenery in Long Weekend is absolutely fantastic – untouched beaches, crystal clear blue water – that you can see why Peter and Carla would take the trouble to go there, and why Mother Nature would want to protect it so aggressively. If Peter and Carla represent Adam and Eve then this is definitely Eden, but an Eden after Adam and Eve had been cast out by God.

The ending is a little predictable and a tiny bit tragic – as I said, it’s difficult to sympathise with either Peter or Carla – but the film ends with a virtuoso bloody splatter which comes almost totally out of left field and will leave you gob-smacked.

Verdict:

While its difficult to sympathise with either of the main characters, there is enough going on in Long Weekend to want to know what fates Nature has in store for them, and the photography and scenery are gorgeous. Just watch out for that last scene though…

6 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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