MOVIE REVIEW : A Stylish ‘Weekend’ of Self-Discovery

Gregg Araki’s “The Long Weekend (O’ Despair)” (at the Monica 4-Plex’s AFI USA Independent Showcase) takes an amused, compassionate view of a group of college graduates overwhelmed with what to do with their lives. Bright, articulate, self-aware, they realize they’ve outgrown their self-described nihilistic punk attitudes--and perhaps each other--but can’t come up with anything better than to strike poses of Antonioni-like ennui.

All their going on about hanging on by a thread is, of course, pretentious and self-indulgent. While Araki finds humor in their talk, he realizes that their predicament is real. By the end of the film you’re able to respect them for risking the pain of self-discovery that many never attempt.

Two couples descend upon a young man, Michael (Bretton Vail) for the weekend just at the moment that he’s tossed his copy of Andre Bazin’s “What Is Cinema?” in the wastebasket, signaling that he’s given up--or thinks he’s given up--trying to be a filmmaker. Rachel (Maureen Dondanville) and Greg (Marcus d’Amico), announce what seems to be a highly tentative engagement to be married; Leah (Andrea Beane) and Sara (Nicole Dillenberg) are lovers whose relationship of some duration is unraveling. Michael’s ex-lover Alex (Lance Woods), who walked out six months earlier, turns up without warning. The cast seems initially self-conscious but gets better as the film goes along.

A winner of the 1989 L.A. Film Critics Assn. prize for best independent/experimental feature, “The Long Weekend (O’ Despair)” puts to shame countless vastly more expensive pictures. Using scrap film and a hand-held Bolex, Araki shot his 87-minute feature for less than $5,000. This film and his earlier “Three Bewildered People” bring to mind Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise” with its harsh, gritty high-contrast black-and-white and its deadpan humor. Much of Araki’s film takes place out of doors, with his people wandering around underpopulated, impersonal L.A. locales, often at nighttime.

Araki makes his images count for as much as Jarmusch does his, though Araki’s people tend to be more sophisticated and verbal. Also, Araki’s sensibility is gay--the specter of AIDS is never very far away from Michael’s thoughts--while Jarmusch’s is straight.

Implicit in the film is the notion that growing up and figuring out what to do with one’s life is inextricably tied up with sorting out and accepting one’s sexual orientation. For many “The Long Weekend (O’ Despair)” (Times-rated Mature for adult themes and situations), with its quite deliberate meanderings and the depressed mood of its self-absorbed people, will be tough going. The idea is to take it seriously--but not too much so.

‘The Long Weekend (O’ Despair)’

Bretton Vail: Michael

Maureen Dondanville: Rachel

Andrea Beane: Leah

Nicole Dillenberg: Sara

Marcus d’Amico: Greg

Lance Woods: Alex

A Desperate Pictures presentation. Writer-director-producer-cinematographer-editor Gregg Araki. Music Steven Fields (Iron Curtain), Fred’s Crashop, Steve Burr, Dirt Production Co. Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes.

Times-rated Mature (for adult themes and situations).