''The Long Weekend (O' Despair)'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by

Gregg Araki Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his heavy involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His film ''Kaboom (film), Kaboom'' (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm. Ear ...

and starring Brett Vail. The film follows three couples, one gay, one lesbian and one heterosexual, spending a weekend together.

Cast

* Bretton Vail as Michael * Maureen Dondanville as Rachel * Andrea Beane as Leah * Nicole Dillenberg as Sara *

Marcus D'Amico Marcus D'Amico (4 December 1965 – 16 December 2020) was a film, television, and stage actor best known for his role as Michael "Mouse" Tolliver in the Tales of the City (1993 miniseries), 1993 ''Tales of the City'' miniseries. Born in Germany ...

as Greg * Lance Woods as Alex

Production

Araki shot ''The Long Weekend'' in black and white on a budget of $5,000.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

congratulated Araki for making an attractive-appearing film on a minuscule budget but found the film hard to watch. Faulting the film's "extremely self-conscious, neo-sitcom dialogue", Canby felt that Araki's ingenuity as a filmmaker was not matched by his talent. ''The Long Weekend (O' Despair)'' won the 1989

Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...

Independent-Experimental Award.

References

External links

* 1989 films American black-and-white films Films directed by Gregg Araki 1989 LGBT-related films American LGBT-related films LGBT-related drama films 1989 drama films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{LGBT-drama-film-stub