''The Long Weekend (O' Despair)'' (stylized onscreen in lowercase) is a 1989 American

low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written, produced, edited and directed by

Gregg Araki Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His ''Teenage Apocalypse'' film trilogy, consisting of ''Totally F***ed Up ''(1993), ''The Doom Generation ''(1995) ...

, 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 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' reviewer

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was 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 2000. ...

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 organi ...

Independent-Experimental Award.

References

External links

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