I have to disagree with the other review here (and at the time I write this, there's only one), Weekend is a much better movie than Beyond the Walls. I see the similarities, but this is far more complex than Weekend.
Not nuanced, mind you, complex. With Weekend, I felt I really knew the two principle characters well, warts and all. They were lifelike and real.
These characters are somewhat one-dimensional. Despite the life changes made by Paolo, the young guy, I didn't really understand him fully. More of a back story on him might have helped me understand how he goes from conflicted, to needy, to clingy, to obsessed, to victim, to detached, all in the space of a year. Which is entirely possible, but unlikely in a first-world early-20s-something.
And, evidently, he only knows two gay people, both older men. We only see him in the first scene with contemporaries (and they abandon him, so are they really friends?) except for his girlfriend. And all we learn about their relationship is that she's finally had enough of his sleeping with men.
And, I know it sounds petty, but it bothered me that I didn't know how Paolo was earning a living. That isn't revealed until half-way into the movie. I found it a distraction, wondering if it was a plot point. He uses an inhaler frequently in the first part of the movie, so I wondered if he was on disability. We don't see the inhaler in the second part of the movie, so maybe that's meant to signify he's more comfortable with the life choices he's made? If so, that's a LOT to hang on an inhaler.
His first lover, Ilir, is a little more sketched out, but I wasn't convinced that he was the kind of person who would have succumbed so quickly to the petulance and coquetry of Paolo, particularly when the aforementioned's "charms" were at least partly motivated by his needing a place to stay. The second lover, the owner of a gay sex shop, is about as flat a character as you'll ever meet.
If you sketch out the plot line on paper, it makes sense, and is plausible. But I don't think the movie makes the sell. Still, I wasn't bored, and was curious to see how things resolved. I did not quite buy the ending, but again, I could see how it might happen.
This is an above-average movie, and many may like it. But for me, it was no Weekend. By far.
Not nuanced, mind you, complex. With Weekend, I felt I really knew the two principle characters well, warts and all. They were lifelike and real.
These characters are somewhat one-dimensional. Despite the life changes made by Paolo, the young guy, I didn't really understand him fully. More of a back story on him might have helped me understand how he goes from conflicted, to needy, to clingy, to obsessed, to victim, to detached, all in the space of a year. Which is entirely possible, but unlikely in a first-world early-20s-something.
And, evidently, he only knows two gay people, both older men. We only see him in the first scene with contemporaries (and they abandon him, so are they really friends?) except for his girlfriend. And all we learn about their relationship is that she's finally had enough of his sleeping with men.
And, I know it sounds petty, but it bothered me that I didn't know how Paolo was earning a living. That isn't revealed until half-way into the movie. I found it a distraction, wondering if it was a plot point. He uses an inhaler frequently in the first part of the movie, so I wondered if he was on disability. We don't see the inhaler in the second part of the movie, so maybe that's meant to signify he's more comfortable with the life choices he's made? If so, that's a LOT to hang on an inhaler.
His first lover, Ilir, is a little more sketched out, but I wasn't convinced that he was the kind of person who would have succumbed so quickly to the petulance and coquetry of Paolo, particularly when the aforementioned's "charms" were at least partly motivated by his needing a place to stay. The second lover, the owner of a gay sex shop, is about as flat a character as you'll ever meet.
If you sketch out the plot line on paper, it makes sense, and is plausible. But I don't think the movie makes the sell. Still, I wasn't bored, and was curious to see how things resolved. I did not quite buy the ending, but again, I could see how it might happen.
This is an above-average movie, and many may like it. But for me, it was no Weekend. By far.