Two couples, one dinner table, zero survivors. 1970s Norwegian marriage implodes in 23 delicious minutes.
«What do you really want», Jan shouts to Reidun. They are a young couple, but their relationship is brittle and seems to be dissolving due to both internal and external pressures. On the weekend they invite another couple for dinner, but the companionship and fun are gradually destroyed by quarrels and infidelity. Still, the two women finally seem to find understanding and solidarity in eachother. Week-End depicts how the political also permeate the private, in a way both original and typical of its age. The tension between old and new gender roles is one cause of the problems in the relationship between Reidun and Jan, but the political is just one aspect in a film that also deals with emotions, relations and identity. Week-End is rooted in 1970s social modernism, mixing modernist storytelling strategies with a political sub-theme of female identity and solidarity
Direction
Mikkelsen weaponizes awkward silences like a Scandinavian Chantal Akerman.
Acting
Linnestad's Reidun: every woman who's ever smiled through wanting to scream.
Director
Laila Mikkelsen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Peak Norwegian social modernism: when state-funded cinema let directors dissect marriage like a frog in biology class.
The women's final connection wasn't in the original script — Mikkelsen added it after crew discussions about whose story this actually was.
NO
