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1945
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THE
LOST WEEKEND
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STARRING:RAY
MILLAND,HOWARD DA SILVA,DORIS DOWLING,FRANK FAYLEN,PHILLIP TERRY,JANE
WYMAN,MARY YOUNG
BASED
ON THE NOVEL BY CHARLES R.JACKSON
SCREENPLAY
BY CHARLES BRACKETT & BILLY WILDER
PRODUCED
BY CHARLES BRACKETT
DIRECTED
BY BILLY WILDER
GENRE:DRAMA
RATED:AUSTRALIA:PG/UK:PG/USA:APPROVED
RUNNING
TIME:101 MIN
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Even
though it has been 60 odd years since Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend
was released to the masses, this powerful film about alcoholism still
has an impact despite the occasional bump in this journey of addiction.
Ray Millard stars as Don, a novelist and hopeless alcoholic who has
spent the last 6 years staring at the bottom of a bottle. The viewer
is shown - via a series of flashbacks - how Ray's addiction has isolated
himself from those close to him: his brother Wick (Phillip Terry)
has given up on him; his bartender Nat (Howard Da Silva) refuses to
serve him; and Gloria (Doris Dowling), a local escort with a crush
on him, has grown disillusioned with his charms. Only Don's girlfriend
Helen (Jane Wyman) still holds out hope for his recovery.
Now on the losing end of a dry spell, Don faces his toughest hurdle
yet when left all alone on a long weekend from hell. Cue several scenes
of alcohol fuelled desperation: a sequence in an alcoholics ward still
has the desired impact; a subsequent hallucination featuring a bat
eating a mouse also works, even though the bat itself is as fake as
processed vomit; an envious Millard salivating a drink whilst watching
opera performers slurp down champagne is uncomfortably comedic; and
then there is the obligatory trashing of apartment whilst frantically
searching for hidden bottles of liquor, only to settle for a few last
drops in an otherwise empty bottle.
The scenes are bolstered by Miklos Rosza's bombastic score, which
strangely enough come off sounding very sci-fi in several fragments.
If I didn't know better, I would have sworn Bernard Herman has taken
on conducting duties.
Perhaps the most interesting of all aspects within The Lost Weekend
is its attempt at exposing the philosophy behind the addiction. While
we, the viewer, clearly see that the demon drink is in fact keeping
Millard's Don from reaching his full potential, as it destroys his
soul and his ability to express himself creatively, to love, and to
be loved, Don himself preaches - in a impassioned spiel - how liquor
invigorates him and sets him free of all inadequacies. He describes
it as being on a merry-go-round; I liken it more to a vicious circle.
Casting aside the films compelling philosophies, Rosza's excellent
score, and Wilder's always top class direction, there is one constant
felt throughout The Lost Weekend: this is Ray Millard's film.
Despite stern advice from his minders to do the opposite, Millard
took on a role which most actors would fall over themselves to play:
an intelligent, temperamental, and exceedingly desperate character
which Millard tackles with grandiose intensity and flamboyance while
chewing up and spitting out Wilder and co-writer Charles Brackett's
snappy dialogue.
The Lost Weekend is a sad film; disturbing in some places,
dated in others, yet an important journey through the mind and life
of an addict. |
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