Mumblecore is an American independent film movement of the early 21st characterized by low-budget production, focus on personal relationships between twenty-somethings, improvised scripts, and non-professional actors. I thought I would start my review off this week with a kind of warning label. I am sure that this genre of film is something only half of all viewers find enjoyable.
Nights and Weekends is the newest in the genre due to the lack of microphones which make the actors sounds like their mumbling at times. Although a relatively new field of film-making, the basis for this style hasn't changed.
With Nights and Weekends, staples to the genre Joe Swanberg (LOL, Quiet City) and Greta Gerwig (Hannah Takes the Stairs, Baghead) return for a film that revolves solely around these two characters building and breaking apart in a timeless tale of breakups and makeups.
In previous films of theirs, the two have never tried a relationship story where at least 90% of the film is shot only on them. The film was shot in Chicago and New York, however in a faux-ironic way; the viewer only gets to see these beautiful cities for a few minutes as the majority is filmed in either apartments or hotels. I'm sure they did this technique on purpose to make the story seem more genuine.
As you can probably guess, such low-budget idealism doesn't transcend well to the masses, but luckily there is a thriving subculture out there that believes you don't need a bunch of special effects and money to make a substantial and interesting movie.
For instance, what better medium can you think of to show the hardest of all concepts, love. Real people having real conversations about real problems. It almost feels like watching reality TV, except the sincerity is tenfold and the people are more down-to-earth.
The title stems from the long distance relationship dilemma of only being able to seeing your significant other on nights or weekends. It's a sad but true concept because these situations can be extremely passionate but also heartbreaking. The passion and sadness are amplified to the extreme, however instead of coming off forced or unnatural, I felt the truest sense of longing and hope for the two characters.
I felt a real sense of confusion, which, under any other circumstance I would find annoying and immediately turned off. However, this confusion only seemed to keep my curiosity on the brim as I increasingly wanted to see exactly what was going to happen. Are we friends or more? Do I want to be friends or something more? These are real questions that everyone has asked at some point in their lives. When put into a film like this, it feels as if you're vicariously living through the characters in some scenes.
Like I've said, many people will lose interest immediately within the first ten minutes simply because you're only going to see and hear dialogue for the next hour and a half but, for those of us who can see this for what it is - happiness in the saddest form possible - N&W comes highly recommended from me.
Nights and Weekends can be found on Netflix.
Nights and Weekends is the newest in the genre due to the lack of microphones which make the actors sounds like their mumbling at times. Although a relatively new field of film-making, the basis for this style hasn't changed.
With Nights and Weekends, staples to the genre Joe Swanberg (LOL, Quiet City) and Greta Gerwig (Hannah Takes the Stairs, Baghead) return for a film that revolves solely around these two characters building and breaking apart in a timeless tale of breakups and makeups.
In previous films of theirs, the two have never tried a relationship story where at least 90% of the film is shot only on them. The film was shot in Chicago and New York, however in a faux-ironic way; the viewer only gets to see these beautiful cities for a few minutes as the majority is filmed in either apartments or hotels. I'm sure they did this technique on purpose to make the story seem more genuine.
As you can probably guess, such low-budget idealism doesn't transcend well to the masses, but luckily there is a thriving subculture out there that believes you don't need a bunch of special effects and money to make a substantial and interesting movie.
For instance, what better medium can you think of to show the hardest of all concepts, love. Real people having real conversations about real problems. It almost feels like watching reality TV, except the sincerity is tenfold and the people are more down-to-earth.
The title stems from the long distance relationship dilemma of only being able to seeing your significant other on nights or weekends. It's a sad but true concept because these situations can be extremely passionate but also heartbreaking. The passion and sadness are amplified to the extreme, however instead of coming off forced or unnatural, I felt the truest sense of longing and hope for the two characters.
I felt a real sense of confusion, which, under any other circumstance I would find annoying and immediately turned off. However, this confusion only seemed to keep my curiosity on the brim as I increasingly wanted to see exactly what was going to happen. Are we friends or more? Do I want to be friends or something more? These are real questions that everyone has asked at some point in their lives. When put into a film like this, it feels as if you're vicariously living through the characters in some scenes.
Like I've said, many people will lose interest immediately within the first ten minutes simply because you're only going to see and hear dialogue for the next hour and a half but, for those of us who can see this for what it is - happiness in the saddest form possible - N&W comes highly recommended from me.
Nights and Weekends can be found on Netflix.