Review of The Lost Weekend (1945) by Jose P — 20 Apr 2008

I had no idea what this was about or who these people were in it, nor had I heard of the book or know that it won some awards, all I know is I looked at the box and it said "Directed by Billy Wilder" on the back, and I said to myself, "Well, it can't be bad.

" Indeed it isn't. Wilder has one of the greatest track records in film history, right behind Kurosawa and Hitchcock. You pick up a Billy Wilder movie and you know that you're going to enjoy it, and "The Lost Weekend" is no exception.

Think "Leaving Las Vegas" done in the 40's, and maybe a little more optimistic than that desperate pile of depression. The story is powerful to an extent and it knows how to build characters and weave in nice little motifs, but the real flair is in the direction, the shooting and the editing.

The film is paced brilliantly and the camera shows the same flair that it does in Hitchcock's best films. The performances were well above average, and I never thought it dragged anywhere. The film does have that weird quality where you have to wonder what it would have looked like 30 years later after the code had been done away with, if we'd be looking at something similar to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" or "Leaving Las Vegas" (Vegas has a terrible reputation, doesn't it?), but that's not something you can really fault the filmmakers with.

I recommend this film to anyone who likes watching a tightly constructed, highly polished work of art.