Nature's Grave

Aristotle taught that if one way be better than another, that would have to be nature's way. He obviously never saw this movie. Mother Nature ain't so motherly in "Long Weekend". Nature isn't anyone's friend. Nature is the enemy: wildlife, weather, and, most importantly, the wayward ways of man (and woman). But there is no need to go ballistic with interpretation to enjoy this movie. It's essentially an old-school drama, despite some of the mysteries. It definitely works on several levels. At face value, it's the story of Peter and Carla who can't make their marriage work, least of all during what is supposed to be quality time, away from home and everyday chores. On another level, it's a tale of an awe-inspiring, yet unwelcoming wilderness conspiring against urban intruders, both by attacking them directly and by bringing out the worst in them. Giving little context and almost no explanation, Jamie Blanks takes us on a very wild ride. "Long Weekend" is not funny, but who says everything has to be? Of course there's no happy ending either. Not a big bang, but explosive enough.

Peter (James Caviezel) and Carla (Claudia Karvan) have a wasted marriage and constant friction. Peter buys expensive camping apparatuses and despite the protests of Carla, he travels with her and their dog Cricket to camp in the isolated Moondah Beach in the North Coast with his friend Luke and his girlfriend during the rainy holiday. Peter stops in a pub in the Eggleston Hotel and leaves a message to Luke with the owner of the pub. When Peter takes the shortcut to reach the beach, he gets lost and the couple spends the night sleeping in their truck. On the next morning, Peter organizes the campsite and disturbs the nature with his rifle. Along the two days, the couple deteriorates their relationship while the nature revenges the bad treatment.

"Long Weekend" is a weird movie, actually a remake of Collin Eggleston's movie of 1978 that I saw many years ago on 13 March 2001 and also recalls "Lost Things" when the couple finds that it is impossible to leave the spot. The intention would be to show a couple with problems in their relationship that spends the holiday trying to resolve their issues, but they mistreat the nature and find the nature's punishment in the end. There is also a discreet homage to the original director with the name of the hotel where they stop to buy rum and leave a message to Luke. Unfortunately this remake is confused and the objective of the plot is not clear; however the anguishing and claustrophobic condition of Peter and Carla that seems to be in the limbo of their existence trapped in an isolated area and incapable to find a way out is the worthwhile part of this movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Isolados" ("Isolated")

An unhappy couple in Australia--Peter (Jim Caviezl) and Carla (Claudia Karvan)--decide to go camping one long weekend in a remote wooded area near the ocean. Along the way Peter (accidentally) hits a kangaroo and casually shoots at birds within range. They argue and he wanders around a lot with his shirt off. That's about it until an abrupt change of events during the last 30 minutes.

This film has goos acting by the leads, Caviezl looks good with his shirt off, has some gorgeous cinematography, nice music...but that's it. This is pushed as being a horror film but it's really just a domestic drama with horror kicking in during the last 30 minutes. The horror itself isn't particularly scary and doesn't make much sense. All this has going for it is acting, scenery and music--nothing else. I give it a 4 just for that.

What about the dog??? Why leave it locked in the car, and how did it survive the crazy driving and eventual collision with the (already dead) tree?

I loved the original Long Weekend....Very underrated movie.

This remake was literally a scene for scene remake, no new ideas, so I suppose if you have seen the original and remember it fairly well, you are going to no what happens next! But I remember the original fairly well (I have the SYNAPSE DVD) but I still enjoyed Natures Grave. Jim Caviezel and Claudia Cavan play the unhappy couple well.

The film basically is a married couple who are having a rough time go away for a long weekend, and find themselves on an isolated beach. They treat the place with total disrespect (chucking away cigarette butts, litter, shooting bottles)) and shooting the animals...then nature turns on them! Pretty slow but always interesting. Solid acting. Little gore, so not much to offend here.

Tidy little movie. Surprised about the negative reviews really.

7.5/10.