Editing Dirty Weekend (1993 film)

{{short description|1993 film by Michael Winner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Dirty Weekend
| image          = Dirty Weekend Theatrical Release Poster.jpg
| alt            =
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Michael Winner]]
| screenplay     = Michael Winner<br/>[[Helen Zahavi]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|''[[Dirty Weekend (novel)|Dirty Weekend]]''|Helen Zahavi}}
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
*[[Jim Beach]]
*[[Robert Earl]]
*Ron Purdie
*Michael Winner
}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
*[[Lia Williams]]
*[[Rufus Sewell]]
*[[Ian Richardson]]
*[[David McCallum]]
*[[Sylvia Syms]]
*[[Christopher Ryan]]
*[[Sean Pertwee]]
}}
| cinematography = Alan Jones
| editing        = Michael Winner<br/>(as Arnold Crust Jr)
| music          = [[David Fanshawe]]
| distributor    = [[United International Pictures]]<ref>{{cite web|title=UIP to fly 'Ladybird' in U.K.|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Adam|last=Dawtrey|date=8 April 1994|access-date=31 December 2024|url=https://variety.com/1994/film/news/uip-to-fly-ladybird-in-u-k-119996/}}</ref>
| released       = {{film date|df=y|1993|10|29}}
| runtime        = 102 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English 
| gross          =£517,750 (UK)<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=14 January 1994|page=50|title=UK films and co-productions}}</ref>
}}

'''''Dirty Weekend''''' is a 1993 British film directed by [[Michael Winner]], based on the [[Dirty Weekend (novel)|1991 novel]] by [[Helen Zahavi]]. It was banned from video release for two years by the [[British Board of Film Classification|BBFC]] for its violent and <nowiki>sexual</nowiki> content.

''Dirty Weekend'' is a film set in Brighton, England, where Bella, a secretary, becomes a victim of Tim, a voyeur who harasses her. After the police provide no assistance, Bella consults an Iranian clairvoyant, Nimrod, who encourages her to take matters into her own hands. She kills Tim and goes on a murder spree, ultimately evading capture. Filming took place in London and Brighton, facing some equipment theft during production. Critical reception was largely negative, with reviewers criticizing the acting, direction, and screenplay, and comparing it unfavorably to other female revenge films. The cast includes [[Lia Williams]] as Bella, [[Rufus Sewell]] as Tim, and [[Ian Richardson]] as Nimrod.

==Synopsis==
Set in the coastal town of [[Brighton]], England, ''Dirty Weekend'' follows the story of Bella, a mild-mannered secretary who works from home in a basement flat. Soon, she finds herself the victim of Tim, a [[Voyeurism|voyeur]] who watches her through her windows and plagues her with [[obscene phone call]]s in which he threatens to assault and rape her. After the police refuse to offer any assistance, Bella visits Nimrod, an Iranian [[clairvoyant]] who suggests that she take matters into her own hands.

That night, Bella breaks into Tim's flat while he is sleeping and batters him to death with a [[claw hammer]]. Empowered, Bella embarks on a spree in which she slaughters six more men by a variety of methods. Ultimately, she evades capture by the authorities and prepares to carry on her murderous rampage in the large, faceless city of London.

==Production==
Filming took place in the [[Notting Hill]] and [[Kensington]] areas of London and also in Brighton. The [[Internet Movie Database]] lists other locations. The gun shop scenes were filmed at Park Street Guns near [[St Albans]]; the country pub (now demolished) was the Grenville Lodge, [[East Burnham]] ([[Burnham Beeches]]), Buckinghamshire; and the dentist scenes were shot at a real dental practice in [[Twickenham]], Greater London.

Theft of equipment was a problem during filming.<ref>Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts by Michael Winner, p.269.</ref> While filming in Brighton, all the catering equipment was stolen and in Notting Hill Gate, a mobile kitchen with generator was stolen.

==Critical reception==
''Halliwell's Film Guide'' described ''Dirty Weekend'' as "a sleazy little tale of a female vigilante, directed and acted in a perfunctory, over-emphatic manner".<ref>Leslie Halliwell and John Walker ''Halliwell's Film Guide''. HarperPerennial, 1996 (p.316).</ref> Sheila Johnston's assessment of ''Dirty Weekend'' was also negative: "no window-dressing can hide the fact that an aura of indelible naffness hangs over the movie...the screenplay is hewn out from Helen Zahavi's over-written novel with no concessions to the way people actually speak".<ref name="sj">{{cite news | title=It was a Dirty Job | first=Sheila | last=Johnston | newspaper=The Independent | date=29 October 1993 | page=26}}</ref> Johnston argued ''Dirty Weekend'' was inferior to other female revenge films such as ''[[Ms. 45]]'' and ''[[Lipstick (1976 film)|Lipstick]]''.<ref name="sj" /> Johnston also criticised the making up of the white actor Richardson with "[[Racial brownface|brownface]]" to portray a Middle Easterner.<ref name="sj" /> ''[[The Observer]]'' review claimed ''Dirty Weekend'' has "a certain factitious topicality", but went on to state "a work so bad in every way, and mostly risibly so, cannot be the focus of serious controversy".<ref>{{cite news | title=Dirty Weekend | newspaper=The Observer| date=31 October 1993 | page=4}}</ref> Brian Case, reviewing the film for ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'', dismissed ''Dirty Weekend'' as "pretty rotten", and criticised Winner's direction, stating it resembled "out-takes from local cinema advertising, which distances the audience from the material and indeed from wakefulness itself".<ref>"Dirty Weekend", in ''Time Out Film Guide 2011'', Time Out, London, 2010. {{ISBN|1846702089}} (p. 274).</ref>

==Cast==
{{castlist|
* [[Lia Williams]] as Bella
* [[Rufus Sewell]] as Tim
* [[Michael Cule]] as Norman
* [[David McCallum]] as Reggie
* [[Christopher Ryan]] as Small One
* [[Sean Pertwee]] as Quiet One
* [[Nicholas Hewetson (actor)|Nicholas Hewetson]] as Bitter One
* [[Christopher Adamson]] as Serial Killer
* Jack Galloway as David
* [[Matthew Marsh (actor)|Matthew Marsh]] as Bascombe
* [[Ian Richardson]] as Nimrod
* [[Shaughan Seymour]] as Charles
* [[Mark Burns (actor)|Mark Burns]] as Mr Brown
* [[David Schaal (actor)|David Schaal]] as Stan
* [[Matthew Long (actor)|Matthew Long]] as Gun Shop Assistant
* [[Norman Mitchell]] as Repair Man
* [[R.J. Bell]] as Man on Train 
* [[Andrew Neil]] as Newsreader
* [[Neil Norman (actor)|Neil Norman]]as Party Man
* [[Miriam Kelly (actress)|Miriam Kelly]] as Marion
* [[Sylvia Syms]] as Mrs Crosby
* [[Lorraine Doyle]] as Secretary
* [[Simone Hyams]] as Party Girl
* [[Ruby Milton]] as Mary
}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0106727|title=Dirty Weekend}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|dirty_weekend}}
*[http://www.helenzahavi.com/ Helen Zahavi website]

{{Michael Winner}}

[[Category:1993 films]]
[[Category:1990s serial killer films]]
[[Category:1990s vigilante films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael Winner]]
[[Category:Films set in Brighton]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in East Sussex]]
[[Category:Films shot in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Films shot in Buckinghamshire]]
[[Category:British serial killer films]]
[[Category:British vigilante films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Winner]]
[[Category:Films produced by Michael Winner]]
[[Category:1990s British films]]
[[Category:English-language crime films]]
[[Category:United International Pictures films]]