Dirty Weekend is a British film directed by Michael Winner, based on the novel of the same name by Helen Zahavi. It was banned from video release for two years by the BBFC for its violent and sexual content.
Synopsis
Set in the coastal town of Brighton, England, Dirty Weekend follows the story of Bella (Lia Williams), a mild-mannered secretary who works from home in a basement flat. Soon, she finds herself the victim of Tim (Rufus Sewell), a voyeur who watches her through her windows and plagues her with obscene phone calls in which he threatens to assault and rape her. After the police refuse to offer any assistance, Bella visits Nimrod (Ian Richardson), 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 dirty weekend 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.
A dirty weekend is a romantic assignation which is commonly in a hotel so that the couple can sleep together. Places which became famous for this include Brighton and the Skindles hotel in Maidenhead. Other renowned destinations include the Welsh seaside resort of Barmouth.
References
Dirty Weekend may refer to:
Dirty Weekend (1991) is a novel by Helen Zahavi, adapted into a film two years later by Zahavi and director Michael Winner. In the US it was first published under the title The Weekend; some editions are subtitled "A Novel of Revenge".
Plot introduction
Overturning the traditional notion of a pleasurable sex-filled dirty weekend, Zahavi's novel instead examines a weekend killing spree committed by Bella, a twenty-something former sex-worker. She is targeted by men who sexually abuse women, but kills them instead of letting them victimize her. Over the course of the weekend she murders seven men through a variety of gruesome methods. In the end she escapes to a new life in the large, faceless city of London.
In the novel the old picaresque tradition is revived: there is one central character, Bella, the picara, who is the only link to all the other characters. She meets and confronts one man after the other, kills him, and moves on to the next.
Plot summary
Bella, a solitary young woman with a dubious past, has just arrived in Brighton. Having recently been dumped by her "boyfriend", all she wants is some peace and quiet in her newly rented small flat near Brunswick Square. Tim, a young man living in one of the houses across her backyard, takes a fancy to the new arrival and soon starts watching and eventually molesting her. He accosts her in the park and torments her with obscene phone calls.