Week-End with Father

Perhaps the only Sirk movie which was aimed at the children's market ; the grown -up children would play an important part in his canon ;and they would often become selfish and even cruel when they grew up;in "all that Heaven allows" , they buy Jane Wyman a TV set so she will have the whole world in her hand and not marry the undistinguished uneducated gardener; in "there's always tomorrow" and "All I desire",children epitomize "adult moral" and keep their elders on the straight and narrow;"they keep the adults in the cages which society has prepared for them"(Sirk);in "imitation of life" a daughter disowns her mom because she wants to pass off as white and it leads to tragedy.

Already, in "week-end" ,children impose their vision , models provided by the society: the girls dream of movie stardom ,so a glamorous TV star is more attractive than a simple mother of two ; as for the boys ,virility is represented by beefcake counselor Don : what can oafish Van Heflin do against this dynamic superman? In spite of his unbearable self-assurance ,one can note that Don is ahead of his time,as far as health food is concerned : the future would prove him right.

Sirk's movie is thoroughly enjoyable and more meaningful than it may appear at first sight: when Brad boasts about his prowess as a boy scout, the boy removes the markers ;it becomes symbolic: their would be future parents take the wrong way ,whereas they think they are on the right way,they do not have to heed their own children's call .

The more Brad tries to resemble his children's model,the more he fails : during the sports contest , Van helflin loses on all accounts ;the girls discover that their icon is in love with herself , only interested in the autographs she signs and in her stardom ;she's a career-woman where children have no room.

And do not miss the ironical final slap at the so-called he-man.