Cul-de-sac (1966)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Sadly Over-hyped

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

CUL-DE-SAC is a psychological comic thriller as an unusual set of surreal circumstances in a realistic landscape. The characters are trapped in a confusing context, which is made up of a mafia, art, promiscuity and perversions. The story is peppered with all sorts of antics, but it is not unpleasant. The plots are inconclusive, but its are enriched with a huge dose of black humor.A neurotic and effeminate middle-aged Englishman named George lives with his promiscuous young French wife Teresa in a dark castle on a hilltop. Two gangsters, after the unexpected upward tide, invade their messy home and hold them as hostage. Teresa is mad at her timid husband, who does not take any action on the bandits. Gangsters are starting to behave a bit eccentric, while waiting for help from his boss. Uninvited guests come to a visit. Simply, someone has to "boil over"...Mr. Polanski, in this film, covers topics such as the alienation and a latent madness, which are closely related to a sexual activity. He has managed to replace an emotional void in this film with a combination of black humor, crime and perversion. The characterization is not bad. Donald Pleasence as George is a kinky and fun husband who has his grotesque moments in this film. He is a man who feels comfortable in a transparent nightgown but he, with a huge dose of disgust, takes a gun in his hand. That is a phenomenal paradox of the situation in the world. His cowardice is ambiguous, because, despite everything, he wants to return a harmonious relation in his home. Lionel Stander as Dickey, through his gangster attitude, distinctive voice and eccentric behavior enjoys the general madness. Françoise Dorléac as Teresa is a beautiful, attractive and nude factor of confusion between George and Dickey.Mr. Polanski has skillfully managed to balance all segments in this film, but this story still reminds me to a sexy morbid joke.

I was reading some of the messages posted by members who express their regret that they couldn't find the film on DVD here in the UK. Now you can. I bought mine about three years ago, an edition from Odeon Entertainment. Together with "Knife in the water" and "Repulsion" it makes the collector's trilogy of Polanski's pre-Hollywood films, all of them digitally remastered and presented in their original aspect ratio, and accompanied by some interesting behind- the-scenes documentaries and archive interviews with Polanski. Cul-de-Sac was filmed entirely on location in one of the most remote corners of England and a place that seems the product of some fantasy tale -I was there in 2001, drove a hired car from Edinburgh and got to the island during the low tide, a nice experience to remember. The film opens with a view of the long, deserted road. A car in the distance is slowly advancing towards the camera in a rather erratic way. We soon meet the burly, raspy-voiced Dickie(Lionel Stander), who is pushing the car along, and the skinny and ridiculous-looking Albie (Jack MacGowran) sitting at the wheel. We can just figure out they are two crooks on the run after some failed hit, for Albie has been shot in the stomach and Dickie in one arm. The stolen car has run out of petrol and they don't know where they are. Albie is "fed-up" –a line he will repeat now and again throughout the film-, and Dickie then decides to follow the telephone wires,leaving Albie to wait in the car. He almost bumps into a young semi-naked couple idling in the dunes, and avoiding them he next comes to a castle on the shore. He hides in a chicken house and falls asleep. Meanwhile we have met the castle's owners: the weird couple formed by the foolish Donald Pleasance and his frustrated young wife Francoise Dorleac. It is soon clear to us that the relationship between these two is anything but a happy marriage. They don't seem to have any common interests, the whole place is an absolute mess with the chickens roaming all over the house, and Teresa is continuously making fun of George while he acts like a total idiot. Dickie wakes up, enters the house in the dark, helps himself to some milk and makes a phone call to his boss. He is careless about all the noise he makes, and soon the proprietors come downstairs to investigate. He faces them with great cheek and even sense of humour, and George proves to be a coward as he lets himself be bullied by the thug. Teresa stands up to Dickie with loud words and insolence, but he regards her just as a very noisy hen but harmless. He then makes the pair to go help him him to collect Albie back in the beach. Later he gets to speak to his boss, and after being told he will be collected by the gang in the morning he makes himself comfortable, humiliating George now and again while developing a liking for Teresa's nagging at his husband and her absolute lack of fear of Dickie. Albie dies during the night, and they bury him in the grounds. In the morning, rather than Dickie's mates, who arrives,unannounced, are some friends of George instead, getting on the nerves of the three protagonists as they don't know how to get rid of the party now. The nosey, self-inviting guests prove to be a real nuisance. When the hyperactive child shoots with a gun and destroys one of the medieval windows,George throws the clan out of the castle at last. Dusk comes, and Dickie's gang didn't show up at all. He phones his boss again, only to be passed a "fuck off" message from him through a third part. Totally mad and feeling he has been betrayed, he takes George's car to get away, but gets shot and killed by George during a rather pathetic confrontation. One of the afternoon guests then appears; he is coming to pick up the gun he forgot behind earlier. Teresa goes away with him. George, totally cracked-up and now alone in the deserted castle smashes the place, and then ends up running in the beach until he gets closed-up up by the rising tide. At the first viewing one thinks: "And this is it? One hour and three quarters of kinky nonsense with the most stupid people, to come to such idiotic ending? What a total crap". I first saw the film when I was thirteen. I didn't understand it and I actually thought it was idiotic. The second time, many years later and after I had seen a lot of really idiotic crap films, I just loved it: Polanski's stylish direction, those wonderful long takes, the stark black and white cinematography, the musical score, the black humour, the comic relief provided by Albie (how long does it take to die with a belly full of holes, for god's sake??!!...) and the unique setting provided by Lindisfarne. A surrealistic cinematic experience.

So we are getting in the way back machine a little bit for this one. Cul-De-Sac, Roman Polanski's third film, was made in 1966. I saw one of his other early films, Repulsion and I was pretty impressed so I figured I would give this one a try when I saw it on Netflix.Two criminals, Albie (Jack MacGowran) and Richard (Lionel Stander) are on the run from the law after a botched robbery. They are both wounded and their car has run out of gas. Desperate for a place to hide out, they stumble upon an isolated castle that sits on an Island.The castle is occupied by George (Donald Pleasence) and his wife Teresa (Francoise Dorleac). George is a pushover who dotes on his forceful and promiscuous wife. They are resistant to the two men when they first arrive but George is unwilling to fight and bends to the whim of much larger Richard. Teresa becomes resentful that George will not stand up for himself and conflicts occur.You can't help but think of one film in particular while I was watching this movie; Straw Dogs. The two films are definitely similar in a lot of ways. The theme here is basically the same. A bully(s) push around a much smaller protagonist and emasculate him until he is pushed too far. Once they have hit their limit, they attack ruthlessly.Cul-De-Sac differs in that the George doesn't seem to "man up" until after he has committed his acts of violence. His attack against his aggressor is more accidental and somewhat unnecessary. In Straw Dogs the act of violence is Dustin Hoffman's way of finding his hidden manhood and the violence is justified.Cul-De-Sac is a very character driven movie. The whole movie is about the interactions and complex relationships between the leads. The narrative definitely takes a back seat.There was a lot of discussion on the google box about how great Donald Pleasance was in this movie. I found him to be a bit much at times and laying it on pretty heavy. For me character actor Lionel Stander was the stand out. He plays the brutish thug to perfection and was the most fascinating character in the movie.There are a couple of interesting things to note about Cul-De-Sac. It has some nudity in it which I thought was pretty risqué for a movie that was made in 1966. Also, apparently Jack Nicholson has referred to this as his favorite movie.Cul-De-Sac was an interesting character study but those who like a more traditional narrative might get a bit bored with this. For me it was worth a watch.

When many hear Donald Pleasance, they immediately think of Dr. Loomis in Halloween. It is a shame that they have not seen one of his early roles where he does some fantastic comedy.He and his wife, played superbly by Françoise Dorléac, elder sister of Catherine Deneuve. This film was released the year before her tragic death at 25 in a car accident. She showed great talent here, and would have probably risen to great heights had she lived.Lionel Stander, who was derailed from his acting career for 10 years after being branded a communist, came back in time to do this film. He is hilarious as a dumb criminal Stander is best know for his long run on Hart to Hart. He is really funny.One of Polanski's best.