Wikipedia

Cul-de-sac(1966 film)

Cul-de-sacis a 1966 Britishblack comedypsychological thrillerfilm directed byRoman Polanski,written by Polanski andGérard Brach,and starringDonald Pleasence,Françoise Dorléac,Lionel StanderandJack MacGowran,withIain Quarrier,Geoffrey Sumner,Renée Houston,William Franklyn,Marie Keanand Trevor Delaney in supporting roles. It also featuresJacqueline Bissetin a small role, in her second film appearance. Polanski's second English-language feature, it follows two injuredgangsterswho take refuge in the remote island castle of a young British couple in theNorth of England,spurring a series of mind games and violent altercations.

Cul-de-sac
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRoman Polanski
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGilbert Taylor
Edited byAlastair McIntyre
Music byKrzysztof Komeda
Production
companies
  • Compton Films
  • Tekli British Productions
Distributed byCompton-Cameo Films
Release date
  • 17 June 1966(1966-06-17)(London)
Running time
112 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£120,000[3]or £170,938[4]

Plot

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Gruff American gangster Dickey pushes his broken-down car along acausewaythrough rising seawater while his eccentric companion Albie lies inside, bleeding from a gunshot wound after a botched robbery. Cut off by the unexpected rising tide, they are on the only road to the remotetidal islandofLindisfarneinNorthumberland,where, in a dark castle on a hilltop, a deeply neurotic and effeminate middle-aged Englishman named George lives with his French second wife, the young and promiscuous Teresa. Dickey breaks into the castle and telephones his underworld Boss, Katelbach, to send someone to collect him and Albie. He then disconnects the phone lines and proceeds to hold the couple hostage while awaiting the arrival of Katelbach the next day.

When Albie dies from his injuries, Dickey forces Teresa and George to dig his grave. They then hold a wake, with Dickey and George getting drunk together on the beach while Teresa swims nude in the ocean. The next morning, a car approaches the castle, but instead of Katelbach, it turns out to be a bunch of George's obnoxious friends who have shown up unannounced. Dickey poses as a servant while Teresa flirts with one of the guests, Cecil. As they all sit down to dinner, the young son of one of the guests finds Cecil's shotgun and starts waving it at the crowd of people, frightening them all. He then fires it, blowing out a stained-glass window in the castle. The gun is wrestled away from the child and placed inside a hallway. George has had enough and demands they all leave, which they do, but Cecil forgets and leaves his unloaded shotgun behind.

Dickey takes off his jacket and hooks the telephone back up, while Teresa furtively takes Dickey's pistol from his coat pocket. Upon calling the hotel where Katelbach was staying, Dickey is informed that he is not going to come, so Dickey prepares to take George's car to drive to the mainland. George refuses to let him, and a fight ensues. Teresa hands Dickey's pistol to George and George shoots him several times; Dickey manages to retrieve hisTommy gunfrom his broken-down car, hidden in thechicken house.Too weak to fire the gun at George, Dickey collapses to the ground, laughing, and discharges the weapon at George's car, which explodes in flames.

Fearful of being implicated in the killing (and of reprisals from Katelbach's other henchmen), Teresa frantically insists that she and George abandon the castle. George is in astate of shockand seems unable to move. Suddenly, they see a car approaching. Not knowing that Dickey's Boss had abandoned him, they assume it is Katelbach. Desperate and afraid, Teresa runs and hides in a cupboard. The car arrives, and it turns out to be Cecil, who has returned to retrieve his shotgun. Cecil offers to take them to the police, but George refuses to go. He watches as Cecil and Teresa drive off into the night. George goes on a rampage, destroying his art studio, then running out of the castle and down to the beach. As day breaks, he sits down on a rock in afetal positionand weeps hysterically, shouting out the name of his first wife, as the early morning tide rises around him.

Cast

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Themes and interpretations

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Like Polanski's previous filmRepulsion(1965),Cul-de-sacexplores themes of horror, frustrated sexuality and alienation, which have become characteristic of many of the director's films, especiallyRosemary's Baby(1968) andThe Tenant(1976).

Cul-de-sachas been compared in tone and theme with the works ofSamuel BeckettandHarold Pinterand these similarities are underscored by the casting of two roles in the film,Jack MacGowranwho was renowned for his stage performances of Beckett's plays andDonald Pleasenceoriginated the role of Davies in Pinter'sThe Caretaker.[5][6]The film's German title isWenn Katelbach kommt(When Katelbach Comes). Christopher Weedman also notes the film's similarities with "such hard-edgedHumphrey Bogarthostage thrillers asThe Petrified Forest(Archie Mayo,1936),Key Largo(John Huston,1948), andThe Desperate Hours(William Wyler,1955). "[7]

Filming

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The film was shot on location in 1965 on the island ofLindisfarne(also known as Holy Island) off the coast ofNorthumberland,England.Lindisfarne Castle,which served as the home in the film, is now aNational Trustproperty and can be toured by the public; despite the passage of time, the building and its surroundings are largely unchanged.

Reception

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Critical response

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On the filmreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,Cul-de-sacholds an approval rating of 83% based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[8]

Accolades

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Cul-de-sacwas awarded the 1966Golden Bearat the16th Berlin International Film Festival.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Sweet, Matthew(29 January 2006)."The lost worlds of British cinema: The horror".The Independent.[dead link‍]
  2. ^"Cul-de-sac(12A) ".British Board of Film Classification.15 November 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 17 March 2016.Retrieved15 November2012.
  3. ^Hallenbeck 2009,p. 82.
  4. ^Chapman, James(2022).The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985.Edinburgh University Press.p. 360.
  5. ^"Cul-de-sac".British Film Institute.4 April 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2007.Retrieved19 June2007.
  6. ^Bergan, Ronald(19 September 2006)."Gérard Brach".The Guardian.Retrieved11 April2017.
  7. ^Weedman, Christopher (February 2005)."Cul-de-Sac".Senses of Cinema.No. 34.Retrieved23 November2024.
  8. ^"Cul-de-Sac".Rotten Tomatoes.Retrieved23 November2024.
  9. ^"Prizes & Honours 1966".Berlin International Film Festival.Archived fromthe originalon 28 April 2014.Retrieved17 February2010.

Bibliography

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  • Hallenbeck, Bruce (2009).Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914–2008.Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland.ISBN978-0-786-45378-8.
  • Katz; et al. (1994).The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia.HarperCollins.ISBN0-333-61601-4.
  • Polanski, Roman (1984).Roman.New York: Morrow.ISBN0-688-02621-4.
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