Cul-de-sac (1966 film)

Cul-de-sac
original film poster
Directed by	Roman Polanski
Produced by	Gene Gutowski Michael Klinger[1] Tony Tenser
Written by	Gerard Brach Roman Polanski
Starring	Donald Pleasence Françoise Dorléac Lionel Stander
Music by	Krzysztof Komeda
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Editing by	Alastair McIntyre
Distributed by	Transmission Films Sigma III
Release date(s)	February 1966 (1966-02)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Cul-de-sac is a 1966 British psychological thriller directed by the Franco-Polish director Roman Polanski. It was Polański's second film in English, written by himself and Gérard Brach. Produced by Gene Gutowski.

The cast includes Donald Pleasence, Françoise Dorléac, Lionel Stander, Jack MacGowran, Iain Quarrier, Geoffrey Sumner, Renee Houston, William Franklyn, Trevor Delaney, Marie Kean and Mariloup Wolfe. It also features Jacqueline Bisset in a small role, in her second film appearance. The black and white cinematography is by Gil Taylor.

Synopsis

The film begins with gangster Dickie (Stander) pushing his broken-down car through rising seawater while his companion Albie (MacGowran) lies inside, bleeding from a gunshot wound after a bungled robbery. Cut off by the unexpected rising tide, they are on the only road to a bleak and remote tidal island where, in a dark castle on a hilltop, the effeminate and neurotic George (Pleasence) lives with his luscious young wife Teresa (Dorléac). Dickie then proceeds to hold the two hostage while awaiting rescue by his boss, the mysterious Katelbach, even throughout an unexpected visit from one of George's old work colleagues.

Cast

• Donald Pleasence as George
• Françoise Dorléac as Teresa
• Lionel Stander as Richard
• Jack MacGowran as Albie
• Iain Quarrier as Christopher
• Geoffrey Sumner as Christopher's father
• Renee Houston as Christopher's mother
• Robert Dorning as Philip Fairweather
• Marie Kean as Marion Fairweather
• William Franklyn as Cecil
• Jacqueline Bisset as Jacqueline
• Trevor Delaney as Nicholas

Connections with other works

Like his previous film Repulsion, it explores themes of horror, frustrated sexuality and alienation, which have become characteristic of most of Polański's films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant.

Cul-de-Sac has been compared in tone and theme with the works of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett;^[2][3] Jack MacGowran was renowned for his stage performances of Beckett's plays. The film's German title is Wenn Katelbach kommt (When Katelbach Comes).

Production

The film was shot in 1965 on location on the island of Lindisfarne (also known as Holy Island) off the coast of Northumberland, England. Lindisfarne Castle, which served as the home in the film, is now a National Trust property and can be toured by the public; despite the passage of forty years, the building and its surroundings are largely unchanged.

Awards

Cul-de-sac was awarded the 1966 Golden Bear at the 16th Berlin International Film Festival.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ Matthew Sweet "The lost worlds of British cinema: The horror", The Independent, 29 January 2006
2. ^ "Cul-de-sac". British Film Institute. 2006-04-04. http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/polanski/culdesac.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 
3. ^ Bergan, Ronald (2006-09-19). "Gérard Brach". Observer Unlimited (The Observer). http://www.observerunlimited.co.uk/print/0,,329579827-110633,00.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 
4. ^ "Berlinale 1966: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1966/03_preistr_ger_1966/03_Preistraeger_1966.html. Retrieved 2010-02-17. 

References

• Katz et al. (1994). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-333-61601-4. 
• Polanski, Roman (1984). Roman. New York: Morrow. ISBN 0-688-02621-4. 

External links

• Cul-de-Sac at the Internet Movie Database
• Cul-de-Sac at the BFI
• Cul-de-Sac, an article by Christopher Weedman, at Senses of Cinema