Cul-de-Sac (film)

Infobox Film | name = Cul-de-Sac


caption = original film poster
director = Roman Polański
producer = Gene Gutowski
Michael Klinger [Michael Klinger. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/the-lost-worlds-of-british-cinema-the-horror-525200.html]
Tony Tenser
writer = Gerard Brach
Roman Polański
starring = Donald Pleasence
Françoise Dorléac
Lionel Stander
music = Krzysztof Komeda
cinematography = Gilbert Taylor
editing = Alastair McIntyre
distributor = Transmission Films
Sigma III
released = flagicon|UK February, 1966
flagicon|USA 7 November, 1966
runtime = 111 min.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
imdb_id = 0060268
"for other uses see Cul-de-sac (disambiguation)"

"Cul-de-Sac" is a 1966 British psychological thriller directed by the Polish director Roman Polański. It was Polański's second film in English, written by himself and Gérard Brach.

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

ynopsis

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.

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 to the works of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett; cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/polanski/culdesac.html |title=Cul-de-sac |accessdate=2007-06-19 |date=2006-04-04 |publisher=British Film Institute ] cite news | first=Ronald | last=Bergan | coauthors= | title=Gérard Brach | date=2006-09-19 | publisher=The Observer | url =http://www.observerunlimited.co.uk/print/0,,329579827-110633,00.html | work =Observer Unlimited | pages = | accessdate = 2007-06-19 | language = ] indeed, actor 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, off the coast of Northumberland, England. The small castle 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 Berlin Film Festival.

References

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External links

* [http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/galleries/polanski/culdesac.html BFI page]
* [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/05/34/cul_de_sac.html Senses of Cinema (Analysis by Christopher Weedman)]
* [http://www.worldcinemaonline.com/films/112/0/Cul-de-Sac.html World Cinema Online]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Golden Bear winner
years=1966
before="Alphaville"
after="Le départ"