Cul De Sac (1966)

Director: Roman Polanski Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lionel Stander, Jack MacGowran, Jacqueline Bisset Genres: Indie-Arthouse Cinema, Drama Origin: United Kingdom Certificate: M Languages: English Running Time: 111 min

synopsis

Immediately after the box–office success of his macabre masterpiece Repulsion, Roman Polanski returned to a theme he had explored in his early classic Knife in the Water – the destruction of a fragile relationship by a maligned outsider. The resulting film was Cul-De-Sac. Donald Pleasence and Francoise Dorleac play a mismatched couple – he effeminate and petulant, she sensual and enigmatic – who share a bizarre sexual relationship, living in a remote castle. Their very isolation from the world prevents their eccentric partnership from foundering. Only an outsider can disrupt their make–believe lifestyle. That disruption arrives in the belligerent form of Richard and Albert, two oddball gangsters straight out of a 1940's film noir, wounded, desperate and on the run. They demand shelter, and as Richard waits for instructions from his gangland boss, he slips into a dangerous round of game–playing with his unwilling hosts. But it seems that Richard is not always to have the upper hand. With it's larger than life performances, wicked black humour and superb use of striking outdoor location – the film was shot on Holy Island in Northumberland – Polanski created an exceptional film.