A Cul-de-sac is defined as a road that leads nowhere.
And in Roman Polanskis film of the same name, this is never made literal.
Donald Pleasence and Francios Dorleac play a married couple whose home (a castle!)
is invaded by a gangster (Lionel Stander).
Our review of the Criterion Blu-ray ofCul-de-sacfollows after the jump.
And whileCul-de-sacis set in London, two of its three leads are outsiders.
Which seems fitting with the film and Polanskis portrait of alienation.
The film begins with Teresa (Dorleac) lying topless on a young man.
Richard has no idea what to do.
Theyre lost, their car stopped working and Richard knows they need a doctor or something.
Richard holds them hostage, sort of.
Hes takes them to Albie, but the tide has come in, and the car is flooded.
But Polanski was obviously in tune with this, and his work here is very much of that sensibility.
First and foremost, he has no interest in making anyone sympathetic.
And then theres the American gangster in the middle of England.
He also keeps the audience at a certain distance.
To that end, his latest Carnage, which is currently playing the festival circuit explores similar themes.
These films are about outsiders coming into a situation and some form of imprisonment together.
Polanski has rarely made movies that are poorly put together, and here hes on top of his game.
Polanski used to call this his favorite film.
