Cul-de-sac (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The film shifts from engaging to brilliant
Judge Clark Douglas, DVD Verdict-- There are some creepy moments (especially early on, as we don't quite have a handle on who the characters are or what they're attempting to accomplish--Polanski fills in the blanks in a deliberate, methodical manner), but after a while it becomes clear that Cul-de-sac works best when Polanski is being playful.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that it's easier to switch from chills to laughs than vice versa. There are some squirm-inducing yet entertaining moments during the first hour of the film, as the flustered husband and his sneering wife engage in a series of amusing interactions with the American. It's tempting to feel that Polanski is making a larger cultural point, as he seems to have infused each of these three characters with the worst stereotypical traits of the countries they represent: the rude, boorish, violent American; the stammering, spineless, indecisive Englishman and the devious, cruel, self-serving Frenchwoman. The...

"Cul de sac" sick Polanski, brilliant
1966's Roman Polanski film, "Cul de sac" just got recognized by Criterion and the result is as well as expected. Donald Pleasence, Lionel Stander and Francoise Dorleac star in a film of unstable people. The film was made at just the right time in Polanski's career when it had been on the shelf and after "Repulsion" (1965) Polanski was able to pull it together. Written by Polanski and long-time collaborator Gerard Brach who worked with Dario Argento on his "Phantom of the Opera", one can not help but admire the creative talent at work, much better than "Repulsion"'s limited means, more perplexing than entertaining, but quite a good film nonetheless. Criterion did a good job as usual. I hope no one forgets the creativity that went into early Polanski films as they admire his later work. Though Polanski's world is a dark world and "Cul de sac" is no exception.

WISE CHOICE OF CRITERION
This Roman Polanski film, made right after Repulsion, was a shelf-project of the director and writer Gérard Brach. After the success of Repulsion they could resurrect this comedy the producers had rejected. Watch the film may strike the usual Polanski viewer (like myself) for the lack of sinister mood and plot so common in the works of the director. The film basically depict three completely different people stuck together in a old isolated castle, somewhere I read the film is a upside-down story of a knight saved from the princess by the dragon. A good definition of the film.

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