Review of Cul-de-sac (1966) by Josè M — 22 Jun 2011

Part film noir, part absurdist/surrealist comedy, and part Bergman-style existential drama, Cul-de-Sac remains one of auteur Roman Polanski's most unknown works. This may, in part, be due to its being almost unclassifiable in terms of genre.

Polanski's other 1960s and early 70s films fit pretty squarely in the horror or thriller genres with certain comedic moments like his horror comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers. Cul-de-Sac features a basic thriller/horror premise--a couple of gangsters attempt to hide out at an island mansion with a kinky, potentially homosexual, hermit and his beautiful young wife who seeks sexual satisfaction from a young man on the island.

Into this bizarre domestic arrangement, the gangsters stumble and await salvation from their boss. However, as visitors appear and other events occur, the relationship between the four main characters becomes increasingly strained and bizarre.

Cul-de-Sac explores many of Polanski's habitual themes like alienation, neurosis, repression, etc., but the film never quite coheres into the majesty of his other early works like A Knife in the Water, Repulsion, The Tenant, and Rosemary's baby.

Still, it is a provocative, at times humorous, and always interesting--if fundamentally flawed--film from one of the true masters of the cinema.