cul - de - sac ( 1966 film )
isolation and madness in cul - de - sac (1966) – roman polanski .
dreams are what le cinema is for... : cul - de - sac 1966
featured in film présenté: cul - de - sac (1975). see more »
isolation and madness in cul - de - sac (1966) – roman polanski. – celluloid wicker man
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' repulsion' & the next polanski film' cul - de - sac' can be read as both a contrasting and a similar pair .
cul - de - sac' s greatest strength is that while its script resembles a bourgeois comedy of errors, its visuals are more in tune with existential horror .
i watch cul - de - sac every two - three years and never fail to consider it the best movie ever made (together with 4 - 5 others) .
cul - de - sac (1966) is a bleak nihilist tragicomedy filmed on location in northumberland. the tone and premise of the film owe a great deal to samuel beckett' s waiting for godot, along with aspects of harold pinter' s the birthday party .
this article is an adaptation of christopher weedman’s analysis of cul - de - sac in his soon to be completed m. a. thesis, victimization in the films of roman polanski .
as a study in kinky insanity, cul - de - sac creates a tingling atmosphere. this sags riskily at times when the director unturns the screws and does not keep control of his frequently introduced comedy .
alfred hitchcock, national observer 15 august 1966. reprinted at urltoken: urltoken .
few films are as explicit in their depiction of character relationships that are at the mercy of the fluctuating landscape than roman polanski’s 1966 film, cul - de - sac. polanski had been to both ends of the environmental spectrum within his previous two films – the open waters of knife in the water (1962) and the cramped, claustrophobic london of repulsion (1965) – and cul - de - sac sees him returning to the ideas of the landscape delicately addressed in the former of the two films; where characters are put under huge psychological strain through being stuck in each other’s company. whereas knife in the water had a more definitive human hand in the desertion from society, cul - de - sac raises the tension by removing all potential of escape. the characters are at the literal mercy of the tides of lindisfarne .
the current offering, which crept into town under cover of christmas and will doubtless creep out again in a day or two, is roman polanski' s
cul - de - sac .
it arrives bedecked with the best film award from the berlin film festival and the critic' s award from venice .
a year after knife in the water roman polański left for the west, where in france in 1963 he directed one part of les plus belle escroqueries du monde, and then ventured to britain to make films highly acclaimed by critics: repulsion (1965), cul - de - sac (1966), dance of the vampires (1968) .
brendan gill, “dead end”, the new yorker, 12 november 1966, p. 115 .
hollis alpert, “know the enemy”, saturday review, 10 december 1966, p. 65 .
although the film was generally well received in europe and awarded the prestigious golden bear at the berlin film festival, cul - de - sac fell victim to a hostile american press when it opened in new york on november 7, 1966. they found the black comedy an “odious freak show” (5) that would only entertain “those who can laugh while fighting off nausea and / or sheer amazement at the prodigious waste of talent on tripe” (6). the critical backlash against cul - de - sac greatly contributed to the abrupt closing of the film’s new york engagement after a few days, a move that was criticised by both hollis alpert of saturday review and andrew sarris of the village voice (7). sarris saw the cancellation as a key example of the challenges facing that era’s art - house film market :
andrew sarris, the village voice, [ new york ] 1 december 1966, p. 27 .
and beware the literal - minded that insist on one
correct
understanding of the film. these are the kind of folks who can' t tell you what they feel about a painting until they' ve read the museum card .
that' s priceless! the astor theatre normally plays
cul - de - sac
on a double bill with
repulsion
. i think that these films are the sort that invite revisitation, for the very reason that they might seem puzzling to the first - time viewer. it reminds me about the first time that i saw
2001
, a lot to digest in one screening, but everytime i revisit it, the film becomes a more rewarding experience .
cul - de - sac
and
repulsion
only come around once every couple years on the astor calendar. even decades later and with polanski long established as one of the giant figures of cinema, a film like
cul - de - sac
is tough to sell to an audience .
kevin feige on digitally de - aging samuel l. jackson and clark gregg for captain marvel
in 1966 neither audiences nor critics were particularly responsive to trying to sort the whole thing out, so cul - de - sac ’s subsequent failure at the boxoffice threatened to sink polanski' s newfound reputation as quickly as knife in the water (1962) and repulsion (1965) had established it. but in the famous words of john huston’s noah cross in polanski’s 1974 masterpiece chinatown: “politicians, old buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough. ” and indeed, cul - de - sac has enjoyed a major revival over the years. embraced by fans and polanski himself as one of his best and most cinematic films, it' s hailed by contemporary film enthusiasts for many of the the very things it was reviled for back in the day .
france released, pal / region 2 dvd: languages: english (mono), french (mono), french (subtitles), widescreen (1. 66: 1), special features: black & white, documentary, interactive menu, scene access, trailer (s), synopsis: a wounded criminal and his dying partner take refuge at a beachfront castle. the owners of the castle, a meek englishman and his willful french wife, are initially the unwilling hosts to the criminals. quickly, however, the relationships between the criminal, the wife, and the englishman begin to shift in humorous and bizarre fashion. screened / awarded at: bafta awards, berlin international film festival, venice film festival, ... cul - de - sac (1966) (culdesac (cul de sac) )
the exchange is a microcosm of cul - de - sac ’s taunting universe: a burn and a whip, leaving marks behind that signify nothing but the universality of boredom that sets in even after being shot, even after buying a castle. the inevitability of ennui is their worse - than - death fate .
polanski usually wrote his own screenplays or at least collaborated on them. that was the case on his second film in england, cul - de - sac, another story about people trapped in doomed relationships. his next effort, the fearless vampire killers, or pardon me but your teeth are in my neck, was a comic vampire film with dark overtones. it failed to make much of an impact .
the brainchild of roman polanski and longtime collaborator gerard brach (the tenant, the fearless vampire killers, tess, frantic) cul - de - sac represents the specific cinematic aesthetics, sensibilities, and humor of the pair. “when we were writing this script, we simply wanted to create a movie that would reflect our taste in cinema, ” said polanski to biographer, denis meikle, stressing a point difficult to contest. similar in tone to many of polanski’s short films, cul - de - sac has the look and feel of an extremely accomplished film - school thesis project and is the nearest polanski has come to making the kind of' 60s new wave art film he spent a large part of his early career ideologically distancing himself from .
ken, i first saw this at an arthouse theater as part of a double feature with
repulsion ,
the first two polanski films i ever saw. what an experience that was. i have often cited
cul de sac
and
dr. strangelove
as my favorite black comedies. although i haven' t seen the film in years, i did remember specific images and that fantastic setting and also the whole unique atmosphere of the film, and reading your post brought this back to me. an interesting comparison you made between this film and polanski' s earlier short films. this idea hadn' t occurred to me, but i saw what you were getting at, especially when you discussed the ambiguity of
cul de sac ,
which is like that of those earlier shorts .
one of polanski' s highest regarded. brilliant british film and a must for every film fan .
in one of cul - de - sac' s many allusions to identity and role - playing, straight - laced george reacts to his sexually mischievous wife dressing him in her peignoir and applying makeup. the gown worn by pleasence recalls that of catherine deneuve (dorleac' s real - life younger sister) in polanski' s repulsion
judith crist, “idle dreams about idols”, world journal tribune [ new york ] 20 november 1966. reprinted in film facts, 1 january 1967, p. 320 .
roman polanski' s
cul - de - sac
is probably the most' polanski - ish' film the director has made. every sensibility of the famed auteur is on display here. from the genre bending, to the mental games of imposition, to the stylish cinematography, to the loopy performances .
cul - de - sac
also delights in being non - comformative and always hiding it' s true intentions. after all, this is more of an abstract art film than a piece of narrative cinema (maybe the most peculiar and obscure film he' s made). what the film means seems to be a question polanski is not concerned with. he once said
it' s just a film ...
. if that' s the case, why does it feel so decided and precise? like everything we are meant to see is specially chosen? polanski seems to suggest that his film is without a specific intent, which is odd. if that is what he really meant, then why did he fight for so long to get it made? curious, indeed. whether
cul - de - sac
is utterly worthless, or, like i believe, tantalizingly alive inside it' s mental threesome unreality, there is no denying it' s a one of a kind motion picture .
i had heard very little praise surrounding polanski' s cul - de - sac. given the amount of discourse generated around his most lauded films (and his personal life) this film was something of a discovery for me. this is a harrowing film. the brutal environment of an isolated castle and the depravity that goes on inside between our
heroes
( a married couple and a gangster on the run) makes this film feel much longer than it' s nearly two - hour run time .
roman polanski remains a fascinating filmmaker to this day. alongside andrej wajda and jerzy skolimowski, polanski came to the fore in the late 1950s in poland. the bfi in london are screening all of polanski’s films during january and february 2013 and throughout january, essays on separate films will be released here on flickering myth in the hope that you too can join us in reflecting on polanski’s diverse and ever - expanding career. next up is 1966’s cul - de - sac …
l' univers de roman polanski ,
special section, in cinéma (paris), february 1980 .
cul - de - sac is a 60' s happening colliding headlong with a film noir, the desperate hours on acid, the whole thing organized by roman polanski' s youthful but already perverse consciousness. clucking chickens, couples making love, a castle - - all put awhirl with polanski' s deadly, dark, internal logic. cul - de - sac also shows the influence of the theater of the absurd on polanski' s work. gags, repetitions of nonsensical phrases, silly musical motifs, and unexplained plot devices that seem drawn either camp horror films, a body that doesn' t seem to want to get buried... if this is a thriller, as it sometimes called, then, while the spirit of hitchcock is here, so is that of ionesco and beckett .
the following film notes were prepared for the new york state writers institute by kevin jack hagopian, senior lecturer in media studies at pennsylvania state university: it is the aftermath of a crime gone wrong. a car drones slowly along a road on some forgotten moor. sand and water slide by endlessly. two low - rent criminals are escaping from a caper gone horribly wrong. they' ve both been shot. one of them, albert, is dying, and the other, richard, is trying to shake off his bullet wound. richard leaves the car, stumbling off in search of - - what? cul - de - sac was roman polanski' s third feature film, following knife in the water and repulsion, like all his early work, caused consternation for its carefree attitude toward plot and the mayhem it seemed to glory in. both repulsion and cul - de - sac were refused screenings at the cannes film festival, but regardless, the word was out by 1966 that polanski was one of cinema' s most articulate and quizzical new voices .
, chosen by fipresci as the best film of the year and awarded at the berlin film festival for best directing .
if audiences can be kept away from [ polanski’s ] very original work, we should all stop babbling about the future of young film - makers. there is no future, and there is no audience… if films like masculine feminine, cul - de - sac, and fahrenheit 451 can be driven off the screen by two or three daily reviewers, perhaps by no more than one, where is the market for so - called personal, poetic cinema? (8 )
hi richard that' s quite an introduction to polanski! most of the people i know find both
cul - de - sac
and
repulsion
to be interesting, but tough going (i think that' s polite for
boring
). me, i think they are among his best efforts. i only got to see polanski' s short films when i purchased the criterion collection dvd for
repulsion
and found it interesting how (at least in two men & a wardrobe, mammals, and the fat and the lean) polanski' s fascination / obsession with samuel beckett and theater of the absurd brings him to the recurring motiffs of oddball couplings, barren landscapes, and, as you noted, ambiguous narratives. if you ever get around to wanting to see this film again, the remastered
cul - de - sac
is really gorgeous .
it' s important to place cul - de - sac in time and place in polanski' s career. after the success of his polish film knife in the water, roman goes to england and is in the middle of a three - film run in three years. in 1965, he did the surprisingly incredible suspense film repulsion and after this film he' ll go on to do the wonderfully campy take on the hammer horror film the fearless vampire killers. in between he films a script that he wrote with gerard brach. it' s hard for me to know how to classify the film since it seems to fall within multiple genres - it' s arty, it' s certainly a black comedy, but it seems to ultimately sit within the confines of a suspense plot .
yet even the briefest peep at
bitter moon ,
mr. polanski' s 13th movie, made it clear that the 57 - year - old polish - born director is once again using psychological tension in extremis as raw material. it is a subject he knows from his own turbulent life, and one that has served him well in his most acclaimed films, from
knife in the water
( 1962) and
repulsion
( 1965) to
cul - de - sac
( 1966) and
chinatown
( 1974) .
dialogue on film: roman polanski ,
in american film (washington, d. c .), august 1974 .
( 1966) continued to explore his characteristic motifs: mania and omnipresent fear; imprisonment and 3 - character conflict. his hollywood debut in 1968 was
when originally picked - up for american distribution by filmways, cul - de - sac carried the advertising tagline, “sometimes there’s nothing left to do but laugh! ”, which really is an apt warning for anyone venturing to watch this vicious comedic gem. polanski’s comedy is of the “gnashing of the teeth” variety and derives most of its devilish humour from the physical and psychological abuse that the characters inflict on one another. most of the time the recipient of this abuse is george, played by donald pleasence in a repugnantly brilliant performance. whether he is being forced to cross - dress or being buried alive alongside a corpse, george offers little resistance and keeps returning for an additional helping. his desperate need for love and acceptance from his victimisers, dickie and teresa, has trapped him in an emotional cul - de - sac from which he cannot escape .
an odd mix of the plays of samuel beckett and harold pinter and such hard - edged humphrey bogart hostage thrillers as the petrified forest (archie mayo, 1936), key largo (john huston, 1948), and the desperate hours (william wyler, 1955), cul - de - sac is best described by polanski scholar ivan butler who declared the film to be the “grimmest of comedies, most hilarious of tragedies” (4). the film harks back to polanski’s award - winning short film two men and a wardrobe (1958), in that it paints a portrait of a sadistic world where the destitute, feeble, and maladjusted members of society are victimised by the masses for their perceived weaknesses and inability to conform. however, whereas the two chaplin - esque vagabonds of two men and a wardrobe are able to return with their bulky wardrobe dresser to the waters from which they emerged, the characters of cul - de - sac cannot seek refuge because they are hopelessly immersed in a desolate wasteland that t. s. eliot could have called home .
entretien avec roman polanski ,
with a. de baecque and t. jousse, in cahiers du cinéma, may 1992 .
tudo é tão insólito nesta primeira incursão de roman polanski pelo terreno da comédia que não dá para cobrar lógica de fatos e dos personagens. o diretor parece imbuído do espírito livre que tomava o cinema europeu na época e não explica muita coisa, deixando ainda mais nonsense o encontro entre dois gângsters em fuga e um casal que mora num palácio à beira - mar. theresa, personagem de françoise dorléac – irmã de catherine deneuve, que morreu um ano depois do filme – é quem mais incorpora o esse estado de inquietude que polanski impõe à trama, à montagem e à trilha sonora. embora tudo pareça estar a um passo de desmoronar, polanski filma tudo com tanto rigor e inteligência que o castelo se transforma num microverso caótico onde os personagens não se prendem a regras, mas estão estranhamente confinados uns aos outros .
but this on - set tension gave cul - de - sac its constant jolts of electricity, and it remains polanski' s most unclassifiable and unpredictable film, especially when the castle is invaded by george' s friends in place of the expected katelbach and richard has to pretend to be a surly manservant to avoid provoking suspicion. at the time, absurdist black comedy reigned supreme in the theatre, with beckett, harold pinter and eugene ionesco well established and joe orton recently emerged, but few british film - makers had even tried to pull off anything similar before polanski showed them the way .
dickie and albie, gangsters wounded during a botched “job” of an undisclosed nature, take refuge at the secluded retreat of retired businessman george, and his much younger wife, teresa. seeking nothing but a place to hide while awaiting rescue by the mysterious, mr. katelbach, the fugitive pair hold the newlyweds hostage, setting off a bizarre chain of power struggles, game - playing, and revelatory disclosures which ultimately lead each character to their personal cul - de - sac .
cul - de - sac (1966) had echoes of waiting for godot, but was more directly influenced by harold pinter, not only in the casting of donald pleasence, who had triumphed in pinter' s the caretaker a few years previously, but also in the portrayal of sexual humiliation and in the relationship of the two gangsters. however, the depiction of a married couple' s sexual tensions that erupt into violence when an outsider intrudes on their world was a favourite theme developed in the polanski - brach screenplays, one which the polish director had already dealt with in his first feature, a knife in the water (1962) .
yeah i keep hearing that about sand pebbles so i think i’m gonna skip it. i tend to be a completist but life’s too short and i want to move onto 1967 already. i however want to give alfie a chance. it looks fresher than the other 4 bp nominees and i’m a caine fan, so i wouldn’t like to pass it. i think i’m watching that, resnais’ “the war is over” and polanski’s “cul - de - sac” and consider myself done with this year .
the well - known link between the effects of isolation on human sanity may be one potential explanation for the bizarre goings - on in roman polanski’s 1966 psychological black ...
polanski' s next film is an adaptation of the french novel based on a true story, by bestselling author delphine de vignan. the film stars eva green and emmanuelle seigner and follows a writer (seigner) struggling to complete a new novel, while followed by an obsessed fan (green). the film starts production in november 2016 from a script adapted by polanski and olivier assayas .
polanski' s trademark skill at utilizing locations as though they are integral characters in the story is atmospherically evoked by the remote 11th - century castle that serves as the fortress / prison in cul - de - sac. situated high atop a craggy hill on the british peninsula of holy island, a major plot point has it that the access road to the castle is obliterated twice daily by high tides (a similar device that was used to good effect in the 2012 daniel radcliffe thriller, the woman in black) .
dokumentation: polanski und skolimowski: das absurde im film, zurich, 1985 .
film historian and theoretician, the author of multi - volume ‘film art history’, erudite and connesuer of the europena cinema history. after 1945, co - organizer of polish cinematography and co - founder of the lodz film school. lodz film school lecturer and director, and then rector (1957 - 68). general editor of ‘the film quarterly’ and ‘cinema’. in 1968, supported student protests and was removed from the post of the rector. in the 70s, left for australia, where he founded the sydney film and television school. chairman of the international film archive federation (1948 - 72), vice - chairman of unesco international film and television council (1966 - 72), vice - chairman of cilect, the international film and television schools’ centre (1976 - 79). after returning to poland he continued his scholarly work at the polish language and literature department at warsaw university .
cul - de - sac is roman polanski’s most existential film. its bored alienated characters dread the impending doom they seem to bring onto themselves. polanski’s previous film repulsion was more or less as bleak and hopeless, but it was received far more positively by audiences and critics, probably because they knew what to make of it. repulsion greatly transcended the horror tale polanski was paid to deliver while still being recognizable enough as a genre entry to be accepted by a wide audience. cul - de - sac is arguably polanski’s most challenging movie because it’s such an odd mix of comedy, drama, thriller, suspense, and horror. its primary tactic seems to be draining the signature elements of each genre, and thus the film is generally inert as everything slowly boils beneath the surface. it’s closest to black comedy, but most of the potential the laughs, come from the characters refusing to address the situation and generally hoping it will simply correct itself even though they obviously know it’ll never happen. the audience is not only never instructed whether to join the fun or recoil, chuckle or be repulsed, but polanski seems to dare us to laugh at shootings, a burial, and all sorts of humiliations so we’ll see ourselves for the self - satisfying hypocrites we are. regardless of the style of film he’s making, to roman polanski life is always a cruel comedy .
it has been 30 years since i first saw this film, yet it still rates as one of my all time favourites. forget about special effects and daredevil stunts - you won' t see either of those in cul - de - sac. it' s a strange film which highlights the devastating effect that unexpected events can have on human relationships. at first glance it' s a black comedy, but running throughout the film are dark menacing undercurrents which maintain the attention of the audience. all of the leading acters are good, but donald pleasance, as the bumbling, insecure host to his unwelcome guests is outstanding. in my opinion his best performance ever. polanski' s quirky direction has never been bettered, and the exterior photography is spectacular. brilliant .
landscape of a mind: interview with roman polanski ,
with michel delahaye and jean - andré fieschi, in cahiers du cinéma in english (new york), february 1966 .
landscape of a mind: interview with roman polanski ,
with michel delahaye and jean - andré fieschi, in cahiers du cinéma in english (new york), february 1966 .
director, screenwriter, actor and film producer, lodz film school graduate, oscar nominee for the full - length feature debut film ‘knife in the water’ (1962). since 1963 has lived in the west making films in great britain, the us and france: ‘repulsion’ (1965), ‘cul - de - sac’ (1966), ‘dance of the vampires’ (1967), ‘rosemary’s baby’ (1968), ‘macbeth’ (1971), ‘chinatown’ (1974), ‘the tenant’ (1976), ‘pirates’ (1986), ‘bitter moon’ (1992), ‘the ninth gate’ (1999). the greatest actors such as catherine deneuve, jacqueline bisset, mia farrow, jack nicholson, harrison ford, ben kingsley, emmanuelle seigner, johnny depp, jodie foster, kate wintslet and christoph waltz have played in his films. master of pastiche and black humour, sophisticated narration; in an original way he talks about cruelty, sex and insanity. for the film pianist’ (2002) awarded the palme d”or in cannes and oscar for best direction .
one of the biggest thrills to be had in watching cul - de - sac is to once again see a motion picture that demands attentiveness. the economics of filmmaking today (to be profitable, movies have to appeal to as broad a demographic as possible) has resulted in an uptrend in cinematic obviousness. movies today can’t afford to be misunderstood. everything is spelled - out, underlined, and explained with such pedantic literalness, a kind of passive, dull - wittedness has replaced active engagement on the part of the moviegoing experience .
polanski identifies with self - loathing george, but this isn’t the usual tale of him hulking up, reasserting his masculinity, and overcome the odds by defeating the big bully. some of that may be involved, but the focus is on the world colluding to drive george insane. he seems to act more like a normal man once his ulcer - ridden stomach is forced to allow some moonshine to eat away at it. but that only exemplifies the bizarre humor of cul - de - sac, a film where the main character is so far gone a drug has the reverse effect, bringing him back “inside the box” .
mccarty, john, the modern horror film, secaucus, new jersey, 1990 .
( 1933–) polish director and actor. he established his reputation with the short film
mccarty, john, the modern horror film, secaucus, new jersey, 1990 .
at the same time, brach and polanski wrote the script for when katelbach comes (later retitled cul - de - sac), for which they were unable to get financial backing until three years later, after the international success of repulsion (1965). the first of four films polanski shot in england, repulsion was a psychological drama of the mental breakdown of a young woman (catherine deneuve) culminating in murder. according to brach, her problem derived from her fear of sexuality or sexual disgust, a strong element in the brach - polanski films .
returning to the alienating landscapes and seascapes that endowed knife in the water with a paradoxically exposed claustrophobia, cul - de - sac features perhaps roman polanski’s most immaculately realized black - and - white palette. he and gilbert taylor create a surreal world of flickering grayscale, the nuance of which is marvelously enhanced by criterion’s 1080p transfer. the beach scenes probably fair the best due to the aforementioned flatness of the harsh lights atop the pitch black of the distance; the planate film grain seems to coruscate with desperation. the uncompressed audio is mixed smartly, with the creepily beach - house farfisa organ music always seeming one or two volume knobs twists too loud .
tired, wounded, and lost. cul - de - sac showcases suffocating claustrophobia and the deterioration of the human mentality. as the characters are further forced to challenge and confront one another, the greater the toll on their sanity, relationship dynamics, and the potential for fatality. the film plays itself out with a loose structure, creating an air of unpredictability and suspense without having to necessarily endure through contrived roads to achieve synonymous results. polanski captures a vibe that recalls the visual cues of michelangelo antonioni’s l’avventura and blends it with the punishing cruelty that is similar to some of godard’s films. though i found some of its pacing to be stretched and certain…
when researching knife in the water, it was clear that his exploration into social issues was a rare theme he tackled in his debut, but i do believe that cul - de - sac manages to touch upon some basic assumptions between the elitist, ignorant upper - class against the rough, hyper - masculine working class. dickie manages to mock george tremendously to teresa’s amusement and, only in the final moments does george manage to re - affirm himself and protect his wife. of course, it’s too late then, and the guilt, shame and anger at his own initial inaction combined with the self - destructing nature of his flawed attempt at protection (destroying the only way of escape; giving dickie an opportunity to use the tommy - gun) leads to only further upset. knife in the water ended somewhat ambiguously as characters continued their life with no clear change – whilst cul - de - sac finishes as george, akin to gollum in the hobbit, perched atop of the rock, crying out about his own fate. he has lost the love he adored – not through the actions of others – but through his own inaction .
future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .
thomson, david, a biographical dictionary of film, alfred a. knopf, 1994 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 3 march, 1993 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 27 october, 2000 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 6 december, 2001 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 5 october, 2006 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 6 june, 2008 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 9 december, 2011 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 11th october, 2013 .
granted the degree of the lodz film school doctor honoris causa on 8th june, 2017 .
s success, polanski enjoyed a reputation as one of the most interesting contemporary film directors .
director and screenwriter. in the years 1946 - 49, studied at cracow film arts academy; also finished the film foundation course (1946). the fiction film ‘the village mill’ (1951) was his debut. the author of many distinguished literary adaptations: ‘mother joan of the angels’ based on jarosław iwaszkiewicz’ short story (1960; palme d’argent at iff in cannes), ‘pharoah’ based on bolesław prus’ novel (1965), ‘the inn’ based on julian stryjkowski’s novel (1982). as a film director he was fascinated by juxtaposing outbursts of mass hysteria with rationalism. this motif is present in almost all of his film. he was a consummate draughtsman of the complexity of human nature. since 1955, head of the ‘kadr’ film studio. one of the co - founders and the first chairman of the polish film - makers society (1966 - 78), in the 80s – lecturer at the lodz film school .
with new releases from the criterion collection, the ones i look forward to the most aren' t always the major works or world cinema or the important independent releases. the most intriguing are usually the lesser - known works of well - respected directors. when i go down my list of directors that are masters of the craft (meaning that they have control of all aspects from script to acting to filming) - one name that will always appear is roman polanski. the man has given us classics in multiple decades: rosemary' s baby in the' 60s, chinatown in the' 70s and the pianist in the' 00s. the most recent criterion collection release is his 1966 film, cul - de - sac. i was excited to see this on the release lists because it' s on of the few polanski films i had never seen - barely even knew about it .
polanski followed this with the dark psycho - sexual film bitter moon (1992), followed by a film of the acclaimed play death and the maiden (1994) starring sigourney weaver .
founded in 1999, senses of cinema is one of the first online film journals of its kind and has set the standard for professional, high quality film - related content on the internet .
sarris, andrew, the st. james film directors encyclopedia, visible ink press, 1998 .
in a direct parallel with the ghost (titled the ghost writer on its us release), the family are isolated, cut off from the outside world as the phone line is disconnected. the marshy landscape and surrounding water combined with an upper - class elitism of the married couple, again connect with the pierce brosnan / ewan mcgregor thriller. unlike the ghost, though both films have an interest in the role of a powerful female, cul - de - sac has a clear comedic edge – mocking the childish weakness of donald pleasance against the “lan - dan gangster” of lionel stander, who carries a certain alan sugar - like charm .
cul - de - sac is polanski at his best early form, running up to the film that capped the first half of his career, 1968' s rosemary' s baby. polanski was a survivor of the holocaust, and for him, mortal violence has been a fact of his life, not its exception; from his youth, he has been an unwilling voyeur of some of humanity' s most unthinkable acts. barbara learning has said that for polanski, the subject of violence is an obsession, as it certainly was for other directors of his generation. but not the doing of violence, rather, the watching of violence. polanski' s sensibility in cul - de - sac is that of a child who has stumbled upon very adult goings - on, and is watching them through a keyhole, unknown to the preoccupied grown - ups. the child doesn' t exactly understand what he sees, but he watches with analytical interest, each strange act receiving the same careful attention. the horrific events of august, 1969, in which polanski' s pregnant wife, actress sharon tate, and three others were killed in an orgy of violence by charles manson and his followers, did not slake polanski’s fascination with violence observed. rather, it seemed to confirm that his destiny was to be simultaneously a victim and a chronicler of the evil that men do .
the film is an interesting peek inside the mind of polanski. he' s working through themes that we will see from him for decades to come. he loves to isolate characters in order to explore deeper emotions. in the pianist, that isolation becomes a fight for survival. here it' s an artificial isolation that only lasts while the tide is in. it' s beautifully shot in b & w, which is interesting because the one thing i take from his later films like fearless vampire killers is the vivid colors and complete control of the color pallette. the film is ultimately not as satisfying as i would have hoped. the gangster plot is mere window dressing. and the marriage and infidelity plot doesn' t seem to be the ultimate cause of the resolution of the story. maybe that' s really why the film has such an evocative title - cul - de - sac - is it all just a fancy name for a dead end ?
given his rape charge and also the vicious slaying of his pregnant wife sharon tate by members of charles manson’s “family” in 1969, polanski has caused great dissension between film scholars, who are divided on whether or not the director’s dark films should be judged independently from his personal life. these events are so indelible in the public’s consciousness that it is hard to remember a time when polanski’s name was not associated with such sordid events. however, even before these tragedies, polanski was not a universally loved figure in cinema. unlike the cuddly, family - friendly hitchcock, who every week on his television program alfred hitchcock presents “brought murder back into the home, where it belongs” (2), polanski was seen as a sadist, who, in the opinion of rosemary’s baby ‘s star john cassavetes, was someone “obsessed by the bloody and gruesome, behaving like some kid in a candy store” (3). never was this notion more evident than in the reaction to polanski’s 1966 black comedy cul - de - sac .
i shall be returning the italian blu - ray version of cul - de - sac. yes, it' s sharper than my standard dvd copy (anchor bay) but several scenes in the film are strangely significantly darker in blu - ray. one of the interior scenes changes from light to dark and back again within a minute. the night scenes on the beach are particularly murky on blu - ray but, again, perfectly clear on my standard dvd. in addition, the blu - ray offers only stereo sound in english while the standard version offers 5. 1. what a pity - this has been one of my favourite films since i first saw it in the 1960' s. perhaps the french blu - rversion listed by amazon won' t have these odd fluctuations ?
the blu - ray ediiton has a flawless high - definition transfer. i can' t imagine the film looked this good even in 1966. there is a 2003 documentary on the making of the film and also a television interview with polanski from 1967. in both cases, i found that there was more attention paid in the interviews to the process of the film than to the deeper meanings of the themes. the booklet essay by david thompson sheds some light but leaves me feeling like i read an excerpt from what should be a much longer book .
roman oratory ,
an interview with andrea r. vaucher, in american film, april 1991 .
on 7 october, 2016, janusz gajos was granted doctor honoris causa degree of the lodz film school .
it' s still odd to review a film with that cast and not comment on him at all .
caos calmo (a. k. a. quiet chaos (film) ) as steiner (2007 )
maybe i should also give a try to godard’s “made in usa” and passolini’s “hawks and sparrows, but i feel like i’d never finish the year and it’s not like i’m closing the door to anything from 1966 or something, i’ll eventually watch them .
interview, in the film director as superstar, by joseph gelmis, garden city, new york, 1970 .
several examples will illustrate this. the story of the three characters in the film knife in the water, elegant, though full of tension resulting from frequent turns of action and changes in atmosphere is also a bitter and ironic story about the shallowness of dreams, about a career which, on one hand, determines certain social roles, but also deprives the individual of his freedom. in the film cul - de - sac the system of values which the main characters embody is totally discredited thus it becomes a grotesque fable about violence and psychological captivation. the films repulsion and the tenant made in the thriller genre, are at the same time shocking studies of human loneliness. rosemary’s baby is not only a film with satanic themes, but also a penetrating analysis of the state of consciousness and the emotions accompanying a woman expecting a baby. bitter moon, a film saturated with eroticism or even erotic perversion is a parable full of sad afterthoughts about the destructive force of passion in which there is no room for love, tenderness or sense of attachment, which provide the premises for a long relationship between a woman and a man. even chinatown, which in a congenial manner fulfills the requirements of a literary or “film noir” crime story, contains elements of an antique drama ruled by the forces of fate .
polanski' s french - language adaptation of the award - winning play venus in fur, stars his wife emmanuelle seigner and mathieu amalric. polanski worked with the play' s author, david ives, on the screenplay. the film was shot from december 2012 to february 2013 in french and is polanski' s first non - english language feature film in forty years. the film premiered in competition at the 2013 cannes film festival on 25 may 2013 .
film and theatre director, screenwriter and art director. studied fine art and then film direction at the lodz film school. oscar as life achievement award winner (2000). co - creator of the ‘polish school of film’, one of the most important trends in post - war cinema (‘generation’, ‘canal’, ‘ashes and diamonds’, ‘speed’). author of extraordinary screen adaptations of polish literature (wedding’, ‘promised land’, ‘pan tadeusz’). head of the ‘x’ film studio (1972 - 83) and the chairman of polish film - makers society (1978 - 83), and later its honorary chairman. author of the film triology, ‘man of marble’ (1976), ‘man of iron’ (1981) and ‘walesa. man of hope’ (2013). founder of the andrzej wajda master school of film directing in warsaw (2002). as a theatre director has worked with the stary theatre in cracow .
is 1966’s the worst lineup ever in ampas history? this and “a man for all seasons” are as bland as it gets, and that virginia woolf mess is pretty dumb. i still have to watch “alfie” and “the sand peebles”, but they don’t look very promising…
( based on thomas hardy' s novel) with nastassja kinski - the most expensive film made in france at the time. it gained polanski yet another oscar nomination and a césar award for best direction. polanski' s next film ,
the school film production unit organizes and carries out the production of about 300 film projects a year. with its help the following student films are made: fiction and documentary films of film directing students, directors of photography films, animation films and television dramas. films made during workshops or regular classes are recorded on all kinds of media; traditional optical film stock as well as analogue and digital video. all areas of film production work in units: camera equipment, sound, editing, scenery, props and set design are all involved in the making of every film from the shooting stage to the production of the final print. we are trying to keep up - to - date with each technical innovation as it appears in the world of contemporary film technology. each year, new equipment is purchased and the film and television studios are equipped so that the school can give a taste of professional production, so that students, the future filmmakers, feel at home in this environment .
christopher weedman is a visiting assistant professor in the department of english at kutztown university of pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in film studies. his scholarship has appeared in quarterly review of film and video, senses of cinema, and the edited anthology fifty hollywood directors (routledge, 2015). he is currently writing a book on joseph losey and harold pinter’s film collaboration .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
how i rank / rate his filmography: 1. the tenant (1976) 9. 6 2. chinatown (1974) 9. 6 3. rosemary' s baby (1968) 9. 0 4. the pianist (2002) 8. 4 5. the ghost writer (2010) 8. 2 6. dance of the vampires (1967) 8. 0 7. repulsion (1965) 8. 0 8. cul - de - sac (1966) 8. 0 9. la vénus à la fourrure (2013) 8. 0 10. nóz w wodzie (1962) 7. 8 11. carnage (2011) 7. 8 12. tess (1979) 7. 5 13. death and the maiden (1994) 7. 2 14. the ninth gate (1999) 7. 2 15. oliver twist (2005) 7. 0 16. the tragedy of macbeth (1971) 6. 5 17. bitter moon (1992) 6. 0 18. what? (1972) 5. 0 19. frantic (1988) 5. 0
nationality: polish. born: paris, 18 august 1933. education: krakow liceum sztuk plastycznych (art school), 1950–53; state film school, lodz, 1954–59. family: married 1) actress barbara kwiatkowska, 1959 (divorced 1961); 2) actress sharon tate, 1968 (died 1969); 3) actress emmanuelle seigner, 1989. career: returned to poland, 1936; actor on radio and in theatre, from 1945, and in films, from 1951; joined filmmaking group kamera as assistant to andrzej munk, 1959; directed first feature, knife in the water, 1962, denounced by polish communist party chief gomulka, funding for subsequent films denied, moved to paris, 1963; moved to london, 1964, then to los angeles, 1968; wife sharon tate and three friends murdered in bel air, california, home by members of charles manson cult, 1969; opera director, from 1974; convicted by his own plea of unlawful sexual intercourse in california, 1977; committed to a diagnostic facility, department of correction; upon completion of study, returned to paris; also stage actor and director. awards: silver bear, berlin film festival, for repulsion, 1965; golden bear, berlin festival, for cul - de - sac, 1966; césar award, for tess, 1980. address: lives in paris.
cul-de-sac is a 1966 british psychological comic thriller directed by the polish director roman polanski . it was his second film in english , written by polanski and gérard brach . the cast includes donald pleasence , françoise dorléac , lionel stander , jack macgowran , iain quarrier , geoffrey sumner , renée houston , william franklyn , trevor delaney , marie kean . it also features jacqueline bisset ( credited as jackie bisset ) in a small role , in her second film appearance . the black and white cinematography is by gil taylor . 
cul-de-sac is a 1966 british psychological comic thriller directed by the polish director roman polanski. it was his second film in english, written by polanski and gérard brach. the cast includes donald pleasence, françoise dorléac, lionel stander, jack macgowran, iain quarrier, geoffrey sumner, renée houston, william franklyn, trevor delaney, marie kean. it also features jacqueline bisset (credited as jackie bisset) in a small role, in her second film appearance. the black and white cinematography is by gil taylor.
cul-de-sac is a 1966 british psychological comic thriller directed by the polish director roman polanski. it was his second film in english, written by polanski and gérard brach. the cast includes donald pleasence, françoise dorléac, lionel stander, jack macgowran, iain quarrier, geoffrey sumner, renée houston, william franklyn, trevor delaney, marie kean. it also features jacqueline bisset (credited as jackie bisset) in a small role, in her second film appearance. the black and white cinematography is by gil taylor.