Cul-de-sac

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roman Polanski directs. Gilbert Taylor behind the camera. Krzysztof Komeda scores. Alastair McIntyre cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 260 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Directed by Roman Polanski, shot by Gilbert Taylor. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Krzysztof Komeda. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Alastair McIntyre shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Lionel Stander and Donald Pleasence and Françoise Dorléac carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "Sometimes there’s nothing left to do but laugh!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0060268 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 10Classified under 10 themes, including "island", "age difference", "married couple", "dark comedy".

The technical file

Cinematography

Gilbert Taylor

Original score

Krzysztof Komeda

Editing

Alastair McIntyre

Production design

Voytek

Makeup / hair

Alan Brownie

Runtime

112 min · 1h 52m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$135,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

Cul-de-sac (1966) ↗

Also by

Roman Polanski

• 
  The Pianist

  2002 · ★ 8.4
• 
  Le court des grands

  2005 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Chinatown

  1974 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Rosemary's Baby

  1968 · ★ 7.8
• 
  The Tenant

  1976 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Repulsion

  1965 · ★ 7.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Cul-de-sac (1966) Original Trailer [FHD]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Cul-de-sac ≣ 1966 ≣ Trailer #2

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Cul-de-sac ≣ 1966 ≣ Trailer #1

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Three Reasons: Cul-de-sac

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Wuchak2022-02-17
  ★ 6/10

  Mid-60’s art house flick is dramatically tedious, but has interesting themes A diminutive artist (Donald Pleasence) lives with his much-younger French wife (Françoise Dorléac) in a castle on a tidal island in northern England. When a gruff gangster (Lionel Stander) shows up on their doorstep havoc ensues. Iain Quarrier, William Franklyn and a young Jacqueline Bisset show up for peripheral parts. "Cul-de-Sac" (1966) is one of Roman Polanski's early experiments, a freestyle B&W psychological crime dramedy that takes elements of “The Damned” (1963), “Touch of Evil” (1958) and “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) and mixes them with black humor and the theme of the later “Straw Dogs” (1971). Jack Nicholson cited it as his favorite film, which makes sense when you consider Nicholson’s “The Shooting” (1966). In tone, it’s the precursor to Altman flicks like “The Long Goodbye” (1973). There’s such an improvisational feel that one wonders what the point is? French girls are neurotic and promiscuous: British artists are wussies? Those who live by the gun will die by the gun? No matter how much a person tries to escape the world to focus on fulfilling his/her art (whatever that might be), the corruption of the world will come knocking on your door and might even share your bed? That even a finely cultured man will resort to his primordial nature if backed into a corner? The film obviously has its partisans, who deem it a masterpiece. There are some interesting technical things going on, like the 7.5 minute scene on the beach, which was one of the longest continuous sequences in cinema up to that point. But the characters are oddball and unlikable while the story is meandering and dramatically dull. Yet the locations, the cast and the themes are to die for, not to mention the eccentricities. The film runs 1 hour, 52 minutes, and was shot at Holy Island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of northeastern England. GRADE B-/C+

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• TE

  Tekli British Productions

  GB

• CO

  Compton Films

  GB

Key crew

• EditorAlastair McIntyre
• First Assistant DirectorTed Sturgis
• ProducerGene Gutowski
• ProducerMichael Klinger
• ProducerTony Tenser
• Executive ProducerSam Waynberg
• Production DesignVoytek
• Art DirectionGeorge Lack
• Makeup ArtistAlan Brownie
• Sound EditorDavid Campling

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• island
• age difference
• married couple
• dark comedy
• castle
• black and white
• refrigerator
• isolated house
• northumberland
• lindisfarne

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1966-11-07

Also known as

International titles

• Cul-de-sac - umpikujaFI
• ТупикUA
• БезвихідьUA
• Wenn Katelbach kommt...DE
• GisleneNO
• O BecoPT
• Η νύχτα των δολοφόνωνGR
• I nyhta ton dolofononGR
• Nyhta dolofononGR