Customer Reviews

Cul-De-Sac (Callejon Sin Salida) aka (Cul De Sac) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latinm America]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The unavailability of this flick in DVD is proof of just how under rated this early Polanski masterpiece remains.

Cul de Sac is the second major feature of the Polish director produced and filmed away from his motherland, a condition that would so decisively mark the character of all his films. The human condition with all it's drama and comedy is portrayed with constant scrutiny into deeper and deeper layers of the human psyche. Obsession, Perversion, brutality or silliness begin to be addressed here and would later become recurring themes all the way into his blockbuster features. In removing the rug under our feet Polanski is a Master and by setting up the simplest yet most delirious situations Cul de Sac would be in my opinion the peak of his creative force. It deals with the awkward intrusion of two gangsters into the life of a couple with marital issues which results in something like Bergman meets Film Noir. One of cinema's true Jewels still awaiting for a proper reception from both audiences and critics. Incredible that no US version exists! Just imports like this Mexican version.

I've waited to see "Cul-de-sac" for many years, but it's been unreleased in the U.S., for whatever reason. Now along comes this region 1 & 4 release, & so I ordered it and I wasn't disappointed. The DVD itself is very nice, no frills but just turn off the Spanish subtitles (or don't) and it's a very nice transfer. The film itself is rather strange, sort of a comedy/thriller, with Donald Pleasance and his wife as hostages of criminal Lionel Stander, who is waiting for rescue from whatever debacle he's gotten himself into, and instead being treated to this couple's obnoxious vistors and their own uh, quirky kinks. Pleasance is a real wimp but eventually realizes that they can get the upper hand on this crook, etc... Worth seeing if you're a Polanski fan, as for others, well, I don't know that there'd be a lot of interest. I would need to watch this at least a couple more times, because it didn't quite grab me like some of Polanski's earlier work (Knife in the Water, Repulsion), but it does have a certain something to it that made it worth seeing. 4 out of 5 stars.