Set in a remote island castle in Britain, the film revolves around an American gangster who is on the run with his ailing Irish partner as he hides in the castle home of a British man and his young French wife where things become chaotic in the course of a few days. It is a film that is sort of a home invasion film yet it is an exploration of three people in isolation as they deal with bad weather, sexual tension, visitors, and other things that makes these few days chaotic. The film’s screenplay by Roman Polanski and Gerard Bach is largely straightforward in its narrative yet it is their approach to the three main characters is what makes it unique as the American gangster Dickie (Lionel Stander) is trying to escape with his partner Albie (Jack MacGowran) who is injured following a botched robbery as they drive towards a causeway that is being submerged by the rising tide. Dickie walks through the tide to get help as he finds a castle that is owned by the middle-aged George (Donald Pleasance) and his young French wife Teresa (Francoise Dorleac) who spends her time messing around with a young neighbor.
Upon discovering Dickie at their home, George and Teresa are frightened by his presence though Dickie is someone that just needs help as he’s trying to contact his boss over what happened as George and Teresa do help him retrieve the ailing Albie. Yet, things however don’t go well as it leads to chaos but also moments of the couple getting to know Dickie with him and George hitting it off on their views on life despite the former’s rudeness and the latter’s own lack of masculine rage. Things get complicated when the three learn some friends of George are about to visit to see the castle as Dickie plays along as a servant though he gets annoyed by a child who ends up being more trouble for everyone making both George and Teresa upset as well.
Polanski’s direction is stylish as it is shot on location at Lindisfarne with the island’s actual castle being the home where George and Teresa live in with the exception of a few rooms in the castle that are used. The film opens with this wide shot of a car coming into a causeway and then crashing onto a marker and then to a medium shot of Dickie and Albie talking with the former leaving to get help. Polanski’s compositions and direction are filled with dazzling imagery as well as long shots that goes on for minutes including a beachside conversation between George and Dickie as they’re both drunk and lament over things in their lives while Teresa is in the background swimming naked on the beach. It is among some of the images that Polanski uses to play into this sense of isolation in this island with these rising tides but also this sense of uncertainty as it relates to Dickie’s boss whom he is waiting for. It is among the things that play into the dramatic tension with Teresa not being comfortable with Dickie’s presence though she is sympathetic to his situation as well as his sense of loyalty towards Albie.
Polanski also brings in bits of humor from a scene early in the film where George puts on some makeup as a way to express his lack of masculinity while wearing one of his wife’s nightgowns as it only brings trouble upon meeting Dickie for the first time. Even as the humor would play into the sequence where George’s friends arrive to see the castle and have lunch as they expect to have a big feast. Yet, things don’t go well as a child is wreaking havoc angering Dickie and Teresa as things would intensify due to the fact that a guest brought a double-barrel rifle as it would ultimately push George to the edge. Even as Teresa starts to act out as she feels suffocated by the presence of these two middle-aged men where the tension ultimately boils over as it also play into Dickie’s desire to leave but is unsure about the fates of George and Teresa and whether he has to kill them so that they don’t know anything only for things to go wrong as it relates to other desires and such. Overall, Polanski crafts a chilling yet offbeat film about an American criminal hiding and taking control at the castle home of a middle-aged Englishmen and his young French wife.
Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography as it help set a mood for some of the scenes at night as well as some of the daytime interior scenes as well as some of the scenes during the morning. Editor Alastair McIntyre does excellent work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with some rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Voytek and art director George Lack do fantastic work with the interiors for the scenes in the castle including Teresa’s chicken house where she houses all of her chickens until it becomes a makeshift garage.
The special effects work of Les Bowie is terrific for a scene on the causeway where the tide is rising where Albie is being trapped in the car along with a few bits in the film’s climax. The sound work of Stephen Dalby is superb for the natural elements of the sound that is captured on location as well as how music is sound from a record player from another room. The film’s music by Krzysztof Komeda is incredible for its jazzy score with elements of piano and trumpets to play into the film’s offbeat tone as well as some of its suspenseful moments with a music soundtrack that is also filled with jazz music.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast feature some notable small roles as Jacqueline Bisset as a young guest that is part of George’s circle of friends, Trevor Delaney as a young boy named Horace who is the son of one of the guests who causes a lot of trouble and panic, William Franklyn as another guest in Cecil whom Teresa takes a liking to, Iain Quarrier as a young man named Christopher whom Teresa was with as they try to find shrimp and their own naked bodies, Geoffrey Sumner and Renee` Houston as Christopher’s parents who live nearby, and the duo of Robert Dorning and Marie Kean in their respective roles in Philip and Marion Mayweather as two of George’s friends who are also Horace’s parents as they often say unkind things to the point that they push George to the edge.
Jack MacGowran is excellent as Albie as an ailing gangster who is dealing with his wounds while he is waiting in a car as he deals with a rising tide and later the severity of his wounds. Francoise Dorleac is brilliant as Teresa as a young Frenchwoman who is married to the middle-aged George as she deals with his lack of masculinity as she often gets sexual satisfaction from other men while she also finds herself disgusted by Dickie despite his own views on the world. Lionel Stander is amazing as Dickie as an American gangster dealing with an ailing partner, a botched robbery, and other things as he tries to get some news from his boss but also deal with his injury and his own fate while trying to do his own thing while befriending George. Finally, there’s Donald Pleasence in a fantastic performance as George as a middle-aged man who is just trying to enjoy retirement as he endures the presence of Dickie whom he would befriend while dealing with all sorts of things including his own lack of masculinity and the pain he’s carrying as it relates to loss.
Cul-de-Sac is a phenomenal film from Roman Polanski. Featuring great performances from Donald Pleasence, Francoise Dorleac, and Lionel Stander as well as gorgeous visuals, chilling suspense, a minimalist premise, and Krzysztof Komeda’s sumptuous score. It is a film that explore a couple dealing with a criminal in a castle on an isolated island as they deal with their surroundings and all sorts of things that would eventually bring chaos. In the end, Cul-de-Sac is a sensational film from Roman Polanski.
Roman Polanski Films: Knife in the Water - Repulsion - The Fearless Vampire Killers - Rosemary's Baby - Macbeth (1971 film) - (What?) – Chinatown - The Tenant – Tess (1979 film) - (Pirates) – Frantic - Bitter Moon - Death and the Maiden - The Ninth Gate - The Pianist - Oliver Twist (2005 film) - The Ghost Writer - Carnage (2011 film) - (Venus in Fur) – (Based on a True Story) – (An Officer and a Spy) – (The Palace)
© thevoid99 2022
Written and directed by Jacques Demy, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort) is the story of two sisters who hope to go to the big city when a fair arrives in their port town as they hope to find men and a chance to succeed. The film is a musical set in a small port town in France where it plays into two sisters trying to make it and escape their dreary world. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Francoise Dorleac, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, George Chakaris, Grover Dale, and Gene Kelly. Les Demoiselles de Rochefort is a splendid and enchanting film from Jacques Demy.
Set in the actual port town of Rochefort during the course of an entire weekend, the film is about a fair that is happening in the town where twin sisters hope to find their ideal men during the fair while hoping to go to Paris to pursue their own dreams. It’s a film that is about trying to find love but also deal with lost love and other complications with everyone getting ready for this fair that was to showcase a lot of things to the locals in Rochefort. Jacques Demy’s screenplay follows a lot of characters and their own pursuit for love with the twin sisters Delphine (Catherine Deneuve) and Solange (Francoise Dorleac) as the leads in the story as they’re two women who can sing and dance as they both want to go to Paris. Upon meeting the carnies Etienne (George Chakaris) and Bill (Grover Dale), they find a chance to get out of Rochefort even though their ideal figures of who their soul mates are just happen to be in the city. At the same time, there’s other characters who cope with love such as Delphine and Solange’s mother Yvonne (Danielle Darrieux) over a fiancée she left behind while a music shop owner in Simon Dame (Michel Piccoli) has just arrived to the town lamenting over someone he had lost as he befriends Solange.
Simon’s friendship with Solange would prompt him to call upon an old friend who could help her with her dreams of writing music in an American named Andrew Miller (Gene Kelly) as the two would meet but are unaware of who they really are. Another storyline involves a sailor named Maxence (Jacques Perrin) who is also a poet and painter as he is looking for his own ideal form of love through a painting he made as the woman in the painting looks a lot like Delphine though he’s never met her. There’s a lot that goes on yet Demy always find a way for these multiple stories with multiple characters to not overwhelm the narrative as he would write the lyrics and dialogue that would reveal a lot for all of these other storylines to make sense.
Demy’s direction is just intoxicating to watch in every sense of the word as it is shot on location in Rochefort where it is made to look like a real small town that has a lot more to offer. Shot on a 2:35:1 aspect ratio, Demy uses the widescreen format to his advantage not just in the wide shot where he captures so much coverage in the town but also in the scope of the dancing. Aided by choreographer Norman Meen, the dancing in the film definitely has a sense of movement that Demy would follow not just in wide and medium shots but also know when to cut and get it from another angle or for a close-up. Demy would use some tracking shots to follow some of the dancing while setting up moments from one part of a street to another to follow one character’s narrative into another where it all connects. Demy would also create simple moments for the non-musical scenes as it is more about the characters and what they would do where it would either set up a musical moment or something that would become a plot-point for a character. Even as its climax is at the fair where it is about these twin sisters finally reaching their dream to go to Paris and make something of themselves but also leave behind the idea that they might’ve never found their ideal figures of love. Overall, Demy creates a wondrous and majestic film about twin sisters trying to find love in their small port hometown.
Cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet does amazing work with the film’s colorful and gorgeous cinematography as much of the film is shot in the daytime where it captures the fullness and beauty of the colors as well as the locations with very few scenes shot at night that includes a dinner at Yvonne’s café. Editor Jean Hamon does excellent work with the editing as it does have elements of style but knows how to play with the rhythm of the music and in the dancing as it’s one of the film’s highlights. Production designer Bernard Evein and set decorator Louis Seuret do brilliant work with the set design from the look of Yvonne’s café as well as some of the staging in the fair and the music shop owned by Simon.
Costume designers Jacqueline Moreau and Marie-Claude Fouquet do fantastic work with the costumes as it adds to the film’s gorgeous visuals with its vibrant colors and how it play into the personality of the characters in the film. The sound work of Jacques Maumont is superb as it is very straightforward while capturing the atmosphere of the fair and some of the other local events. The film’s music by Michel Legrand is incredible as it is a highlight of the film with its playful score and the songs written with Demy as it says so much about the characters and helping to drive the story.
The film’s phenomenal cast include some notable small roles from Genevieve Thenier as Yvonne’s café waitress Josette, Pamela Hart and Leslie North as a couple of performers that dump Etienne and Bill for sailors, Patrick Jeantet as Yvonne’s youngest son Booboo, Rene Bazart as Yvonne’s father, Henri Cremieux as an old friend of Yvonne’s father who visits the café, and Jacques Riberolles as Delphine’s art gallery boyfriend Guillaume who is quite full of himself as the two break-up early in the film. Michel Piccoli is superb as Simon as a music shop owner who is an old friend of Andy as well as a mentor of sorts for Solange with her music as he also laments over love that he’s lost many years ago. Danielle Darrieux is fantastic as Yvonne as a café owner who also laments over a lover she left behind while coping with the fact that her daughters are leaving home to pursue their dreams as she’s the only person in the film that actually sings while everyone lip-syncs other people’s voices. Jacques Perrin is excellent as the sailor Maxence as a man who is trying to finish his service in the military while pursuing his own dreams as an artist where he hopes to find the woman he painted but never met.
George Chakaris and Grover Dale are brilliant in their respective roles as Etienne and Bill as two smooth-talking but kind carnies who try to woo Delphine and Solange while helping out Yvonne and other locals in the world of love. Gene Kelly is marvelous as Andrew Miller as an American friend of Simon who visits the small town as he gets a glimpse and falls for Solange while discovering a piece she wrote that she dropped upon their first meeting. Finally, there’s the duo of Catherine Deneuve and Francoise Dorleac in remarkable performances in their respective roles as Delphine and Solange. Deneuve and Dorleac, who are sisters in real-life, both provide a great sense of comic timing and charm as well as displaying their own vulnerabilities as women trying to find their ideal mates and their pursuit to follow their dreams in the big city despite leaving the one place they call home.
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort is a spectacular film from Jacques Demy. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, top-notch choreography, and sumptuous music. It’s a film that doesn’t just bear many elements into what makes the musical a joy to watch but it’s also backed by a universal and engaging story about finding love in a small portside town in France. In the end, Les Demoiselles de Rochefort is a tremendous film from Jacques Demy.
Jacques Demy Films: (Lola (1961 film)) - Bay of Angels - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Model Shop - Donkey Skin - (The Pied Piper (1972 film)) - A Slightly Pregnant Man - (Lady Oscar) - (La Naissance du Jour) – Une chambre en ville - (Parking (1985 film)) - (Three Places for the 26th) - (Turning Table)
© thevoid99 2017
Directed by Francois Truffaut and written by Truffaut and Jean-Louis Richard, La peau doce (The Soft Skin) is the story about a married publisher who falls for an airline hostess where the two engage into an affair. The film is an exploration into a man who deals with this new affair as well as the effects it would have on his marriage. Starring Jean Desailly, Francoise Dorleac, and Nelly Benedetti. La peau doce is a mesmerizing yet radiant film from Francois Truffaut.
The film is a simple story about a publisher’s extramarital affair with an airline hostess where it would create complications for both of their lives. While it’s a plot that is simple and does play with the conventions of two people falling in love. It is more about the affair and a man’s struggle to balance the life that he has with his wife and his young lover. Pierre Lachenay (Jean Desailly) is an important man who travels and hosts public events due to his work as a magazine editor and writer who does have a nice family life with his wife Franca (Nelly Benedetti) and their daughter Sabine (Sabine Haudepin). When he meets Nicole (Francoise Dorleac), he is smitten by her as they have this spark yet keep the affair a secret as Nicole would struggle with not just Pierre’s other life but also the impact the affair would have on his family.
The film’s screenplay emphasizes more on action rather than plot though there are a few moments in the script where the plot does help to move the story. Notably in the second act where Pierre and Nicole decide to have a weekend together in a small town where Pierre is to host a film screening. It would be a moment that would create complications due to Pierre’s duties and the presence of his friend Clement (Daniel Ceccaldi) where Pierre was supposed to do something with Nicole later that night. Pierre would make things up to Nicole as their moment of piece in a country cabin would be marred when Pierre calls his wife telling her that he has to spend another day. Yet, she would play a key moment in the film’s third act as the film would be more dramatic as Pierre and Nicole’s relationship would suffer in some respects as Pierre tries to figure out how to resolve everything.
Truffaut’s direction is definitely stylish in not just the compositions he creates but also in the way he presents much of the film’s drama. Notably as much of Truffaut’s direction is very intimate in the way the relationship between Pierre and Nicole builds up where he creates some unique close-ups and some striking compositions such as the shots in the hotel hallways. The compositions also has Truffaut create some tracking shots that are just entrancing to watch to display not just some of the action but also the drama. While there are a few moments of humor, it’s mostly dramatic while the film’s third act would be more melodramatic but also contain some elements of suspense over Franca’s emotional state. Overall, Truffaut creates a very compelling yet chilling film about adultery.
Cinematographer Raoul Coutard does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to play into the look of Paris at night as well as some of the lighting in the small town that Pierre and Nicole go to. Editor Claudine Bouche does fantastic work with the editing with its use of style in its jump-cuts and dissolves to play with the film‘s romance and drama. Costume designer Renee Rouzot does nice work with the costumes from the posh dresses that Franca wears to the more youthful look of Nicole. The film’s music by Georges Delerue is amazing for its orchestral-based score that is upbeat and playful to moments that is very somber in its serene string arrangements.
The film’s superb cast includes some notable small performances from Georges de Givray as Nicole’s father, screenwriter Jean-Louis Richard as a man harassing Nicole at the small town, Paule Emmanuele as Franca’s friend Odile, Dominique Lacarriere as Pierre’s secretary, Sabine Haudepin as Pierre and Franca’s daughter, and Daniel Ceccaldi as Pierre’s friend Clement who accompanies him to events and chats endlessly. Nelly Benedetti is brilliant as Pierre’s wife Franca as a woman who becomes blindsided by the affair as she starts to become an emotional wreck in her suspicions about Pierre’s activities. Francoise Dorleac is remarkable as Nicole as this young woman who is intrigued by Pierre and his personality as she falls for him yet has concerns about his other life with his wife. Finally, there’s Jean Desailly in a marvelous performance as Pierre as this respected publisher who falls for a young woman as he is infatuated with Nicole yet later deals with the fallbacks of his affair as he tries to figure out how to work things out in the end.
La peau doce is an extraordinary film from Francois Truffaut that features amazing performances from Jean Desailly and Francoise Dorleac. While it’s a very different film from the more quirky and humorous films of the early 60s. It is still a very captivating story in the way it explores the world of adultery. In the end, La peau doce is a fantastic film from Francois Truffaut.
Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player - Jules & Jim - Antoine & Colette - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Stolen Kisses - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - The Story of Adele H. - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - Love on the Run - The Last Metro - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours
The Auteur #40: Francois Truffaut (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2)
© thevoid99 2014
