Line #28 Film/CulDeSac1966


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/culdesac.jpg]]
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3	''Cul-de-sac'' is a 1966 comedic PsychologicalThriller film directed by Creator/RomanPolanski, starring Creator/DonaldPleasence, Creator/FrancoiseDorleac, Lionel Stander and Jack [=MacGowran=].
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5	In UsefulNotes/NorthEastEngland, American gangster Dickey (Stander) and his partner Albie ([=MacGowran=]) are on the run and wounded after a botched robbery. They wind up at a medieval castle on an isolated tidal island, where middle-aged George (Pleasance) and his young wife Teresa (Dorléac) live alone. Dickey forces the couple to provide shelter to him and his companion, and a series of mind games ensues.
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7	One of only a handful of films that Françoise Dorléac, Creator/CatherineDeneuve's sister, made before she was killed in a car accident. Creator/JacquelineBisset, who would soon become a major star, appears in a minor role.
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10	!!''Cul-de-sac'' provides examples of:
11	* AnimalMotif: George's castle is full of chickens, which symbolize his cowardice.
12	* AwfulWeddedLife: George and Teresa. Teresa cheats on her husband and she constantly belittles him.
13	* BinocularShot: Used when Dickey and Albie look at the stars with binoculars.
14	* BlackComedy: The movie's tone is comical (Dickey's stupidity or George's cowardice, for example, are PlayedForLaughs), but it is about two people held hostage by a dangerous gangster.
15	* BrattyHalfPint: Nicholas, the son of George's friends. He only does silly things. It culminates with shooting off Cecil's gun.
16	* CatScare: Dickey is scared by the noise made by chickens when he enters the castle.
17	* ChekhovsGun: The tommy gun in the stolen cab, shown very early in the film and comes back into play during the climax.
18	* ClosedCircle: Several elements prevent Dickey, Albie, George, and Teresa from leaving the island: Dickey and Albie's car is broken; Albie is mortally wounded; the rising tide isolates the island; Dickey forces George and Teresa to stay with him; George's car explodes in the end.
19	* CutPhoneLines: Dickey cuts the phone line of the castle to prevent George and Teresa from calling the police.
20	* DraggedIntoDrag: Teresa forces George to wear her lingerie and she makes him up.
21	* DrowningPit: Albie is trapped in a broken car on the causeway. The rising tide nearly drowns him, but Dickey shows up to save him.
22	* DumbMuscle: Dickey is a strong guy (even with an arm in a sling, he is still a serious threat for George and Teresa) and he is quite stupid (he is really surprised by the fact that the tide has risen, he doesn't know that ''Rob Roy'' was a book before it was a movie).
23	* EmasculatedCuckold: George is a feeble man and a coward. George's lack of manliness is stressed when Teresa, his wife, forces him to wear her lingerie and makes him up. Teresa cheats on him with Christopher, a young {{Hunk}}. She also flirts with the manly Cecil and even with Dickey himself a little.
24	* EveryCarIsAPinto: George's car. When Dickey shoots at it with his tommy gun, it explodes.
25	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The story takes place in less than 2 days.
26	* GargleBlaster: Teresa's home-made vodka is very strong. It is hard to drink even for a gangster like Dickey.
27	* TheGhost: Katelbach. Dickey calls him and says that he will come to pick him up, but he never shows up.
28	* HeroicBSOD: George after [[spoiler:shooting down Dickey]].
29	* NoodleIncident: How Dickey and Albie were wounded and how they ended up in Lindisfarne is never explained.
30	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:George shoots at Dickey several times. Dickey is badly wounded, but he is still able to go to the car to grab a tommy gun. Finally subverted, because he collapses just when he's about to use the gun.]]
31	* OldDarkHouse: A medieval castle on a tidal island. It is very isolated, especially after Dickey cuts the phone line.
32	* TheOner: A scene where the trio goes to the beach, where Teresa goes skinny dipping, only for Dickey to take a random plane for a helicopter coming to rescue him, followed by Dickey ridiculously firing his pistol at the plane after it flies away. It runs nearly eight minutes without a cut.
33	* ShoutOut: To Creator/WalterScott's ''Literature/RobRoy'' (George claims that the book was written in the castle) and the 1953 film of the same name (Dickey does not know the book, but he knows the film).
34	* SkinnyDipping: Teresa swims naked in the sea.
35	* StockholmSyndrome: Both George and Teresa develop some sympathy for Dickey. Teresa chats with him when he is [[spoiler:burying Albie]]. She brings a bottle of vodka and she helps him with [[spoiler:the burying]]. Later, George confides in Dickey on the beach.
36	* TookALevelInBadass: George is a weak character, but in the end [[spoiler:he shoots Dickey down]]. {{Subverted\|Trope}}, because after that, he is under shock and does not react to things normally any more.
37	* TroubledFetalPosition: George's position in the end, after [[spoiler:shooting Dickey down]].
38	* UglyGuyHotWife: Played with in George (Creator/DonaldPleasence) and Teresa (Dorléac). George is very handsome, but he's such an embarrassing coward and doormat that he becomes repulsive by personality alone.
39	* YouWouldntShootMe: When George has him at gunpoint, Dickey is sure that he will not shoot. [[spoiler:He is wrong.]]

Context Film / CulDeSac1966