By Raymond Benson
The
Killing (directed by
Stanley Kubrick)
Cul-de-sac
(directed
by Roman Polanski)
From
The Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-Ray
Examining
early pictures by directors who went on to bigger and better things is always a
fascinating exercise. In this case, the experience is both academically
rewarding and monumentally entertaining. They are a tremendous amount of fun to
watch, yet film aficionados will certainly study the pieces and place them in
perspective with the later, betterl-known masterpieces by these two iconic artists. Are there common thematic elements? Do we see glimpses of the later Stanley
Kubrick or Roman Polanski in these early efforts? Without a doubt, The Criterion Collection’s
new releases of The Killing and Cul-de-sac display the beginning of masterful
craftsmanship from two youthful filmmakers.
The Killing package is two
bangs for a buck—not only do you get a crisply clean, picture-perfect
remastered edition of The Killing,
but on a second disk you also get the same quality remastering of Kubrick’s
earlier independent film noir, Killer’s
Kiss. What a deal! I remember the first time I saw these movies;
there were a double bill at a New York revival house, so I’ll always think of
them as a pair.
Killer’s Kiss was Kubrick’s
second feature film, released by United Artists in 1955. Kubrick made it guerilla-style on the streets
of New York—he never had permits to film at city locations, so the director quickly
shot what he needed and then skedaddled. Kubrick directed it, produced it, wrote it, shot it, edited it, and did
the post-sync work. Then he went out and
marketed it himself and sold it to a distributor. That’s impressive independent filmmaking,
especially for the early 1950s, when indy productions were not what they became
in the seventies and beyond. As an
entertainment, Killer’s Kiss is unquestionably
B-movie material, but most film noirs are. The story is passable, but the picture is so well photographed that it
doesn’t matter. Watch for the surreal
fight amongst naked mannequins in the warehouse toward the movie’s climax—it’s
pure Kubrick.
The Killing was a big step
forward for Kubrick. After the release of Killer’s
Kiss, the director formed a partnership with producer James B. Harris, a
union that, at the time, suited both men very well. The first Harris-Kubrick production, The Killing, was released in 1956
through United Artists. Co-written by
Kubrick and pulp crime novelist Jim Thompson, today it’s considered one of the
best caper-gone-wrong movies ever made. Sterling Hayden repeats his tough guy persona from The Asphalt Jungle as he leads a motley crew in a complex,
twisty-turny puzzle of a heist. Later
modern crime films such as Pulp Fiction owe
a lot to The Killing’s unique
non-linear editing, which apparently the studio wanted the filmmakers to
change. The ending is a quintessential
display of another Kubrick signature—irony so dark it’s almost funny.
Extras
include an informative recent interview with producer Harris and a jaw-dropping
seventies-era interview with actor Hayden. Hayden was indeed quite the character, even as himself.
Cul-de-sac is Roman
Polanski’s third feature, made in England and released in 1966. What an odd little movie. Donald Pleasence plays a milk-toast cuckold
to his sexy French wife Francoise Dorleac (Catherine Deneuve’s older sister) as
they are held hostage in their own fortress-home by a rude, loud, and funny
American gangster played by gravel-voiced Lionel Stander. Throughout a weekend, the threesome conducts
all kinds of mind games on each other, subjects one another to abuse and
humiliation, and waits for Stander’s boss to rescue him—which, in grand Waiting for Godot fashion—never
happens. Polanski has always had a
fascination with ménage a trois situations. His first feature Knife in the
Water is built around three characters. Later films like Tess, Bitter Moon, and Death and the Maiden, also feature three principal leads. Cul-de-sac
is perhaps not a great entry in Polanski’s body of work, but one must admit
that it’s curiously entertaining and joyfully repulsive at the same time. Intended to be an absurd black comedy in the
style of Harold Pinter or Samuel Beckett, the story’s relentless despair—played
for comic irony—unfortunately grows tiresome, but the actors’ performances and
overall nasty mood of the piece are striking.
Extras
include a recent revealing interview with many people associated with the
making of the film, including Polanski, and a vintage British television piece
on the director.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE KILLING ON DVD DISCOUNTED FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE KILLING ON BLU-RAY DISCOUNTED FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER CUL DE SAC ON DVD DISCOUNTED FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER CUL DE SAC ON BLU-RAY DISCOUNTED FROM AMAZON