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Puzzle of a Downfall Child

1970

Drama

Plot summary


Uploaded by: FREEMAN

Top cast

Faye Dunaway Photo
Faye Dunaway as Lou Andreas Sand
Roy Scheider Photo
Roy Scheider as Mark
Barry Morse Photo
Barry Morse as Dr. Galba
Barbara Carrera Photo
Barbara Carrera as T.J. Brady
720p.BLU
951.87 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
P/S 8 / 39

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by wmneish6 / 10

FASHION MODEL HITS THE ROCKS

PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD is about a famous fashion model who's burnt out on the business and moved to a cottage by the sea to reflect on her splintered life. Years of being treated as an object by photographers, stylists, agents, etc., has left her with a serious identity complex and an addiction to pills...although flashbacks show that she was somewhat unhinged to begin with. The film isn't really that good; as critic Pauline Kael noted when the film came out, "I have a constitutional aversion to movies about women whose souls have been lost, stolen or destroyed, especially when it isn't made clear -- and it never is -- whether the heroine had a soul in the first place." But what IS very special about the movie is simply the way that Dunaway LOOKS. Rigged out in precise red lipstick, false eyelashes and liquid eyeliner, she's meticulously photographed by director Jerry Schatzberg, a former lover and onetime fashion photographer. The story is inspired by the true life life of Anne Saint Marie, a fashion model who later came unglued. Schatzberg taped conversations with Anne Saint Marie and used her comments as a framing device for the story. Not a great film, but an interesting one nevertheless.

Reviewed by JasparLamarCrabb9 / 10

Faye Dunaway beyond the verge...

Not exactly surreal but still nearly completely devoid of a real story-line. Faye Dunaway is a highly successful model who goes off the deep end, leading to a self-imposed isolation that she can't seem to get out of. In what is a genuinely phenomenal performance, Dunaway is emotionally stripped bare. In some ways, her acting here recalls Jane Fonda's work in KLUTE. There's a lot of angst beneath some very thin skin. The supporting cast includes Viveca Lindfors, Roy Scheider (as Dunaway's hot headed boyfriend) and Barry Primus, in his film debut. From a script by Carole Eastman with some really odd direction by Jerry Schatzberg. The movie bends time and jumps back and forth as Dunaway's past is revealed. It's bleak but never depressing.

Reviewed by ikuryakin9 / 10

Great Dunaway Performance

Faye Dunaway has always been my favorite actress and this movie provides a great showcase for her talents. She plays a very neurotic model who cannot even trust her own memories. The movie is done in a non-narrative style that was fairly common in the 1970s, with events shown out of order, and that device is used very effectively to portray the protagonist's instability. This is one of the overlooked movies from a period that produced many great and challenging films; I don't believe it's ever even been on video.

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