Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970)
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL | 16:9 | 720x576 | 5500 kbps | 7.3Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 448 Kbps | Subtitles: French
01:45:00 | USA | Drama
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL | 16:9 | 720x576 | 5500 kbps | 7.3Gb
Audio: English AC3 1.0 @ 448 Kbps | Subtitles: French
01:45:00 | USA | Drama
Lou Andreas Sand, a once famous model, recalls her past as she tries to make success in the modeling world of New York, her stressfull workdays, her affair with Mark, an advertising executive, her friendship with photographer Aaron, and her downward spiral into ruin…
Director: Jerry Schatzberg
Cast: Faye Dunaway, Barry Primus, Viveca Lindfors, Barry Morse, Roy Scheider, Ruth Jackson, John Heffernan, Sydney Walker, Clark Burckhalter, Shirley Rich, Emerick Bronson, Joe George, John Eames, Harry Lee, Jane Halleran, Susan Willis, Barbara Carrera, Sam Schacht
Extras:
- Revealed Film (13', french, no english subs)
has film enthusiast pioneer, clearer of great authors, Pierre Rissient relating his discovery of Portrait of a Downfall Child in 1970 at the Festival of film of San Francisco.
- Illusion and Reality (51', english with optional french subs)
In this exclusive interview directed by Michel Ciment, Jerry Schatzberg discusses Portrait of a Downfall Child as a personal favorite.
IMDb
At an isolated beach cottage, Lou Andreas Sand, a once-famous fashion model, relates her past (often contradicting herself) to Aaron Reinhardt, her close friend and photographer. Aaron records her conversation for a film he is making about her. Reminiscing about her first affair, Lou describes her love for a respected older man; in reality, he brutally raped her. Describing herself as an unresponsive lover, Lou omits mentioning her desire to have sex with strangers in cheap hotels. Recalling her rise in the fashion world under the sponsorship of fashion photographer Pauline Galba, Lou minimizes the woman's lesbian dominance and her mentor's rage when Lou became engaged to marry Mark, an advertising executive. Lou is vague in relating the details of this affair–how she fled from the courthouse on the day she was to be married, and how she later accused Mark of forbidding her to go to Paris for a magazine layout when the magazine had actually decided to use another model. When her career began to ebb because of her neurotic behavior, she blamed others. After an attempted suicide, Lou resorted to using alcohol and tranquilizers to calm herself; finally, she had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized. Now alone in the cottage, she still lives on medication, trying to pull herself together. As she walks on the beach with Aaron, Lou expresses surprise that they never made love together; when he informs her that they did have an affair and that she was a good lover, Lou smiles.