Puzzle of a Downfall Child Reviews

Dunaway, in a series of flashbacks, relates her background to Primus, who wants to make a movie about the former fashion model. Her life has been full of casual and sometimes brutal sexual escapades, but she glosses over this reality: a rape turns into a passionate affair with an older man; her various one night stands are equally easily dismissed. In describing her rise to the top of the modeling world, Dunaway downplays mentor Lindfors' lesbianism. She also minimizes Lindfors anger when Dunaway becomes engaged to Schieder. Dunaway's encounters with Schieder are deliberately vaguer than the other reminiscences. It seems that she fled from the courthouse where the two were to be married. Yet she blames him when an important magazine in Paris uses another model for a layout. Gradually her career deteriorates along with her mental state, until she attempts suicide. Submitting to a life of booze and pills, Dunaway retires to her small cottage by the sea. The action returns to the present and Dunaway's conversation with Primus. As they stroll along the beach, Dunaway asks Primus why they haven't slept together. When Primus explains that they once did, a smile comes over Dunaway's face. Offering a dreamlike mise-en-scene, PUZZLE OF A DOWNFALL CHILD, is a visually magnificent. Dunaway's performance is a tour de force, and she receives excellent support, particularly from Schieder. However, the film is hampered by a screenplay that has Dunaway's Lou telling so many half-truths that it confuses not only Primus but the audience. Occasionally this picture resorts to cliches as well, a shame considering the potential power of the premise. This was the directoral debut for Schatzberg who had previously worked as a fashion photographer himself.