To the Director of "The Pianist" and "Rosemary's Baby," Roman Polanski, Turns 90
Renowned cinema maestro Roman Polanski, celebrated for his works "The Pianist" and "Rosemary's Baby," turned 90 on August 18. Despite his venerable age, the filmmaker remains active in his craft, as demonstrated by the forthcoming premiere of his latest film "The Palace" at the 80th Venice Film Festival, commencing on August 30. Polanski stands as a figure of cosmic proportions, woven from a tapestry of contradictions, yet remarkably cohesive in both his life and art.
Hailing from Paris and narrowly escaping the Krakow Ghetto, Polanski is a cinematic genius who learned to read only at the age of thirteen. He became a purveyor of cinematic "satanism" on the boulevards, all while mastering the art of delicate psychological intrigue. Despite his diminutive stature and unassuming appearance, he exuded an air of arrogance and sarcasm, making him the immediate center of attention in any gathering and a magnet for beautiful women.
Eccentric in both his films and personal life, he once walked into the office of "Kamera" film studio's director, Jerzy Bossak, completely naked, in a bid to secure a role in his own film. At that time, Polanski had decided to act in his own film but later recounted that he was "talked out of it." Bossak claimed that Polanski had spent weeks trying to "pitch" his own candidacy and eventually walked into the director's office entirely nude, asking, "Am I not good enough?"
Furthermore, he was regarded as a skilled athlete, excelling in skiing and cycling. Even in his seventies, Polanski amazed young actors with his excellent physical condition. An exile who fled socialist Poland with its socialist realism art and later America, due to a conviction related to a minor, he lost his close family members, including his mother and grandmother, to the Nazis, and his young wife and unborn child to a group of Satanists. In his youth, he narrowly escaped becoming a victim of a serial killer in post-war Krakow. Indeed, his life could have been the plot of an adventurous film.
However, our interest lies not in the tabloid personality of Roman Polanski (due to his youthful transgressions, he still makes headlines).
Polanski the Director
Polanski the Filmmaker Polanski's cinema is unique in that its creator, while exploring consistent themes and maintaining a highly recognizable style, manages to reinvent himself with each new project. His main themes encompass power paranoia, reality shattered by absurdity, the destructive collision of the masculine and feminine, dominance and submission, and the formidable force of conventional wisdom. The 20th century's history, grinding people to dust, is also a recurring motif.
His favored genre is the psychological thriller, and even his love stories are infused with palpable suspense. He stands as a direct heir to Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Luis Buñuel, bestowing his films with a distinctive, refined visual culture. Even in works like the typically "Hitchcockian" thriller "Frantic," starring Harrison Ford as a man who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, Polanski's touch can serve as a ready guide to direction, cinematography, and editing.
His films also bear a unique philosophy. Polanski always has something to say about people, history, politics, and society. His statements are invariably precise, incisive, and suffused with sarcasm. Moreover, he rarely makes consecutive films that resemble each other.
Following the psychopathological thriller "Repulsion," Polanski follows with the absurd comedy "Cul-de-sac." After a pirate farce for teenagers, he delves into an intense erotic melodrama with shades of sadomasochism. A stylish mystical thriller is succeeded by a confessional film about the Holocaust. However, in each instance, it remains unmistakably the cinema of Roman Polanski.
It seems he refrained from making subpar or mediocre films. The comedy "What?" with Marcello Mastroianni in the lead role is considered weaker compared to the rest. The adventure-filled "Pirates" was criticized precisely for what makes it enjoyable—its exuberance, playfulness, and trademark dark humor, which defy conventions. "Bitter Moon" faced criticism for its perceived bad taste, with viewers failing to notice the bitter irony and subtle psychology.
In Polanski's cinema, textured characters often teeter on the edge of the grotesque, unexpected plot twists abound, and top-tier actors deliver outstanding performances. His films are invariably enthralling.
A Master of Genre Cinema
Polanski's journey began in theatre, which explains his ability to imbue cinematic stories with theatrical substance. Even in works as intimate as "Death and the Maiden," featuring just three actors on screen, or "Venus in Fur," a family enterprise involving his wife, muse, and the mother of his children, Emmanuelle Seigner, the screen is alive for an hour and a half as the actress rehearses her role with the director (played by Mathieu Amalric). In the classic "The Tenant," the suicide of the protagonist, slowly descending into madness, is depicted as an absurdist spectacle.
His rendition of "Macbeth" remained exemplary for four decades, until it was approached by Joel Coen. This isn't surprising: the Coen brothers undeniably drew from Polanski's influence in their thrillers and absurdist comedies, a fact acknowledged by Polanski himself when he awarded "Barton Fink" the Golden Palm.
His grandest spectacle is the sumptuously costumed historical drama "Tess," which unfolds like a living painting by French artists of the late 19th century. Additionally, there's the incredibly beautiful tribute to Sharon Tate, the woman tragically slain by the Manson family. Tate, who gifted Polanski a book by Thomas Hardy, was immortalized in Quentin Tarantino's film.
Age is no obstacle to this remarkable director's artistry. At seventy, he once again captured the world's attention with "The Pianist." Polanski seems poised to continue creating until the age of one hundred, and even then, he is unlikely to stop at such a round number.