Roman Polanski

[Daisy Pusher]

Feb 11, 2009 13:21:59 GMT -4 carrier76 said:

I've never seen a Roman Polanski movie. Isn't he the one that was married to Sharon Tate when all of that went down?

Yep, he was married to her and working on a film in London at the time of the murders. By all accounts he was devastated.*

* not that the murders remotely excuse what happened later wrt the rape, but between his childhood and the murders of his wife, child and friends, I do think Polanski was a deeply tormented man.

[divasahm]

IIRC, he also managed to escape interment in a Nazi concentration camp and lived hand-to-mouth in alleys and barns until the end of the war. His mom died in Auschwitz, but his dad survived another camp and they were eventually reunited.

None of this is an excuse for what he did, of course, but I'm a little surprised that after all that trauma and grief, he hasn't turned out to be completely insane.

[Deleted]

What exactly did he do? I googled him and all I can find is a vague description of what he did. Basically, that he was charged with sex with a minor or something.

[Ellen Tigh]

What exactly did he do? I googled him and all I can find is a vague description of what he did.

You can read the transcript of the girls testimony atThe Smoking Gun

[nottocreative]

He may be a brilliant director, but I just can't watch any of his movies. I think he's such a scumbag.

[Deleted]

Feb 11, 2009 15:25:50 GMT -4 Ellen Tigh said:

What exactly did he do? I googled him and all I can find is a vague description of what he did.

You can read the transcript of the girls testimony atThe Smoking Gun

Thanks for the link. That is seriously messed up.

[ennui]

Feb 11, 2009 15:47:56 GMT -4 nottocreative said:

He may be a brilliant director, but I just can't watch any of his movies. I think he's such a scumbag.

Not even Rosemary's Baby? I thought everyone had seen that.

I thought The Pianist was brilliant.

[litzikohanovich]

He also lived in the Warsaw Ghetto and was shot at numerous times when he was running back and forth for food. His parents had tragically returned to Poland just before the invasion by the Germans and could not get back to France. As mentioned upthread, his father survived, but his mother died at Auschwitz. His life immediately after the war was difficult as well -- as it was for everyone in Poland. I think if you look at his films from his student days in Lodz, you can see the instability, devastation and trauma. And, then he lost Sharon, his baby and his best friend, Wojciech Frykowski. This does not excuse what he did, but man this guy has been through hell. He needed therapy immediately after Sharon was killed. He is still a rapist.

He rarely comes here to Poland. In fact, when he filmed "The Pianist," it was his first time back in decades. It was reported that when they filmed certain scenes with Nazis in the movie, he really freaked out. This is just gossip here in Poland, so I am not sure how true it is. I took a course in Polish cinema here and my professor could not stand his movies, except for the early ones.

[Wol]

I believe he freaked out shooting "The Pianist" in Poland. I'm still amazed he made a Holocaust film. Bringing back those memories must have been really raw. And he didn't spare any images of horror - everyone remembers that wheelchair scene.

I know everyone loves "Rosemary's Baby", but "Chinatown" is my favorite. We should have known how twisted he was when he cast himself as the evil freak that cuts up Nicholson's face. Amazing how people can give away those clues. Like Woody Allen - everyone thought it was so cute in "Manhattan" that his character was dating 17 year old Mariel Hemingway. Now that story line just squicks me out.

[spider]

I thought Rosemary's Baby was just ridiculously silly and cheesy.

I'll see myself out.