Contents
The controversial Polish film director Roman Polanski is 90 years old. For his milestone birthday, a look at the unknown, misunderstood and unsuccessful in the director’s work.
Some of Polanski’s films are classics: the horror comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), the psychological thriller Rosemary’s Baby (1968), the neo-noir crime thriller Chinatown (1974 ) or the Oscar-winning war drama «The Pianist» (2002).
His first feature film, Knife in the Water (1962), remains a pioneering work of the Polish Nouvelle Vague. “Le locataire” (1976), on the other hand, is unforgettable as a portrait of an introverted man who succumbs to madness – played by Polanski himself.
But a look at Polanski’s filmography also reveals bizarre and questionable films. They complement the image of a filmmaker, whose more serious works often revolve around psychological vulnerability, to the image of a tinkerer who doesn’t stop at surrealism and sex slapstick.
Effortless brute humor
A feature film that Polanski would certainly not make today is the comedy “What?” (1972). The story begins with three men trying to rape a young American hitchhiker (Sydne Rome) on an Italian country road. This attempt ends with a punchline that cannot be described here because it is too crude.
“What?” sees itself as a liberally absurd implementation of «Alice in Wonderland»: the stranded tourist lands in a decadent villa by cable car and encounters an immoral society there.
Legend:
To forget: Roman Polanski (pictured here) made the 1972 film “What” starring Sydne Rome (pictured right).
IMAGO / Everett Collection
Polanski may have intended this as a bitterly frontal satire on the bourgeoisie. From today’s point of view, however, the brute humor seems tried. The fact that Sydne Rome acts without a shell and Dieter Hallervorden plays a guest role – none of that makes the film better.
A lot of money sunk
“Pirates (1986) was Roman Polanski’s only attempt at making a blockbuster – and after “Dance of the Vampires” one of his few films with a narrow youth rating.
A fiasco: His buccaneer epic starring Walter Matthau cost over 30 million dollars after long production and casting turbulence – and the rush to the cinemas did not materialize.
Legend:
A passable flop: Roman Polanski’s “Pirates” from 1986 with Walter Matthau (pictured) in the leading role.
IMAGO / Allstar
The film itself is passable, even a treat for fans of Matthaus’ gruff grumpy humor. But Polanski was too late to start his pirate film: In the first half of the 80s, too many mediocre films of this kind («The Pirate Movie», «Yellowbeard») had made the genre mad for the public. Interest only reignited when Johnny Depp slipped into the shoes of Jack Sparrow.
Depp’s liaison with the devil
Speaking of Johnny Depp: The Hollywood star played the leading role in Roman Polanski’s mystical thriller “The Ninth Gate” (1999) – this was also not a glorious chapter in Polanski’s long career.
As a greedy-sleazy antiquarian, Depp is drawn into occult processes while searching for a book about satanic rites and, in a memorable scene, sleeps with a woman who turns into the horned one during intercourse.
Legend:
No glory sheet: “The Ninth Gate” with the young Johnny Depp as an antiquarian and Emmanuelle Seigner.
IMAGO / Allstar
To Polanski’s credit, “The Ninth Gate” wasn’t meant to be taken seriously anyway. But one could easily ignore this film and stick to Polanski’s fine works instead.