By Dalhousie Gazette Staff
Grade: A-
Recently the Dal Art Gallery screened a documentary about Roman Polanski, the famous Polish movie director whose life has been the subject of sheer media frenzy over the years. Roman Polanski’s life has been wrought with tragedy, but he has also realized great success. This documentary allows us to see beyond what was presented by the media in times of tragedy in his life.
The documentary was released in 2008 but is probably gaining more recognition now than at that time, because Polanski was recently arrested in Europe at a Swiss film festival for a crime he committed in California in the 1970s. I’ll explain how Polanski ended up fleeing the United States and retreating to Europe, where he was eventually arrested many years later.
Polanski’s parents were killed in concentration camps during the Holocaust, when he was young. He managed, however, to build a name for himself in cinema and eventually ended up working in Hollywood. He became well known world wide for controversial films such as Rosemary’s Baby, and worked and played with famous actors and film industry big-shots.
Despite the setback of losing his parents so young, Polanski managed to accomplish a lot, and eventually married the love of his life, Sharon Tate. He met Sharon while filming a movie in the U.K. He cast her as the leading actress and their love affair bloomed from that point forward. Eventually she became pregnant. The film shows a substantial amount of footage of Sharon and Roman together, both of their home and their time working together. It’s easy to see the adoration they had for each other, and to understand the incredible tragedy of what ensued. While Polanski was shooting a movie in Europe, he received the news that his then pregnant wife had been brutally murdered by members of the Manson Family.
The film does a tasteful job of presenting the events surrounding Tate’s murder. The media at the time had pounced on the bizarre and freakish nature of her death and made her out to be a sort of cult follower. Charles Manson, an ex-con and drifter, had gathered a cult following and command its members to commit murder.
One night, as Tate entertained guests at her home, Manson sent his minions to take the lives of her and her guests. They were not only killed, but also brutally tortured. Polanski’s life would never be the same. It’s clear through the interviews conducted with friends of Polanski that he was, in many ways, defeated and ruined by what happened to his wife. Several years later, he would commit a crime surrounded by controversy, and consequently fuel a media circus.
Polanski, while taking pictures of a 13-year-old girl for a photo shoot, ended up having sex with her. The girl’s mother had allowed her to go to the shoot, and Polanski and the girl were alone when this took place. He ended up facing numerous sexual assault charges and the case was followed relentlessly by the media.
What we know is that, eventually, Polanski skipped his final sentencing and fled to Europe. He is still wanted in America. What the film tells us, though, is that he had no intention of fleeing at all until things later became unfair.
The lawyers who were involved in the case at the time speak often in the film of the injustices surrounding the trial and the media coverage. The “victim” of the alleged assault was equally disgusted by the media frenzy surrounding the case. Judge Rittenband, who presided over the case, seemed to thrive on the media attention and went so far as to hold press conferences in his chambers. He based his sentencing decisions on what the public wanted and played with members of the court like puppets on strings. Polanski and lawyers for both the defence and prosecution became convinced that he was untrustworthy, which fuelled Polanski to depart for Europe rather than receive an additional sentence.
Since that time, he has remarried and has several children. He does, however, remain wanted in the United States.
The film really is interesting, and very well done. There are in-depth interviews with the victim, Polanski, his friends and colleagues, and with those involved in the case. What Polanski did was extremely controversial, but the controversy surrounding the case was perhaps just as shocking. It seems as though the public continues to thrive on the downfalls and mishaps of famous people in particular, which makes it difficult to form a solid opinion.
This film is definitely worth a peek.
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