ROMAN POLANSKI
(1933 - ), Polish (W/ US, UK, French productions)



"In addition to the mental scars of his tortured childhood, Polanski acknowledges the influences on his work of Beckett, Ionesco, Pinter, Kafka, and Buñuel. Atmosphere is the most important element of his films and the core around which he builds his plots and develops his characters. Like Hitchcock, he considers actors as simple pawns in the game of filmmaking and reportedly subjects them to much abuse on the set, especially the actresses."
-The MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia

"Polanski's work might be seen as an attempt to map out the precise relationship between the contemporary world's instability and tendency to violence and the individual's increasing inability to overcome the isolation and locate some realm of meaning or value beyond himself...From his own isolated position - as a man effectively without a country - Polanski tries to confront the probems of isolation, violence, and evil, and to speak of them for an audience prone to their sway."
-J.P. Telotte, International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers

"You have to show violence the way it is. If you don't show it realistically, then that's immoral and harmful. If you don't upset people, then that's obscenity."
-Roman Polanski

1962 Knife in the Water
1965 Repulsion
1966 Cul-de-Sac
1967 The Fearless Vampire Killers
1968 Rosemary's Baby
1971 The Tragedy of Macbeth
1973 What?
1974 Chinatown
1976 The Tenant
1979 Tess
1986 Pirates
1988 Frantic
1992 Bitter Moon
1994 Death and the Maiden
1999 The Ninth Gate
2002 The Pianist
2005 Oliver Twist
2010 The Ghost Writer
2011 Carnage
2013 Venus in Fur
2017 Based on a True Story
2019 An Officer and a Spy

Repulsion!

I think if you're going to make a director thread you should at least give me something to work with before telling me I have to make it.

Kick his ass, Dreww.

yeah the thread should at least have a starting point if you want it to be created. Like at least a pic and the filmography, at least. The tier thing we can actually talk about. If you only wanted the idea mentioned, then general directors wouldve been the best bet to announce it.

I'm working on the tier now.

couldn't, I had my account on Old DDD de-activated, so I can't see our old Polanski thread

I was gonna make the tier myself instead after posting that, but by the time I did, you and/or Sanjuro already did

i'm trying to think if Rosemary's Baby should be italicized, probably deserves it more than Repulsion all things considered

I really think Repulsion should be italicized. RB too but I thought I'd leave a red unitalicized for the moment to get more input.

You think Polanski could actually have four italics?

I was at a trivia thing last week and one of the questions asked what Roman Polanski's first movie filmed in America was. I totally blanked on RB and put Chinatown. D'oh!

As for his films, I've seen Repulsion, RB, Chinatown and the Pianist. I really liked them all, except for Chinatown which I found to be way overhyped. I mean, it's a great script and some good acting, but I didn't find it affecting like I did the Pianist or messed up, crazy awesome like Repulsion and Rosemary's. Still a pretty good flick though.

I agree, but it is his most acclaimed film. I could see that Pianist getting italicized absolutely, maybe Rosemary's too.

Oh it is for sure, I just didn't like it all that much.

It's hard to say. If you look at Repulsion's critical reputation, at the very least it borders on deserving italics. These days, it appears on any serious list of the best horror films, it's high on any list of best Polanksi films. I really don't want to just jump from bold to italics, though, I'm torn.

I think red serves it best. It is an incredible and revered film, but going by comparison...like how Ikiru and Ran were red for Akira.