Sundance Review: Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Filed under: Documentary, Sundance, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports
For those who aren't familiar with the infamous charges brought up against director Roman Polanski thirty years ago, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired brings us a heavily detailed and fascinating look inside the events surrounding the trial, while presenting a portrait of an injured artist who's wanted by law enforcement here in the States, yet desired around the globe for being the man behind such classic films as Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown and The Tenant.
Director Marina Zenovich coughs up tons of tasty archival footage -- coupled with interviews from both sides of the case -- while piecing together the events leading up to February 1, 1978; the day Polanski boarded a plane heading for France and never returned. Unfortunately, the two most prominent characters in the film, Polanski and Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, are not interviewed -- though we hear plenty from Polanski through thirty-year-old interviews. It is not the most powerful or emotional film, but it's certainly engaging enough to warrant the recent rights purchase by The Weinstein Co. and HBO.
Even before Polanski was charged with unlawful sexual contact for engaging in sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl, invited to Jack Nicholson's house for a photo session, the director had somehow managed to coordinate his way through a life full of big ups and even bigger downs. At an early age, Polanski's family were caught up in the German invasion of Poland, subsequently landing them in concentration camps where his father died, and his mother barely survived. Later on in life, at the height of his career, Polanski suffered another blow when his wife Sharon Tate was horrifically murdered at the hands of the Manson family.
This info isn't presented to us in a way that's supposed to sway our opinion of Polanski and the fact that, yes, he still engaged in sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl. However, the film is definitely more pro-Polanski than it is against the man. What is known about the case is presented, including taped comments from Polanski and the victim, Samantha Gailey (now Geimer), as well as both attorneys. You might wind up asking yourself: "But was it consensual?" And if it's consensual, does that really make a difference when you're talking about a girl that young? Regardless of how you personally feel about the man and the charges, the film is at its best when it focuses more on Polanski's celebrity image and how the original judge in the case was more interested in looking good for the media than he was in delivering a fair verdict.
Perhaps the most fascinating fact (and this was something I did not know) came in the reveal that, when a new judge was assigned to the case in 1997, he agreed to throw out the charges if Polanski were to return to the States -- on one condition: that the hearing be televised. Because of that, Polanski decided against coming back. And who can blame him?
Is Polanski a great filmmaker who made a mistake, or a perverted coward who ran from the law instead of facing the music? Watch the film and decide for yourself.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-29-2008 @ 3:50AM
David said...
I did see the film, and Polanski pleaded guilty to a crime with an indeterminate sentence up to 50 years. So if the judge had decided, notwithstanding the probation report, to give him several years in prison, that would have been entirely proper.
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2-28-2008 @ 7:29PM
Les Strzelecki said...
He pleaded to a lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual act with a minor. Don't remember the maximum penalty there but it definitely was not 50 years. The judge after first accepting a plea bargain decided later to reject it. Only then Polanski, facing now 50 years of incarceration, decided to flee.
2-28-2008 @ 7:43PM
David said...
I guess you didn't see the film? He did plead guilty to a crime with an indeterminate sentence, he knew when he accepted the plea that the judge could choose to sentence him harshly, regardless of the probation report.
2-28-2008 @ 6:56PM
Les Strzelecki said...
"where his father died, and his mother barely survived."
It was the other way around. Roman Polanski's father survived the war, his mother perished in Holocaust, killed, I belive, in Auschwitz.
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3-31-2008 @ 6:17PM
Michael said...
Roman Polanski didn't "engage in sex" with a 13 year old. He made a deal with the girl's mother (who knew what was going to happen) to deliver the girl under the pretense of a photo shoot, gave her champagne and 1/2 a quaalude and raped and sodomized her while she repeatedly told him no. When he didn't finish his plea-bargained 90 day psych evaluation, the judge wanted him to go to jail for 48 days or be deported. Instead, he skipped out on bail and fled the country to Europe, where he has had the opportunity to make movies and money. The judge at that point said if he sets foot in the country again he goes to jail for the maximum 50 years. And this filmaker thinks the judge was the bad guy? It seems to me it's the old "he's an artist and doesn't have to abide by conventional rules" argument. What makes me really sick is the hypocrisy of people who profess to love his art but refuse to judge his actions. And the victim's "forgiveness" is irrelevant - it was a crime against a child and against society. I also think it's disingenuous at best to present defense lawyers' arguments and the family's as anything other than self-interested. Has anyone ever looked into what exactly was the pay-off for the family's asking that he not be given jail time? Wouldn't a documentary filmmaker want to look into that? This review says the film is pro-Polanski and then says the viewer can decide if Polanski is a pervert of a brilliant filmmaker who "made a mistake". Rape and sodomy of a child by a 43 year old man is a "mistake"? How much more interesting -and adult- a film would be that tackled the question of how to love and honor the work of someone you despise?
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3-31-2008 @ 8:14PM
Michael said...
I should not have said that the mother made a deal with Polanski to deliver the girl and knew what would happen. I remembered that from the news years ago, and I might have remembered it wrong or it could have been an allegation made while the case was in the news originally.
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1-21-2008 @ 1:34PM
OVER_008 said...
Maybe I'm being an ignorant asshole here, but I really hate the fact people still adore him because he's one of the greatest filmmaker. I don't deny the fact he is, and has suffered a lot compare to anyone of us. But the fact doesn't change he had sex/rape with the minor (whether it was consensual or not), and escaped the law enforcement from his crime.
Whether what type of person he is, he is a criminal. The law should be fair to everyone. We cannot just special treat some person whether or not he's a great filmmaker with some tragedies in his life.
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1-21-2008 @ 2:48PM
remy said...
"The law should be fair to everyone."
But that's exactly the point of this documentary. The law should be fair to everyone - and it wasn't to Roman Polanski (especially the judge performed his own version of the law, for his own gain). The plea bargain was reached - with all parties content with the result - and it should have been honored (because if every judge was throwing away the plea bargains at whim, then no one would plead guilty anymore).
I don't think you're an asshole, but you should first watch the movie, and then comment on it.
Just a small correction to the original review: it was Polanski's father who survived the prison camps, while his mother was gassed at Auschwitz.
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1-21-2008 @ 3:50PM
oversandal said...
You are right. I should've pointed out the fact I didn't watch the film, yet. I kind of wrote the comment with sudden impulse. I kind of get very hotheaded when I hear his name. I just hope I would still have my HBO subscription when they show it.
What I would like to known is that whether or not Polanski admitted the fact that he raped or had sex with that minor.
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