Polanski

When I saw the trailer for this film I was intrigued. I had never put it all together before. I remembered that Polanski was unable to return to this country because he had skipped bail on a statutory rape charge. I also remembered that he was involved with the very pregnant Sharon Tate, who was murdered by Charles Manson. But I had forgotten that he had lost his mother in World War II, and was a first-hand witness to Nazi brutality, rape, and violence. As a result, Roman Polanski, was obsessed with evil, sex, and the demons he was trying to exorcise through his films. I was intrigued, but ultimately disappointed.

The production values in this film were so bad that they kept taking me out of the movie. Damian Chapa wrote, directed and starred in this film. He bears a resemblance to Polanski, but that’s not enough to build a entire film on. The story kept jumping back and forth from wartime Poland, 1967 London, and 70’s era Los Angeles. If you are going to do that, and show these time periods side by side, you better have a good art director. The costumes were at times ill fitting and looked like they came out of the actor’s personal closets. The sets were filled with wrinkled draping as if they were trying to hide something. The furniture was sparse and often mis-matched, and the locations were inconsistent. Some were perfectly appropriate, while others were completely wrong. It was such a mess that I found it very distracting.

Roman Polanski is certainly an interesting subject, but his story isn’t over yet. There was no mention of his current situation, or his Oscar win for The Pianist. I couldn’t figure out what the film maker was trying to say. Roman Polanski’s life is worth examination, but this film isn’t the one to do it.

Rating: Don’t Bother I’m sure someone else will make a film about Roman Polanski one day. I’d wait for that one.