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Release Date: July 11 (limited)
Director: Marina Zenovich
Writers: Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan, Marina Zenovich
Cinematographer: Tanja Koop
Starring: Roman Polanski, Mia Farrow, Jack Nicholson, Sharon Tate
Studio/Run
Time: THINKFilm / HBO Documentary Films, 99 mins.
When Roman Polanski received an Oscar nomination for directing The Pianist a few years ago, it was widely reported that if he returned to the U.S. for the award ceremony he could be arrested. In 1978, he’d been convicted of unlawful sex with a minor and fled the country to avoid prison, and surely no statue short of the Maltese Falcon would be worth such a brazen test of the American justice system. Polanski won the prize, but he was absent from the ceremony.
Zenovich
traces this roller coaster with excellent use of archival footage,
film clips and recent interviews, including a few brief conversations
with the victim herself, all of which construct a picture of a media
circus that ended in a farcical sentence. In this portrait,
Polanski’s escape seems like a reasonable reaction to a witch-hunt.
The interviews with the victim are frustratingly brief, but they
imply that even she regrets how things turned out. The film leans a
bit too heavily on the idea that Polanski was a high-living artist
who was rejected by a puritanical America and embraced by an
understanding Europe (“wanted” in one locale, “desired” in
the other). There’s a kernel of truth in that, but it’s inflated
to the point of brushing aside a little matter of statutory rape.
However, on balance, the film is a credible re-evaluation of a
complex man whose films have managed to maintain their classic status
even in a country where their creator has been disgraced.
Watch the trailer for Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired:
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The story of Polanski's life has interested me ever since I read "Cut to the Chase." I'll definitely be looking for this documentary.