|
Roman Raymond Polański (born August 18, 1933) is an Academy Award-winning Polish film director and actor. A celebrated Hollywood director of such films as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974), he is also known for his tumultuous personal life. In 1969, his wife Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family. In 1978, after pleading guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor, Polanski fled to Europe. Unwilling to return to the United States and face arrest, he has continued to direct films in Europe, including Frantic (1988), the Academy Award-winning and Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm-winning The Pianist (2002), and Oliver Twist (2005).
Biography
Relationship with Sharon Tate Polański met rising star Sharon Tate while filming The Fearless Vampire Killers and during their time together doing the film they began dating. In 1968 Polański went to Hollywood, where his reputation was enhanced by the success of the sophisticated psychological thriller Rosemary's Baby (1968), based on Ira Levin's book of the same name, about a woman (Mia Farrow) who discovers she is pregnant with Satan's baby. On January 25, 1968, he married Tate in London, England. On August 9, 1969, Tate, who was eight months pregnant, and four others (Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent) were brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's "Family", who entered the Polański home on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills with the intention that they would "kill everyone there". They knew that the previous owner of the house, record producer Terry Melcher, had moved out. He had failed to help Charles Manson's fledgling music career, which was thought of as a possible motive, but the murderers testified that they knew he no longer lived there. When Manson told them to go to the property and kill everyone, they obeyed. After Parent, Sebring, Frykowski, and Folger had been killed, Tate pleaded for the life of her unborn son. Susan Atkins replied that she had no mercy for her, and then killed her. She soaked up some of Tate's blood and wrote "PIG" on the front door using a towel. The murders were unmotivated, and at first there were no suspects. Polanski, who was away on business, was initially considered a suspect by both the authorities and the press. As the days passed, Polanski became more and more the target of investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office, until Manson and his "family" were arrested on unrelated charges, which revealed evidence of what came to be known as the Tate-La Bianca murders. Distraught and heartbroken, and seriously rattled over his near-arrest, Polański returned to Europe shortly after the killers were arrested. Also in 1969, Polański lost friend and collaborator Krzysztof Komeda (1931—1969). Komeda had been a popular jazz artist in Poland when the director first approached him to score a short film. He went on to score almost all of Polański's feature films until a head injury resulted in the composer's premature death. He is probably best known in the US for the haunting soundtrack to the movie Rosemary's Baby, but Komeda is also considered one of the most important figures of the Polish jazz scene of the 1950s and 1960s. The seventies Polański's next feature was a film version of Macbeth (1971). This was followed by What? (1972), a surreal comedy about a young woman (Sydne Rome) and her adventures in a remote villa. Chinatown (1974), from a screenplay by Robert Towne and starring Jack Nicholson, is a tale of corruption in pre-war Los Angeles. Polański has a cameo as a hood who slits Jake's nose open. Polański took the lead in his next film, The Tenant (1976), the story of a Polish immigrant living in Paris. Indictment on charge of rape and other sex offenses In 1977 Polański, 43, became embroiled in a scandal involving 13-year-old Samantha Geimer; it ultimately led to Polański's guilty plea to the charge of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.* According to Geimer, Polański asked Geimer's mother if he could photograph the 13-year-old girl for French Vogue. Her mother allowed a private photo shoot. According to transcripts of testimony, Polański photographed Geimer on February 20, 1977, in the Hollywood Hills. This photo shoot took place without incident, except for the fact that Polański asked Geimer to pose topless for some of the photographs.* According to Geimer in a 2003 interview, "Everything was going fine; then he asked me to change, well, in front of him." She added, "It didn't feel right, and I didn't want to go back to the second shoot." However, subsequent to the first photo shoot, she agreed to a second session, which took place on March 10, 1977, in the Mulholland area of Los Angeles, near Jack Nicholson's estate. "We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer says. "Toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized he had other intentions and I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there." Geimer alleged that Polański sexually assaulted her after giving her a combination of champagne and quaaludes. In the 2003 interview, Geimer says she resisted. "I said no several times, and then, well, gave up on that," she says. * Her 1977 sworn deposition shows Geimer did not object to drinking champagne, replying "I don't care" * in the company of Polański and another woman. However, Geimer also says her own drinking continued for a sustained period - as she was posing for Polański's pictures with a champagne glass - to the extent that she became intoxicated. * Subsequently, Polański allegedly produced a quaalude, divided it into three and asked, "Is this a quaalude?". After Geimer's affirmation he asked, "Do you think I will be able to drive if I take it?" and "Should I take it?", to which Geimer replied, "I don't know". * He then took a piece of the quaalude and offered one to Geimer, who accepted. Of taking the quaalude, Geimer says, "I must have been pretty drunk otherwise I wouldn't have". * Additionally, the testimony indicates that prior to the use of quaalude, Geimer had a telephone conversation with her mother at Polański's instruction. Immediately before this, Polański had told Geimer, "I want to take some pictures of you in the jacuzzi". * During the conversation, Geimer's mother asked her if she wished to be picked up, to which Geimer replied "No". Polański then spoke to Geimer's mother and told her that they would be shooting until late.* The photograph session then continued, ultimately culminating in the alleged assault. Polański was initially charged* with rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, lewd and lascivious act upon child under 14, and furnishing a controlled substance (methaqualone) to a minor, but these charges were dismissed under the terms of his plea bargain, and he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (Washington Post, August 10, 1977*). The grand jury transcript describes the alcohol that Polański allegedly supplied before engaging in oral, vaginal and anal sex with the girl*. (In Roman by Polański, Polański alleged that the mother had set up the daughter as part of a casting couch and blackmail scheme against him.) After spending 45 days in psychiatric evaluation, Polański fled the United States for Paris when it seemed that the judge would not approve his plea bargain deal for no prison sentence. A fugitive On February 1, 1978, Polański fled to France, where he retained citizenship. He believed that the judge was going to disregard the plea bargain, in which case he could be sentenced to a prison term of up to 50 years. Like many countries, France refuses to extradite its own citizens, which is consistent with the extradition treaty between France and the United States. As a consequence, the American extradition request was not granted. The United States government could have requested that Polański be prosecuted on the California charges by the French authorities (The Washington Post, February 3, 1978 *), but this option was not pursued. The United States could still request the arrest and extradition of Polański from other countries, should he visit them. As a consequence, Polański has since avoided visits to countries that were likely to extradite him, such as the United Kingdom, mostly travelling between France and Poland. In a 2003 interview, Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it." Vanity Fair libel case In 2004, Polański sued Vanity Fair magazine in London for libel. A 2002 article in the magazine written by A. E. Hotchner recounted a claim by Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper's, that Polański had made sexual advances towards a young model as he was travelling to Sharon Tate's funeral, claiming that he could make her "the next Sharon Tate". The court permitted Polański to testify via a video link, after he expressed fears that he might be extradited were he to enter the United Kingdom. **. The trial started on July 18, 2005, and Polański made English legal history as the first claimant to give evidence by video link. During the trial, which included the testimonies of Mia Farrow and others, it was proved that the alleged scene at the famous New York restaurant Elaine's could not possibly have taken place on the date given, because Polański only dined at this restaurant three weeks later. Also, the Norwegian model disputed accounts that he had claimed to be able to make her "the next Sharon Tate". Polański was awarded £50,000 damages by the High Court in London. Edward Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, responded, "I find it amazing that a man who lives in France can sue a magazine that is published in America in a British courtroom." Samantha Geimer commented, "Surely a man like this hasn't got a reputation to tarnish?" * Later career He received another Academy Award nomination for Tess (1979). Pirates (1986), a lavish period piece, was a commercial and critical failure. This was followed by Frantic (1988), which features actress and model Emmanuelle Seigner, whom the director married in 1989. She starred in others of his films including Bitter Moon, in 1992, and The Ninth Gate (1999). They have two children: Morgane and Elvis, the latter named after his favourite singer, Elvis Presley. In 1997 he directed a stage version of The Fearless Vampire Killers, a musical, which debuted on October 4, 1997 in Vienna as Tanz der Vampire, the German title of the film version. After closing in Vienna, the show had successful runs in Stuttgart and Hamburg, Germany. In May 2002, Polański won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) award at the Cannes Film Festival for The Pianist, for which he also later won the 2002 Academy Award for Directing. He did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood, because he still faces sentencing and possible prison time if he enters the United States. After the announcement of the "Best Director Award"; Polanski recieved a standing ovation from most of the people in the theater. In 2004 he received the Crystal Globe award for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. During the summer and autumn of 2004, Polański shot a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist. The shooting took place at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, Czech Republic, based on Ronald Harwood's screenplay. The actors included Barney Clark (Oliver Twist), Jamie Foreman (Bill Sykes), Harry Eden (the Artful Dodger), Ben Kingsley (Fagin), Lee-anne Rix (Nancy), and Edward Hardwicke (Mr Brownlow). Besides the cast, the director gathered some collaborators from his previous movies: Ronald Harwood (screenplay), as noted, Allan Starski (production designer), Pawel Edelman (director of photography), and Anna Sheppard (costume designer). Style Most of Polański's films are psychological thrillers. A recurring theme in his work is the relationship between victim and predator (Death and The Maiden, Bitter Moon, Cul-de-Sac, Rosemary's Baby). His films depict a world that is cruel, grotesque and filled with brutal sex and dark humour. Polański likes to shoot his films from the position of a voyeur. Death and the Maiden star Stuart Wilson said of Polański, "Roman is very deep water pretending shallow water." Other facts he is convinced that most of the people in the American motion picture industry do not care about Polanski and the 13 year old and that they still want to work with him. Film director Actor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
| |