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Jonathan of ForeignFilmcast.com again here with another quickie late-night movie review.
Tonight I saw (Roman) Polanski: A Film Memoir, directed by Laurent Bouzereau
This was at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival
This is a 2011 movie-- and is at least for now, the definitive Polanski documentary.
There was a previous polanski documentary in 2008, called
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired that focused on the *** assault case in which Polanski
pled guilty to the charge of "Unlawful *** Intercourse with a minor
but this movie is much broader
If you are interested in Polanski's story-- or the history of cinema, this movie is worth
watching.
Polanski is clearly a director who has made is mark. His movies include Chinatown, Tess,
Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, Frantic, Macbeth
i found his story fascinating-- even aside from the *** assault case.
he experienced the holocaust in krakow poland-- and lost his mother as a child. during this
period he missed out on years of schooling, but as a child began acting-- then later went
to film school in Poland.
probably the biggest point of drama aside from the *** assault case is the ***
of his previous wife, sharon tate, in 1969, who was killed by Charles Mansion's "family".
the movie was shot in Gstaad, switzerland, mainly during the period when polanski was
held in Switzerland in 2009 after flying there to receive an award at a swiss film festival.
there are two main interviews. one before a Swiss decision was made and one after. the
interviewer was polanski's british friend, movie producer Andrew Braunsberg.
one interesting aspect of this movie is that it uses scenes from polanski's movies to illustrate
many of his life experiences as he describes them. old film footage and photos are also
used.
there was a q&a with the director after the movie. it was noted that this was the first
time the movie had been shown in the US, that it would not get a movie theater release--
but that it would be available as video on demand.
it was also mentioned that the movie had been criticized significantly in the US for its
bias in Polanski's favor.
this movie is clearly polanski's story-- from his point of view, so of course there is significant
bias--
but again, if you enjoy the story of cinema-- or are curious about Polanski's history, you'll
enjoy this movie.
i found it intriguing and very much enjoyed it.