Andy's Film Blog: Roman Polanski

Showing posts with label Roman Polanski. Show all posts

Friday, August 26, 2016

Oliver Twist

Roman Polanski presents a gritty, workmanlike adaptation which doesn't distinguish itself from other notable adaptations of the Dickens classic. Young Barney Clark as eponymous waif is a true find, Ben Kingsley is unrecognizable and impressive as Fagin, the boy's ignoble protector, Jamie Foreman frightening as the odious and gruffy Bill Sykes, and Mark Strong demonstrates his acting range in a brief role.

*** out of ****

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Macbeth

Made in the aftermath of the Manson killings that claimed his wife's life, Roman Polanski's take on Shakespeare's Scottish tragedy of the noble thane overcome with madness by visions of power and glory is a violent, atmospheric, visually exquisite mood piece, infected with a tinge of melancholy, and carried out sublimely by a troupe of unknown actors.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Venus in Fur

An arrogant playwright (Mathieu Amalric) is about to lock the theater doors following a frustrating day of casting the female lead in his latest play when an disordered unwieldy blonde (Emmanuelle Seigner) arrives to read. Following great protest and many tears, the director finally concedes and, after being astonished that she knows the script like the back of her hand and is a natural for the part, finds himself falling under her spell. Based on the NYC based play by David Ives (who drew on Leopold's von Sacher-Masoch's 19th century novel Venus in Furs) and reset in Paris by Roman Polanski, Venus in Fur is intelligent, funny, and alluring with great acting from Amalric and

Seigner, the director's real life wife.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Chinatown

1930s L.A. private eye Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is drawn into a routine and seemingly simple case of adultery involving the director of the water department and his steamy and fragile wife (Faye Dunaway). When the politico is found murdered, the investigatory trail takes on serpentine and overarching proportions, all leading to Dunaway's nefarious, ruthless businessman father (John Huston). Chinatown boasts one of the cinema's all-time great screenplays courtesy of Robert Towne which throws in everything but the kitchen sink and barely leaves you hanging from a thread. Roman Polanski's direction is masterful (his cameo as a knife wielding hood is memorable also), Nicholson and Dunaway are in top form, and legendary helmer Huston is potently menacing.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Carnage

After an altercation between two young lads at The Brooklyn Bridge Park leads two one of them getting two of his teeth knocked out, the parents of both parties gather at the victim's apartment to hold an amicable discussion. Soon, as tensions begin to mount, civility is lost and the true nature of the parents begins to shine through. Roman Polanski's "Carnage" is a tightly wound, claustrophobic, and extremely funny adaptation of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage. Aside from the dialogue free scenes involving the children which bookend the film, Polanski keeps the action entirely within the confines of the apartment and is able to generate the same kinds of caged feelings utilized in his classics such as "Rosemary's Baby" and "Repulsion". All four members of the cast are uniformly excellent, and by painting them as liberal (Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly) and conservative (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) Polanski, coscripter Reza, and the players get to have an even greater field day with the material. "Carnage" is a laugh-out-loud stage to screen adaptation from a master of tension that features four finely tuned and on point performances.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Repulsion

After the success of his debut film Knife in the Water, Roman Polanski set out to direct his first English language film which he also cowrote, a disturbing psychodrama/horror film. Starring the beautiful Catherine Deneuve as a shy young Belgian who works at a London salon and lives with her sister, to whom she is strangely attached. When the sister goes on vacation with the married man she is having an affair with, the young woman begins to see specters and other visions in the house. After taking a leave of absence from work, she barricades herself in the apartment while falling into a state of psychosis where even more sinister occurrences are about to take place. Deneuve does a fine job in a tricky role where she hardly speaks and plays a character who is uninterested in sex on one level and fascinated by it on another. Polanski succeeds at making two kinds of films here, the ghost story with the boo moments and the psychological drama where we are drawn into the atypical behavior of the heroine. Polanski's considerable directorial skills are on display, and he never ceases to make a shot interesting, where in other hands this could have ended up being repugnant.

Friday, March 5, 2010

The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer represents the second early year release from a legendary director that again exemplifies why he has achieved this status. With this film, Roman Polanski has made a thriller comparable to his own classics. The Ghost Writer more than succeeds in the genre of political thriller, a tough genre to master. It tells the story of a man hired to replace a Prime Minister's deceased ghost writer. Ewan McGregor aptly plays the unnamed writer as a man who seems to be on top of his game while never really seeming to know what is going on around him. Pierce Brosnan fits the mold as the slimy politician. Polanski keeps tension built with music, eerie landscapes, and ominous weather as McGregor begins to uncover both twists and political misdeeds. The pace can be slow at points, but the patient viewer is always rewarded with questions being answered as the story progresses. Yet in the end, we are not quite sure of everything, and the questions continue after the credits have rolled. Again, it is nice to see a great filmmaker on the top of his game.

****