Though plagued by tragedy and scandal throughout his career, Roman Polanski has remained one of Hollywood's great directors, even though he hasn't been able to step foot in the United States since the late 1970s. Polanski earned considerable attention and acclaim with his first film, Knife in the Water (1962), before redefining psychological horror with Compulsion (1965) and Rosemary's Baby (1968).
Polanski plunged into despair after the tragic murder of pregnant wife Sharon Tate and earned scorn for drugging and raping a young girl, both of which had a considerable effect on his creative output. Despite living as a controversial figure, there is no doubt that as a filmmaker Polanski ranks as one of the best. Here are five great films made in his early career.
Polanski first burst onto the scene with the Polish-language drama, Knife in the Water (1962), which earned the first-time director an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. But it was the director's first English-language movie, Repulsion, that put him on the international map. A minimalist psychological thriller in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Repulsion starred French actress Catherine Deneuve as Carol, a virginal manicurist living with her sister (Yvonne Furneaux) both attracted to and repulsed by the idea of sex. Meanwhile, her sister carries on with a married man (Ian Hendry) and when both leave town for a short trip, Carol has a sudden mental breakdown that eventually leads to murder. Polanski adroitly utilized odd camera angles and tight framing to project Carol's deranged mental state, creating a simple, but terrifying film that has remained a classic.
After making the horror comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) with future wife Sharon Tate, Polanski had a huge international hit with Rosemary's Baby, one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The film starred Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, a waifish woman newly moved to an old New York City apartment building with her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes). While the young couple makes friends with their eccentric neighbors (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon), Rosemary becomes pregnant after having a nightmare about being raped by a demonic beast. She grows more isolated from everyone around her even though her weird neighbors start taking a special interest in her welfare, leading to the stark realization that Guy may have made a deal to sacrifice their newborn for the a successful career. Well received by critics and a smash hit with audiences, Rosemary's Baby solidified Polanski's standing as one of New Hollywood's top young directors.
Following Rosemary's Baby, Polanski was riding high on a sea of critical and commercial success. But that wave came crashing down on Aug. 9, 1969 when wife Sharon Tate—then two weeks away from giving birth to their first child—was infamously killed by Charles Manson and his followers. Polanski went from what he described as a "boundless sea...of optimism" to an "ingrained pessimism" that stayed with him the rest of his life. His sudden dissent into darkness and despair was no better expressed than in his bloody adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, starring Jon Finch as the doomed king of Scotland and Francesca Annis as his guilt-ridden wife. At the time of Tate's murder, Polanski was working on the sci-fi thriller The Day of the Dolphin, but he quit that project to mourn his wife's death. But his grief was still deeply entrenched when he made Macbeth, as evidenced by the stark atmosphere and lack of hope. While Macbeth received mixed reviews from critics at the time, the film has since been held up as one of the finest Shakespeare adaptations to grace the screen.
Though he was never able to fully overcome his grief over Tate's murder, Polanski recovered creatively by the time he directed Chinatown, one of the seminal films of the 1970s. An ode to film noir, Chinatown starred Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, a cynical former Los Angeles cop turned private detective hired by a mysterious woman (Diane Ladd) claiming to be Evelyn Mulwray, wife of city engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling). Gittes tails Hollis to take pictures of what he thinks is an extramarital affair, but soon discovers that the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) never hired him at all. Facing a lawsuit once the pictures surface in the paper, Gittes learns that Hollis has been murdered and suspects the real Mrs. Mulwray, only to uncover a much darker story involving her water baron father, Noah Cross (John Huston). An exceptional film often regarded as the epitome of narrative filmmaking, Chinatown was a big success that earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
During his early filmmaking career, Polanski was involved in two traumatic events that became the source for rampant media sensationalism. The first, of course, was Sharon Tate's murder, which earned Polanski considerable sympathy even though the press tacitly blamed their alleged lifestyle as one of the underlying causes. But in 1977, Polanski was the object of considerable scorn after he was accused of drugging and raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. Polanski was convicted after agreeing to a plea deal, but fled the U.S. before sentencing and has been a fugitive ever since. Taking up residence in France, Polanski resumed making movies with Tess, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which first came to his attention courtesy of Tate the decade before. The film starred Natasha Kinski as a young impoverished Polish girl sent to live with her wealthy relatives, only to be raped by her own cousin (Leigh Lawson). Once again, Polanski earned considerable acclaim despite being mired in controversy, and earned his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Polanski plunged into despair after the tragic murder of pregnant wife Sharon Tate and earned scorn for drugging and raping a young girl, both of which had a considerable effect on his creative output. Despite living as a controversial figure, there is no doubt that as a filmmaker Polanski ranks as one of the best. Here are five great films made in his early career.
1. 'Repulsion' – 1965
Polanski first burst onto the scene with the Polish-language drama, Knife in the Water (1962), which earned the first-time director an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. But it was the director's first English-language movie, Repulsion, that put him on the international map. A minimalist psychological thriller in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Repulsion starred French actress Catherine Deneuve as Carol, a virginal manicurist living with her sister (Yvonne Furneaux) both attracted to and repulsed by the idea of sex. Meanwhile, her sister carries on with a married man (Ian Hendry) and when both leave town for a short trip, Carol has a sudden mental breakdown that eventually leads to murder. Polanski adroitly utilized odd camera angles and tight framing to project Carol's deranged mental state, creating a simple, but terrifying film that has remained a classic.
2. 'Rosemary's Baby' – 1968
After making the horror comedy The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) with future wife Sharon Tate, Polanski had a huge international hit with Rosemary's Baby, one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The film starred Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, a waifish woman newly moved to an old New York City apartment building with her struggling actor husband, Guy (John Cassavetes). While the young couple makes friends with their eccentric neighbors (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon), Rosemary becomes pregnant after having a nightmare about being raped by a demonic beast. She grows more isolated from everyone around her even though her weird neighbors start taking a special interest in her welfare, leading to the stark realization that Guy may have made a deal to sacrifice their newborn for the a successful career. Well received by critics and a smash hit with audiences, Rosemary's Baby solidified Polanski's standing as one of New Hollywood's top young directors.
3. 'Macbeth' – 1971
Following Rosemary's Baby, Polanski was riding high on a sea of critical and commercial success. But that wave came crashing down on Aug. 9, 1969 when wife Sharon Tate—then two weeks away from giving birth to their first child—was infamously killed by Charles Manson and his followers. Polanski went from what he described as a "boundless sea...of optimism" to an "ingrained pessimism" that stayed with him the rest of his life. His sudden dissent into darkness and despair was no better expressed than in his bloody adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, starring Jon Finch as the doomed king of Scotland and Francesca Annis as his guilt-ridden wife. At the time of Tate's murder, Polanski was working on the sci-fi thriller The Day of the Dolphin, but he quit that project to mourn his wife's death. But his grief was still deeply entrenched when he made Macbeth, as evidenced by the stark atmosphere and lack of hope. While Macbeth received mixed reviews from critics at the time, the film has since been held up as one of the finest Shakespeare adaptations to grace the screen.
4. 'Chinatown' – 1974
Though he was never able to fully overcome his grief over Tate's murder, Polanski recovered creatively by the time he directed Chinatown, one of the seminal films of the 1970s. An ode to film noir, Chinatown starred Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes, a cynical former Los Angeles cop turned private detective hired by a mysterious woman (Diane Ladd) claiming to be Evelyn Mulwray, wife of city engineer Hollis Mulwray (Darrell Zwerling). Gittes tails Hollis to take pictures of what he thinks is an extramarital affair, but soon discovers that the real Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) never hired him at all. Facing a lawsuit once the pictures surface in the paper, Gittes learns that Hollis has been murdered and suspects the real Mrs. Mulwray, only to uncover a much darker story involving her water baron father, Noah Cross (John Huston). An exceptional film often regarded as the epitome of narrative filmmaking, Chinatown was a big success that earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
5. 'Tess' – 1979
During his early filmmaking career, Polanski was involved in two traumatic events that became the source for rampant media sensationalism. The first, of course, was Sharon Tate's murder, which earned Polanski considerable sympathy even though the press tacitly blamed their alleged lifestyle as one of the underlying causes. But in 1977, Polanski was the object of considerable scorn after he was accused of drugging and raping 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. Polanski was convicted after agreeing to a plea deal, but fled the U.S. before sentencing and has been a fugitive ever since. Taking up residence in France, Polanski resumed making movies with Tess, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which first came to his attention courtesy of Tate the decade before. The film starred Natasha Kinski as a young impoverished Polish girl sent to live with her wealthy relatives, only to be raped by her own cousin (Leigh Lawson). Once again, Polanski earned considerable acclaim despite being mired in controversy, and earned his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director.