Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
A new series of documentary strand Storyville begins tonight on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Four with a film about the director . Born in France and raised in Poland, a Holocaust survivor whose mother died in Auschwitz, Polanski became an actor before training as a filmmaker. He was that rare creature, an auteur who also made popular films - creating nervy, dark movies like Knife in the Water, Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. Wanted and Desired is less interested in Polanski as a director, however, than in the media circus that built up around him in the wake of his wife's murder and the subsequent accusation that he had raped a minor. This isn't a criticism of the documentary, however, as the nature of Polanski's public persona and the complexity of the events surrounding the trial require director to maintain a tight focus. The film brilliantly interweaves archive footage with interviews with Samantha Gailey (the 13-year-old girl with whom Polanski had sex), supporters and detractors of Polanski, as well as the lawyers on both sides of the case to present a portrait of a trial that, whatever Polanski's crime, was deeply problematic.
Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Times /UCLA Library Department
I came away from the film with two strong impressions. Of Roman Polanski as a talented and flawed individual who saw nothing wrong with sleeping with a 13-year-old girl, something that most of us would find incomprehensible. He is neither excused nor vilified in the film. The other most striking element was the depiction of the defence and prosecution lawyers (Douglas Dalton and Roger Gunson) and the judge in the case, Laurence Rittenband. Although Dalton and Gunson were on different sides, their account of the trial is completely consistent and they are striking in what comes across as their seriousness and integrity. The same could not be said of Judge Rittenband.
This is a fascinating portrait of Polanski, but also of the US justice system and the media. Polanski is still a massively controversial figure, and the intensity of feeling that he provokes is remarkable. Even Wanted and Desired was surrounded by claims and counterclaims about the truth of the final frames of the film, a dispute that was finally decided in the filmmaker's favour. It's a fascinating and intelligent film and a great start to the new run of Storyville.
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