Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Synopsis

One of contemporary cinema’s most accomplished filmmakers Roman Polanski work, which includes Chinatown, A Knife in the Water, Rosemary’s Baby, Cul-de-sac, Repulsion, and, most recently, The Ghost, has attracted international acclaim, with his account of the Holocaust, The Pianist, winning him an Oscar for Best Director. But his career has been overshadowed by events which took place in 1977, when a young woman was drugged and sodomised by the director. Pleading guilty to the crimes, Polanski found out that his case was to be used as a show trial for a judge nearing re-election. Fearing a harsh sentence, Polanski fled America and has yet to return.

Marina Zenovich’s film skilfully balances the sense of justice that was due to the director for the crime he committed, with the behaviour of the judge, the legal system and the media of the time, who all appeared to be baying for blood, even though a sentence had already been agreed upon with the prosecution. The result is a film that identifies two crimes: Polanski’s, which even his victim now wants the world to move on from and the resulting witch hunt of Roman Polanski, which recent events, such as his captivity in Switzerland evinced, has never died down.

ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED sources original archive material from around the time of the trial, as well as those involved in the original case, detailing the corruption of a system by officials desperate for their own moment of fame.

“Yes, what he did with the 13-year-old girl was very wrong. That there were mitigating circumstances should not concern us… But there is so much more, and the story [Zenovich] builds, brick by brick with eyewitness testimony, is about crimes against the...” — – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

“Mr. Polanski’s guilt isn’t in doubt, arguments about the age of consent notwithstanding… As Ms. Zenovich forcefully explains – using talking-head interviews, a wealth of archival material and generous clips from Mr. Polanski’s films...” — – Manohla Dargis, The New York Times