Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (2012)

Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (2011) **** (out of 4)This documentary from Laurent Bouzereau has Andrew Braunsberg sitting down with his friend Roman Polanski who discusses the various highs and lows of his life. The majority of the running time is devoted to the major events in the director's life. That being the Holocaust, losing his wife to the Charles Manson family and his rape case that had him leaving America.If you're a fan of Roman Polanski or at least interested in his story then you'll certainly want to check this out. This is a highly entertaining look at Polanski's life that allows the director to discuss his feelings and memories. He gets quite emotional talking about his mother who was murdered in a gas chamber as well as talking about losing his wife Sharon Tate.It's rather amazing to see how much happened in Polanski's life even when you don't factor in the movies. Having been involved in WWII, having been involved in one of the biggest stories in American history and then fleeing the country is just a lot for one person. Then, of course, there are the movies.Some have attacked Braunsberg for being too friendly with Polanski on tough subjects like the rape case but they are friends after all. I don't have a problem with the structure of the picture as I found it to be incredibly entertaining and it's interesting to hear the director talk about various moments of his life as well as comment on some of the films that he made.

An intimate sit-down conversation with filmmaker Roman Polanski, conducted by his long-time friend, Laurent Bouzereau, takes place after Polanski was detained and arrested in Switzerland in 2009 after arriving from Paris to attend a film festival. The warrant for Polanski stemmed from an arrest in Los Angeles in 1977, after the director fled the United States before going to court on a statutory rape case involving an underage girl. Polanski, having recently served nine weeks in solitary confinement before being placed under house arrest, is in a Zen-like mood, reflective and thoughtful. The only emotion he sidesteps is regret. He wonders when "all this" will end, he worries what toll his arrest will take on his wife and children, without contemplating why he was arrested or what he can personally do to bring an end to this chapter in his life. Bouzereau is soft on his friend, he doesn't prod Polanski or drag answers out of him, and yet maybe that's what Polanski needs to wake up. The man is an artist, a celebrity, a husband and a father, but he's also half-asleep--perhaps as a way to ignore his problems. They're not just going to go away. **1/2 from ****

Other critics have commented on the way in which interviewer Andrew Braunsberg gives Polanski a relatively easy ride over the incident that defined his career; his arrest in the late Seventies for having sex with an underage girl. What this film suggests is that Polanski has 'done his time,' so to speak for the crime; not only was he prevented from re- entering the United States, but he was detained for several months in a Swiss jail before being finally released. In truth ROMAN POLANSKI: A MEMOIR is less preoccupied with this single incident and more with Polanski's harrowing childhood as he grew up in a Poland overrun by Nazis, faced the indignities of seeing his mother, father and sister taken away; lived in a ghetto provided by the Nazi for Jews in Poland; and then ran away just in the nick of time from a Nazi soldier shooting at him for fun. After a fledgling career as an actor, Polanski went to film school and released his first major work in 1962. Even when he achieved fame, tragedy dogged him; his second wife Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by Charles Manson, simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. While Braunsberg is a sympathetic interviewer, he does not skate over these harrowing details in Polanski's life; for his part, Polanski responds to the questions as comprehensively as he can, even though some of the memories of his life are still hard for him to endure. ROMAN POLANSKI: A MEMOIR allows the director to speak with the minimum of intervention; a few title-cards fill in the gaps not covered by the interview. Definitely required viewing for anyone interested in the career of the great director, as well as those concerned with film history in Europe.

Interesting documentary about master filmmaker Polanski, who is visited by his friend and business partner of nearly 50 years, Andrew Braunsberg, in his Swiss chalet in Gstaad, while under house arrest for the rape charges dating back to 1977. Polanski gives a very personal insight in his early life, from childhood during World War Two, to his early acting career and later personal tragedy with Sharon Tate. Highly interesting, even touching, this is recommended to any film fan. Some of his films are neglected, some not even mentioned, but what you get to hear is fascinating. Polanski sometimes has to fight back tears. Good piano score by Alexandre Desplat.