His mother died in a Nazi concentration camp; his father was rounded up as well, but survived. The "he" in question, a mere wisp of a child at the time, almost wound up in a camp, too, but the vicissitudes of fate had a different plan for him: He (Roman Polanski if you haven't figured it out yet) ended up in America, where he continued his film-making career, begun in Poland. Polanski has made some landmark films -- to put it one way -- works of art that will be watched and studied long after we and he are food for worms. An auteur in every sense of the word, Polanski is a cinematic genius.
But the dark side of fate, which destroyed his childhood and family, was not finished with him. Winning acclaim for himself as the director of the great Rosemary's Baby, among other films, and getting ready to settle down and start a family of his own (which would be free of Nazi terror), Polanski's life was again destroyed by the gods of dark fate when his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was slaughtered by minions of that piece of filth Charles Manson [the baby was not ripped from her womb, however.] Several other guests unfortunate enough to be spending time in the Polanski house that weekend also met the foulest of ends,as shown in the recent docudrama Manson, which aired recently on one of the History channels. An innocent, elderly couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, also found themselves murdered at the hands of these vicious, drug-induced members of the Manson family. They were tortured with blades and guns and the terror of knowing what was going to happen to them right before it happened. Sharon begged for her unborn child's life. Like the Nazis, they weren't listening.
Polanski was out of the country at the time and was probably, in general, quite pleased with how his life was turning out from such a nightmarish beginning. A successful film career, a beautiful loving wife with a warm pink baby growing in her belly -- all of it was his. He must have been a very content man indeed, up until the moment they told him what had happened.
So can't we forgive him folks for the hot tub incident with the minor? She forgave him, can't we forgive him, and by "we," I mean the U.S. legal system which has fixed it so Polanski's feet will never touch U.S. soil again.
According to Wikipedia.org, "On 11 March 1977, Polanski, then 43 years old, was arrested for the sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer during a photo shoot for French Vogue magazine. Soon after he was indicted on six counts of criminal behavior, including rape.[42][44] At his arraignment Polanski pled not guilty to all charges.[45]
"Geimer's attorney next arranged a plea bargain, which Polanski accepted, where five of the six charges would be dismissed.[46] Polanski then pled guilty to the charge of "Unlawful Sexual Intercourse," with a minor,[47] a charge equivalent to statutory rape in California.[48] Polanski was then ordered to undergo 90-days of psychiatric evaluation at Chino State Prison.[49]
"On release from prison, Polanski expected that at final sentencing he would be put on probation. However, the judge had apparently changed his mind in the interim and now "suggested to Polanski's attorneys" that more jail time and possible deportation were in order.[48][50] Upon learning of the judge's plans Polanski fled to France on February 1, 1978, just hours before sentencing by the judge.[51] As a French citizen, he has been protected from extradition and has lived mostly in France since then.[52]
"On 26 September 2009, Polanski was arrested while in Switzerland at the request of U.S. authorities.[53] He was kept under house arrest at his home in Gstaad while awaiting decision of appeals fighting extradition to the U.S.[54] On July 12, 2010, however, the Swiss rejected the U.S. request and instead declared him a "free man" and released him from custody, although all six of the original charges still remain pending in the U.S.[12]
Ahhh, the 1960s...what a time it must have been,
for those who got to live through them.
As for Geimer, Wikipedia reports, she sued Polanski in 1988, alleging sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and seduction.[36] The case was settled out of court in 1993. After Polanski missed an October 1995 payment deadline, Geimer filed papers with the court, attempting to collect at least $500,000. The court held that Polanski still owed her over $600,000, but it is unclear if this has since been paid.[37]
In a documentary for A&E Television Networks entitled Roman Polanski (2000), Samantha Gailey Geimer stated "…he had sex with me. He wasn’t hurting me and he wasn’t forceful or mean or anything like that, and really I just tried to let him get it over with." She also claimed that the event had been blown "all out of proportion".
In a 2003 interview,[13] Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it." In 2008, Geimer stated in an interview that she wishes Polanski would be forgiven, "I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever — besides me — and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."[38]
Who are we to contradict the woman to whom this happened?
Polanski trivia, courtesy of IMDB.com:
Has not been back to the United States since 1978.
He was convicted of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl and fled to Europe to escape incarceration.
After Polanski fled from the American justice, the judge on his case swore to have him behind the bars. Though the judge died in 1989, the director still can't enter the US; otherwise, he would be arrested.
In 1969, while he was on out-of-town business, his wife, actress Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's cult family; though Manson only ordered the killing and was not present during the murders. She was eight-months pregnant with their first child at the time. He has said that his life's biggest regret was not being present at the house on Cielo Drive, Beverly Hills the night his wife Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered.
Two children with Emmanuelle Seigner: Morgane and Elvis.
Shortly before her murder, wife Sharon Tate gave Polanski a copy of Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", and he planned to film it with her. When he finally made the movie Tess (1979), he dedicated it to her.
Roman and his father are Holocaust survivors. His father was Jewish, and his half-Jewish mother (who was murdered in Auschwitz) had been raised as a Roman Catholic.
Received his first best director Oscar for the movie The Pianist (2002) five months after the awards ceremony. His friend, Harrison Ford, flew to France to present Polanski the award, since the director would be immediately arrested and incarcerated due to outstanding warrants stemming from his fleeing the US after his 1978 statutory rape conviction to avoid imprisonment. [8 September 2003].
Won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist (2002) at the age of 69 years and 7 months, making him the oldest person ever to win that award to that point in time. Polanski eclipsed the record previously held by George Cukor, who was 65 when he won for directing My Fair Lady(1964). This record was beaten in 2005 when Clint Eastwood won at the age of 74 for Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Within the Hollywood industry in the late 60s and early 70s he was often mocked as the stereotypical short, tyrannical European director.
Was voted the 26th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Was one of the judges in the Miss Universe pageant in 1976.
When he fled from the U.S. in the late 70s, much was made about the director's inability to ever make films in the States again. However, Polanski only shot 2 films in the States prior to his arrest: Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974) were shot in North America. All other English-language films before the arrest were shot in the UK, and all the ones since have been shot in Central Europe.
President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991
Is portrayed by Marek Probosz in Helter Skelter (2004) (TV).
Polanski was born Rajmund Roman Liebling in Paris, France, the son of Bula (née Katz-Przedborska) and Ryszard Liebling (aka Ryszard Polanski), who was a painter and plastics manufacturer. His father was a Polish Jew and his mother, a native of Russia, was brought up as a Catholic as she had a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother.
He was due to have directed "The Double," a modern-day, comedic adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel about a man whose life is taken over by his doppelganger. John Travolta, who was being paid $17m, was to have played the lead, alongside Isabelle Adjani, John Goodman, andJean Reno. Shooting was to have begun in May 1996 in Paris. Lili Fini Zanuck and Todd Black were producing, Jeremy Leven had written the screenplay and other personnel such as director of photography Robert Richardson and production designer Pierre Guffroy were in place. Just nine days before principal photography was scheduled to start, and with around $15m already spent, Travolta flew back to US following an argument with Polanski. Travolta claimed that the screenplay had been significantly altered compared with the one he had signed up for. Following Travolta's departure, Steve Martin was quickly hired to replace him, but Isabelle Adjani said she was only prepared to work with Travolta, and she, too, left the film. The project collapsed shortly afterwards.
According to his autobiography, producer Robert Evans initially wanted Roman Polanski to direct Sliver (1993). Since Polanski will not return to the United States, Evans planned on having a second unit director shoot some footage of New York, whilst Polanski would direct the film in Paris.
Was offered the chance to direct King Kong (1976) but turned it down.
In November 1989 he was approached by Warner Bros to adapt and direct Mikhail A. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. The project was subsequently dropped by Warners due to budgetary concerns and the studio's belief that the subject matter was no longer relevant due to the fall of the Berlin wall. Polanski has described his script as the best he has ever adapted.
Directed four actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Ruth Gordon, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and Adrien Brody. Gordon and Brody won Oscars for their performance in one of his movies.
In February 2007 it was announced that Polanski would direct a $130m adaptation of Robert Harris' novel Pompeii. Orlando Bloom and Scarlett Johansson were rumoured to be starring, but in September 2007 he left the project due to concerns over the threatened Screen Actors Guild strike.
But the dark side of fate, which destroyed his childhood and family, was not finished with him. Winning acclaim for himself as the director of the great Rosemary's Baby, among other films, and getting ready to settle down and start a family of his own (which would be free of Nazi terror), Polanski's life was again destroyed by the gods of dark fate when his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was slaughtered by minions of that piece of filth Charles Manson [the baby was not ripped from her womb, however.] Several other guests unfortunate enough to be spending time in the Polanski house that weekend also met the foulest of ends,as shown in the recent docudrama Manson, which aired recently on one of the History channels. An innocent, elderly couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, also found themselves murdered at the hands of these vicious, drug-induced members of the Manson family. They were tortured with blades and guns and the terror of knowing what was going to happen to them right before it happened. Sharon begged for her unborn child's life. Like the Nazis, they weren't listening.
Polanski was out of the country at the time and was probably, in general, quite pleased with how his life was turning out from such a nightmarish beginning. A successful film career, a beautiful loving wife with a warm pink baby growing in her belly -- all of it was his. He must have been a very content man indeed, up until the moment they told him what had happened.
So can't we forgive him folks for the hot tub incident with the minor? She forgave him, can't we forgive him, and by "we," I mean the U.S. legal system which has fixed it so Polanski's feet will never touch U.S. soil again.
According to Wikipedia.org, "On 11 March 1977, Polanski, then 43 years old, was arrested for the sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer during a photo shoot for French Vogue magazine. Soon after he was indicted on six counts of criminal behavior, including rape.[42][44] At his arraignment Polanski pled not guilty to all charges.[45]
"Geimer's attorney next arranged a plea bargain, which Polanski accepted, where five of the six charges would be dismissed.[46] Polanski then pled guilty to the charge of "Unlawful Sexual Intercourse," with a minor,[47] a charge equivalent to statutory rape in California.[48] Polanski was then ordered to undergo 90-days of psychiatric evaluation at Chino State Prison.[49]
"On release from prison, Polanski expected that at final sentencing he would be put on probation. However, the judge had apparently changed his mind in the interim and now "suggested to Polanski's attorneys" that more jail time and possible deportation were in order.[48][50] Upon learning of the judge's plans Polanski fled to France on February 1, 1978, just hours before sentencing by the judge.[51] As a French citizen, he has been protected from extradition and has lived mostly in France since then.[52]
"On 26 September 2009, Polanski was arrested while in Switzerland at the request of U.S. authorities.[53] He was kept under house arrest at his home in Gstaad while awaiting decision of appeals fighting extradition to the U.S.[54] On July 12, 2010, however, the Swiss rejected the U.S. request and instead declared him a "free man" and released him from custody, although all six of the original charges still remain pending in the U.S.[12]
Ahhh, the 1960s...what a time it must have been,
for those who got to live through them.
As for Geimer, Wikipedia reports, she sued Polanski in 1988, alleging sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and seduction.[36] The case was settled out of court in 1993. After Polanski missed an October 1995 payment deadline, Geimer filed papers with the court, attempting to collect at least $500,000. The court held that Polanski still owed her over $600,000, but it is unclear if this has since been paid.[37]
In a documentary for A&E Television Networks entitled Roman Polanski (2000), Samantha Gailey Geimer stated "…he had sex with me. He wasn’t hurting me and he wasn’t forceful or mean or anything like that, and really I just tried to let him get it over with." She also claimed that the event had been blown "all out of proportion".
In a 2003 interview,[13] Samantha Geimer said, "Straight up, what he did to me was wrong. But I wish he would return to America so the whole ordeal can be put to rest for both of us." Furthermore, "I'm sure if he could go back, he wouldn't do it again. He made a terrible mistake but he's paid for it." In 2008, Geimer stated in an interview that she wishes Polanski would be forgiven, "I think he's sorry, I think he knows it was wrong. I don't think he's a danger to society. I don't think he needs to be locked up forever and no one has ever come out ever — besides me — and accused him of anything. It was 30 years ago now. It's an unpleasant memory ... (but) I can live with it."[38]
Who are we to contradict the woman to whom this happened?
Polanski trivia, courtesy of IMDB.com:
Has not been back to the United States since 1978.
He was convicted of the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl and fled to Europe to escape incarceration.
After Polanski fled from the American justice, the judge on his case swore to have him behind the bars. Though the judge died in 1989, the director still can't enter the US; otherwise, he would be arrested.
In 1969, while he was on out-of-town business, his wife, actress Sharon Tate was brutally murdered by members of Charles Manson's cult family; though Manson only ordered the killing and was not present during the murders. She was eight-months pregnant with their first child at the time. He has said that his life's biggest regret was not being present at the house on Cielo Drive, Beverly Hills the night his wife Sharon Tate and four others were brutally murdered.
Two children with Emmanuelle Seigner: Morgane and Elvis.
Shortly before her murder, wife Sharon Tate gave Polanski a copy of Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", and he planned to film it with her. When he finally made the movie Tess (1979), he dedicated it to her.
Roman and his father are Holocaust survivors. His father was Jewish, and his half-Jewish mother (who was murdered in Auschwitz) had been raised as a Roman Catholic.
Received his first best director Oscar for the movie The Pianist (2002) five months after the awards ceremony. His friend, Harrison Ford, flew to France to present Polanski the award, since the director would be immediately arrested and incarcerated due to outstanding warrants stemming from his fleeing the US after his 1978 statutory rape conviction to avoid imprisonment. [8 September 2003].
Won the Best Director Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist (2002) at the age of 69 years and 7 months, making him the oldest person ever to win that award to that point in time. Polanski eclipsed the record previously held by George Cukor, who was 65 when he won for directing My Fair Lady(1964). This record was beaten in 2005 when Clint Eastwood won at the age of 74 for Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Within the Hollywood industry in the late 60s and early 70s he was often mocked as the stereotypical short, tyrannical European director.
Was voted the 26th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Was one of the judges in the Miss Universe pageant in 1976.
When he fled from the U.S. in the late 70s, much was made about the director's inability to ever make films in the States again. However, Polanski only shot 2 films in the States prior to his arrest: Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Chinatown (1974) were shot in North America. All other English-language films before the arrest were shot in the UK, and all the ones since have been shot in Central Europe.
President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1991
Is portrayed by Marek Probosz in Helter Skelter (2004) (TV).
Polanski was born Rajmund Roman Liebling in Paris, France, the son of Bula (née Katz-Przedborska) and Ryszard Liebling (aka Ryszard Polanski), who was a painter and plastics manufacturer. His father was a Polish Jew and his mother, a native of Russia, was brought up as a Catholic as she had a Jewish father and a Roman Catholic mother.
He was due to have directed "The Double," a modern-day, comedic adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel about a man whose life is taken over by his doppelganger. John Travolta, who was being paid $17m, was to have played the lead, alongside Isabelle Adjani, John Goodman, andJean Reno. Shooting was to have begun in May 1996 in Paris. Lili Fini Zanuck and Todd Black were producing, Jeremy Leven had written the screenplay and other personnel such as director of photography Robert Richardson and production designer Pierre Guffroy were in place. Just nine days before principal photography was scheduled to start, and with around $15m already spent, Travolta flew back to US following an argument with Polanski. Travolta claimed that the screenplay had been significantly altered compared with the one he had signed up for. Following Travolta's departure, Steve Martin was quickly hired to replace him, but Isabelle Adjani said she was only prepared to work with Travolta, and she, too, left the film. The project collapsed shortly afterwards.
According to his autobiography, producer Robert Evans initially wanted Roman Polanski to direct Sliver (1993). Since Polanski will not return to the United States, Evans planned on having a second unit director shoot some footage of New York, whilst Polanski would direct the film in Paris.
Was offered the chance to direct King Kong (1976) but turned it down.
In November 1989 he was approached by Warner Bros to adapt and direct Mikhail A. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. The project was subsequently dropped by Warners due to budgetary concerns and the studio's belief that the subject matter was no longer relevant due to the fall of the Berlin wall. Polanski has described his script as the best he has ever adapted.
Directed four actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Ruth Gordon, Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, and Adrien Brody. Gordon and Brody won Oscars for their performance in one of his movies.
In February 2007 it was announced that Polanski would direct a $130m adaptation of Robert Harris' novel Pompeii. Orlando Bloom and Scarlett Johansson were rumoured to be starring, but in September 2007 he left the project due to concerns over the threatened Screen Actors Guild strike.
Thank you for this wonderful article!
ReplyDeleteThere are a few things I would like to draw your attention to, though:
1. "the hot tub incident" is a misnomer: nothing happened in the tub. According to Geimer's testimony (that, in its turn, disagrees with her later statements) he got in with her, she said she wanted to get out and she did get out; that was it. According to him, he never got in at all, but went to swim in the pool instead, where she joined him (according to both). So if anything, it is "the TV room incident", which, I concede, doesn't sound half as exciting.
2. I really, really wish you didn't use the "statutory rape" phrase - another misnomer that has lead many to believe there actually was a "rape". "Unlawful sexual intercourse" is a correct name for it; all other charges were dropped because, as analysis shows, they were not substantiated by anything at all.
3. You rely on Wiki, but it omits a lot of crucial facts. I have put together everything I could (it took me ages), and provided a complete analysis of the case here:
http://polanski-oddmanout.blogspot.com/
May be you'll be interested to have a look.
"Can't we forgive him", you're asking. The real question is whether there is much, if anything, to forgive; I hope I am answering this question in my research.
Thank you again. Since you, like me, consider Polanski a cinematic genius, I wholeheartedly hope for further cooperation.
This article is really rather sickening, as is the commenter above me.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that Polanski had a very sad life: his wife's death was absolutely tragic. But does that excuse him for raping a 13 year old girl? No. Should "forgive" every child-molester who had a difficult life? Of course not! By that logic we should similarly be "forgiving" Manson for his murder.
It does not matter how many Oscar-nominated films Polanski is responsible for. Justice is justice for everyone, no exceptions.
To the above commenter: yes, this is a "rape". There is a reason the statutory rape law exists at all: because a child of 13 does not have the mental capacity to consent to sexual intercourse. A 43-year-old man making that decision for a 13 year old IS responsible.
No one is above the law. By asking "So can't we forgive him folks?", we are asking whether we can forgive ANY child-molester because of their career or history or popularity.
The answer is no. And so the charges remain.
It is beyond stupid to keep the case open.
ReplyDeleteThe U.S. will never get its hands on Roman by force and they know it.
The money spent on this is crazy dumb.
Let it go.
Enough is enough.
George Vreeland Hill
Would you feel the same if it was your child that was raped?
Delete