The Fat and the Lean (1961)
"Le gros et le maigre" (original title)

A small and thin barefoot slave (played by Polanski) plays a flute and beats a drum to entertain his large master who rocks in a rocking chair in front of his mansion. The slave jumps and ... See full summary »

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writer:

Roman Polanski (scénario)

Stars:

André Katelbach, Roman Polanski

1 win.

Cast

Uncredited cast:
André Katelbach	...	The fat (uncredited)
Roman Polanski	...	The lean (uncredited)

Storyline

A small and thin barefoot slave (played by Polanski) plays a flute and beats a drum to entertain his large master who rocks in a rocking chair in front of his mansion. The slave jumps and leaps like a madman, wipes his master's brow, feeds him, washes his feet, shades him from the sun with an umbrella and holds a urinal for him.

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Plot Keywords:

freedom | washing someone's feet | oppression | dance | artistic expression | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Music

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Details

Country:

France

Release Date:

December 1961 (France)

Also Known As:

A kövér és a sovány

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.P.E.C.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

15 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Roman Polanski directed this fifteen-minute black-and-white short just after completing film school. The film features the music of Krzysztof Komeda, who composed the scores for all but one of the director's films between Two Men and a Wardrobe and Rosemary's Baby. (from the Criterion Collection DVD)

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Connections

Featured in Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

User Reviews

3 Polanski shorts

Fat and the Lean, The (1961)

** (out of 4)

Another Polanski short has him playing "Lean", a servant to the "Fat" man. I guess this thing was trying to be funny but it certainly wasn't. Some nice camera-work however.

When Angels Fall (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

An elderly woman works a lousy job but she's capable of seeing things like no other. This short from Polanski has a lot of good moments but it really doesn't work well enough for the running time. The use of color was nicely done and the war scenes were very good.

Lamp, The (1959)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Surreal film from Roman Polanski about a doll maker. There's really no "story" here but instead we get various strange images. The images are nice but overall the film somewhat drags.