Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Examines the public scandal and private tragedy which led to legendary filmmaker Roman Polanski's sudden flight from the United States.

Director:

Marina Zenovich

Writers:

Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan,

Stars:

Pedro Almodóvar, Istvan Bajzat, Steve Barshop

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Pedro Almodóvar	...	Himself (archive footage)
Istvan Bajzat	...	Himself
Steve Barshop	...	Himself
Marilyn Beck	...	Herself
Madeline Bessmer	...	Herself
Pierre-André Boutang	...	Himself
Andrew Braunsberg	...	Himself
Richard Brenneman	...	Himself
Nicolas Cage	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michael Caine	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Cassavetes	...	Guy Woodhouse (archive footage)
Dick Cavett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Furnell Chatman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joan Collins	...	Herself (archive footage)
Michael M. Crain	...	Himself

Storyline

In 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested in Los Angeles on charges he gave drugs and had sex with a 13-year-old girl he was photographing for Vogue. Eleven months later, having pled guilty to one count, he fled to Europe before sentencing. This film examines that year-long period, using archival footage of the media frenzy and of Polanski's life before the charges, clips from his films, and contemporary interviews with many of the principles - attorneys, the victim, and Polanski's friends and associates. Polanski remains enigmatic, but portraits emerge of the machinations of justice and of a judge more interested in his image than his word or the law.

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Plot Keywords:

media frenzy | sentencing | media | girl | attorney | 

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Taglines:

The truth couldn't fit in the headlines.

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Genres:

Documentary | Crime

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Cinefilo (Spanish)

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

11 December 2008 (Greece)

Also Known As:

Polanski. Scigany i pozadany

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,613 (USA) (11 July 2008)

Gross:

$59,192 (USA) (26 September 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Antidote Films (I), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Graceful Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Samantha Geimer: The worst part was... no one believed me.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 12 July 2008 (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Lullaby"
Written by Krzysztof Komeda (as Christopher Komeda)
Sung by Mia Farrow

User Reviews

"Well, I have a Thing for Young Girls, What Can I Say?"

So speaks Roman Polanski in an interview given in 1969.

In 1979, a year after he was on the run after being convicted of drugging and raping a child, he gave this far more graphic interview to novelist Martin Amis:

"If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls!"

This interview, nor his penchant for "young girls", makes it into this extremely biased "documentary". Even the title is dishonest "Polanski: Wanted and Desired". By who? It almost seems to imply that his victim actually "wanted him". I watched this, actually believing I was going to watch a documentary. Instead, I watched an hour and a half PR campaign about what a brilliant filmmaker Polanski is, along with long clips of his work (which has nothing to do with his case) and other people gushing over him. A long section of it is devoted to his tragic childhood and life. Finally, we reach the point where he is charged with drugging and raping a 13 year-old girl. The 13 year-old victim, and what he did to her (which I can't print here on IMDb), is diminished and devalued as much as possible. The filmmaker goes into great length about possible misconduct on the part of the prosecution and the judge (strangely, she doesn't talk about the nature of the sleazy plea bargain offered to the victim's family, or the fact that the child only agreed to it because she didn't want to be humiliated by talking about it in court. She also didn't want the stigma of being identified as a victim of rape.)

This film comes across as a disturbed fan-pic made by a devotee of Polanski, who has total empathy for the victimizer she adores, and no empathy for the victim she disregards.

I give this film one star, because it lies about what it is; it is not a documentary (which is supposed to report facts and be neutral) in any sense of the word. Instead, it comes across as a distorted valentine by a disturbed fan, justifying the actions of a disturbed individual. Its overall effect when you step back and look at it is frankly creepy.