Roman Polanski’s tragic life has taken him from the ghetto and the Manson murders into exile

Film director Roman Polanski turns 90 on August 18. He is one of the most praised and prominent directors of his generation, whose life and career have been full of sad twists and turns.

Polanski was born in Paris in 1933, but the family decided to move to Poland a few years later. Germany occupied Poland in 1939, which meant suffering for the family living in Krakow.

Only 6-year-old Polanski was helped to escape from the Krakow ghetto, but his parents were sent to a concentration camp. Polanski’s mother and grandmother died in Auschwitz, his father survived Mauthausen-Gusen.

As a teenager, Polanski was seen as an actor both in the theater and in films. Among other things, he acted in three Andrzej Wajdan in early cinema after starting film school in Lodz.

Along with his schooling, Polanski directed many award-winning short films before his real breakthrough.

As a pop icon

Polanski’s first feature film premiered 61 years ago. Knife in the water was a critical favorite that also received Oscar and Bafta nominations.

Polanski directed his next film in Britain – an erotic thriller I hate it (1965) was seen in the lead role Of Cherbourg umbrellas familiar Catherine Deneuve. It was Polanski’s first English-language film.

Polanski became one of the biggest stars of his time, almost my pop icon. Comedy movie Vampire Slayers (1967) did not go down in film history, but it changed the direction of its director’s life. Rising star Sharon Tate, whom Polanski fell in love with, was seen in an important role.

Tate and Polanski married in 1968. They moved to Los Angeles and the success continued. From Rosemary’s Nightmare became one of the most important films of its era.

The Manson Murders

In 1969, the world was shocked when a cult leader Charles Manson The followers broke into Polanski’s and Tate’s home, where they murdered the terminally pregnant Tate and her friends.

Polanski himself was working on his new film in Europe. Polanski later said that his biggest regret in his life was not being at home when the murder happened. He wrote about the incident in a 1984 publication in a memoir.

– Sharon’s death is the only watershed in my life that matters, he wrote.

Polanski admitted that the murder changed his personality. The optimist became a “dissatisfied with life, an entrenched pessimist”.

Artistically, Polanski did not flourish after the murders until 1974, when one of the most important films of Hollywood’s new era premiered. Jack Nicholson and starring Faye Dunaway Chinatown changed the formula of crime films and became one of the defining films of the decade.

Exile

In 1977, Polanski was arrested at the age of 13 by Samantha Geimer of rape. Polanski photographed Geimer for French Vogue, for which he served as guest editor-in-chief.

During filming, Polanski at least offered Geimer champagne, but he was also accused of giving her sex drive drugs. According to the director, it was consensual sex, Geimer says he asked to stop, in which case it is rape.

Geimer’s lawyer proposed a plea deal: Polanski should admit to one of the six charges, and the other charges would be dismissed. The proposal was suitable for all parties. The director admitted that he was guilty of illegal intercourse with a minor.

The agreement included the fact that Polanski will enter prison for 90 days for a psychiatric evaluation. Polanski was released after 42 days to await his sentence. The assumption was that he would get probation because the parole officer, the psychiatrist and the victim wanted it that way.

Judge Laurence J. Rittenband disagreed. He wanted to put Polanski in jail and eventually have him deported from the United States. That’s when Polanski fled the country and has not set foot in countries that would extradite him back to the United States.

Career crown

In the 1980s, Polanski directed only two films, but his career started again in the 1990s. Polanski started a family with actress Emmanuelle Seigner and they married in 1989. The couple is still married and has two children.

Already in the early 90s, Polanski received an offer to direct from Steven Spielberg Schindler’s List, but Polanski said he did not want to deal with the sensitive subject in the film. His mind changed when he read The Jewish Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman a memoir.

Polanski got the crown of his career in 2002, when he decided to deal with the Holocaust in a touching drama film Pianistwhich earned Polanski an Academy Award for Best Director and a standing ovation from Hollywood’s elite.

Under house arrest

In 2009, Polanski traveled to Switzerland to accept the award until he was apprehended by authorities at the airport. Polanski remained under house arrest and was threatened with deportation to the United States. After a little less than a year, the Swiss authorities released Polanski and allowed him to return to France.

In 2009, many filmmakers and artists signed a petition asking for Polanski’s release. In addition to Polanski’s victim, Samantha Geimer, among others Harrison Ford, Emma Thompson, Martin ScorseseWoody Allen, David LynchGuillermo del Toro, Natalie Portman, Salman Rushdie and Isabelle Huppert supported Polanski.

Polanski has continued his career actively until these days. Critically acclaimed An officer and a spy was awarded in 2019 both at the Venice Film Festival and in France, but it raised a strong #Metoo uproar.

After #Meto, a few women have accused Polanski of sexually abusing them in the 70s.

This year Polanski is set to release a new comedy-drama The Palacebut it remains to be seen how widely distributed the film will be.