Roman Polanski: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) (Paperback)

by Paul Cronin (Editor) "BACK IN THE DAYS when I was at film schoolI think it's different todaywe made two silent films of two or three minutes each during..." (more)
Key Phrases: The Fearless Vampire Killers, Roman Polanski, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Polanski is the rare director who moved from the art house to the multiplex. Critically hailed for the rarefied, early-sixties Knife in the Water and Repulsion, he scored with the mainstream with Rosemary's Baby in 1968 and even more powerfully with Chinatown in 1974. His career meandered during the eighties and nineties, bouncing back in 2002 with the Holocaust drama The Pianist, for which he won the best director Oscar. His dark, brutal films reflect a troubled life. As a child he escaped the Krakow ghetto, his wife was notoriously murdered by Charles Manson's followers, and he has been in self-imposed exile from the U.S. since a statutory rape conviction in 1978. Befitting his status as an international filmmaker and cineastes'favorite, most of these 28 interviews, which span four decades, come from foreign film journals, such as Cahiers du Cinema, though American TV interviews with Dick Cavett and Charlie Rose also appear. Recurrent in the conversations are Polanski's deep love of all types of cinema and disdain for Hollywood, "the kingdom of mediocrity." Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Roman Polanski (b. 1933) arrived on the international scene in 1962 with his first feature film, Knife in the Water, and his face would be on the cover of Time magazine by the end of that year. His vibrant, disturbing, and often violent films--including the psychological thriller Rosemary's Baby, the film noir classic Chinatown, and the somber Holocaust drama The Pianist--have entertained and sometimes infuriated audiences. Stylistically unsettling and thematically varied, Polanski's films have established him as one of the most talented and controversial European filmmakers of his generation.

Polanski's life has been troubled. He survived the Krakow ghetto and the Holocaust, but his mother died at Auschwitz. His wife Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in 1968 by members of Charles Manson's cult. After years of success in the United States, he fled the country in 1978 when he was convicted for having sex with a minor. He hasn't returned to America since that time. In Roman Polanski: Interviews, the acclaimed director talks openly about how incidents in his life have and have not influenced his artistic vision.

This collection of interviews spans nearly forty years and comprises translations from French, German, and Spanish newspapers and magazines and transcripts of British and American television and radio appearances.

Paul Cronin has published several books, including volumes on Werner Herzog and Alexander Mackendrick. Through his production company Sticking Place Films (www.thestickingplace.com), he has made films about Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool, curator and historian Amos Vogel, and Mackendrick's teaching career.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (October 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578068002
• ISBN-13: 978-1578068005
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #596,498 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The mind of Polanski, February 4, 2006

By	Brian Lange (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Polanski is perhaps my favortie director. I was excited upon the release of this book of selected interviews... it is always great to hear from the director himself.

Four stars for the following reasons (though for some these may be positive points):

- Some of the interviews are quite dated, going as far back as the mid-sixties. While interesting to hear of the directors evolution, it can also be disorienting since questions such as "The Fearless Vampire Killers seems to be your most important film to date..." while, later on, the same question is asked, just replaced with another film such as "Pianist" (which the book does cover)
- There is not a lot of focus on technical questions and aspects of the films. As a filmmaker myself, I am always interested in how things come together technically and how many of the scenes are executed. There was not much empasis on this, which leads me to another crticism...
- As it may be expected, many of the interviewers harp on the questions about his late wife Sharon Tate, and the statutory rape episode. It may be interesting to some, but for me it's all old... just let it go. I am really more interested in what he has to say about his films.
- Though I have a lot of issues with the book, as a whole it is very interesting. Especially if you are a fan of Polanski. Though his admirerers will know much of what is talked about in the book (such as the Manson murders), much is still to be learned. He often talks about how a film came to frutation... sometimes of a personal nature, but at times from a small detail that the film is then based around. Relationships with actors, issues with studios, influences... this book touches base with a little bit of everything.

Polanski fans should definitely pick this up. Others, maybe not...
but the entire 'Conversations with Filmmakers' series should be invaluable to all with an avid interest in film.