Customer Reviews

The Tenant [VHS]

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4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

...... or, "Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are In My Wall."

There are differing views on this somewhat small film, but I think in the big picture of RP's filmmaking career, The Tenant will stand out as his most personal work. If you know anything about this man's life, what he went through (and what he was about to go through, a scandal that caused him to flee the U.S.), the events in this very darkly humorous tale become all the more haunting.

The basic story: a socially awkward clerk moves in to an apartment previously occupied by a young woman who just died from injuries sustained by hurtling herself from that very apartment window. What he doesn't realize is that, by his moving in, the stage has been set for him to inherit the very miserable despair that possessed the former tenant. In the course of his solitary tenency, he hears disturbing sounds, sees strange things inside and outside his flat, and encounters inexplicable hostility from others in the building. Over time, he becomes increasingly unnerved and obsessed, incapable of controlling his own behavior, and the line between reality and delusion ultimately dissolves, giving way to psychosis.

This dark ride is not without Polanski's trademark warped, absurdist humor, and one gets a sense from sharing the deteriorating experience of his self-portrayed protagonist that he himself was trying to find a way to laugh at his own miseries and fears. This could be a therapeutic element of this film; by watching the ridiculously hopeless and wretched scenario unfold, hopefully we can laugh at our own vulnerabilities, while at the same time seeing that element in other peoples' callous behavior that drives others into such a state.

With Polanski's new found recognition in a film industry that cautiously turned its back on him nearly 30 years ago, we are finally given a chance to see this forgotten treasure, and it's about time. I've read many comparisons to Taxi Driver, but the subtle supernatural implications found in The Tenant's more surreal moments remind me more of The Shining, wherein an alienated individual renders himself prone to dark, irrational powers by way of his own obsession. A quiet, well-paced primal scream of a movie, this number will definitely give the viewer a twisted chuckle, and more than a few shivers after it ends. A no-holds barred, lights out masterpiece.

Paranoia. Alienation. Suicide. These are the themes of Roman Polanski's 1976 film, The Tenant. The film is tragically funny and creepy. Polanski's use of space in the apartment and the dark lighting invokes a creepy atmosphere.

The film follows a timid file clerk named Trelkovsky--played brilliantly by Roman Polanski himself--who moves into an apartment whose previous tenant, a woman named Simone, attempted suicide by jumping out of the window. He is informed by the landlord that he can rent the apartment only if Simone dies. With the hopes of her death, Trelkovsky visits her in the hospital by pretending and lying to the nurse that he is a friend. He meets Estella (Esabelle Adjani), a real friend visiting, next to Simone's bed. When he witnesses Simone lying on the bed wrapped with white bandages from head to toe like a mummy, Simone unloads a haunting scream--as if she is vengefully passing her curse to Trelkovsky. Her scream would echoe and follow Trelkovsky when he immediately leaves the hospital with Estella. After hearing of her death, Trelkovsky celebratingly moves into the apartment where his paranoia and downfall begins.

This film is one of my all-time favorites because it belongs in that "man in his room" category. There are only a few films out there like it. I think I can only name a few such as Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, Vampire's Kiss, Love Object, or the French film, I Stand Alone. What I mean by "man in his room" is existential loneliness like the protagonist in Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea. The person is isolated in his space and is left with only to reflect or create his own world. In Trelkovsky's case, he creates a world of conspiracy in which the other tenants in the apartment are trying to make him commit suicide. And what happens with Trelkovsky's delusion is ultimately a funny but tragic climax.

The first time I saw this film, I thought it was creepy and dark. But the more times I watched it even though it is still creepy and dark, I begin to realized more and more about Polanski's humorous intent. The tragic ending is just undeniably hilarious. I just start laughing out of control.

Roman Polanski is one of my favorite filmmakers and The Tenant is his best. It is very fortunate that he played the protagonist in the film. The Tenant is truly a Polanski tour-de-force. The Tenant's score, which I really love, is simultaneosly hypnotic and tragic. (Ingmar Bergman's cinematographer, Sven Nykvist, is also doing the lighting.) Paramount did a great job with the DVD image quality of this Polanski film.

In CHINATOWN, Polanski gave us a great story of corruption. In ROSEMARY'S BABY, he studied the occult. In REPULSION, he gave us a portrait of a troubled mind. Here, in THE TENANT, Roman Polanski gives us a stunning new portrayal of absolute paranoia.

Polanski stars himself as the main character: a man who rents the apartment of a dead woman - who apparently jumped from her window.

Strangely enough, Polanski's character starts to identify with the dead woman little by little as he starts to live in the same environment... the same apartment, the same neighbours, the same window, the same talk... and - guess what! - maybe she did not commit suicide after all...

But this is just the beginning. To reveal more, it would be unthinkable.

Why is this a great film? A first rate screenplay (beautifully constructed), amazing actors (Shelley Winters and Melvyn Douglas are great!), and...

...The sets! The bulding (a parisian quartier) is absolutely fantastic. Like REAR WINDOW, it was entirely built in a sound stage - incredible!!! - allowing Mr.Polanski enough freedom to put the camera wherever he wanted.

But the great thing about this film is that (like in a state of paranoia) you never know what is truth or what is imagined. The main character starts to see, hear and discover things that may actually be true! - only at the end (with a finalle that makes perfect sense) you'll discover the truth behind it all.

After those beautiful sets, comes the cinematography by one of the top Directors of Photography: Sven Nykvist (PERSONA, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, ANOTHER WOMAN, CRIES AND WHISPERS, AUTUMN SONATA, and many other works)... this film has one of the best studio cinematographies I have ever seen. The music is also beautiful and you will love it from the moment it begins. Also a great achevement is sound design.

This is one of those great films where mood and atmosphere set an exemple for what to do in a film - a work where everything is right.

Unfortunately, the DVD only comes with the trailer (which is also beautiful). No photos, no commentary (I was hoping this DVD would come with a commentary by Mr.Polanski), not even a small interview with anybody. Too bad if you consider the quality of the craftsmanship of this work.

But at this incredible low price... one cannot complaint.

Deliberately paced, ultimately gripping film about a seemingly nice, normal single man who moves into an apartment whose previous tenant, named Simone, committed suicide by jumping out the window. He meets her friend Stella (Isabelle Adjani) and finds himself unwittingly in the unfortunate girl's footsteps. Her brand of cigarettes, her favorite chocolate drink, her clothes and even her tooth (stuck in a hole in the wall) haunt him. No one seems to understand his concerns...least of all the difficult and bizarre tenants he's surrounded by who complain of his every move. He comes to believe it's a plot to drive him to suicide...like Simone. Roman Polanski (who co-wrote and also directed) is brilliant as Trelkovsky, the quiet tenant who's plunged into a nightmare that may or not be real. He's believable as an Everyman who suddenly finds himself alienated and in the grips of something he can't control. Is he going mad? Or is it...something else? Shelley Winters (as the concierge), Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet and Lila Kedrova as the other tenants contribute their considerable panache---making Trelkovsky's paranoic nightmare world even more sinister. A fascinating and haunting psychological journey that keeps you intrigued (and disturbed) right up until the final, bone-chilling scream. Not for every taste, but still "The Tenant" is pure cinema terror all the way. The DVD is a fine widescreen print that includes the original theatrical trailer. Even IT'S scary. Enjoy this macabre masterpiece. But I don't recommend watching it alone.

Roman Polanski's THE TENANT, released in 1976 (two years after his blockbuster CHINATOWN), is my all-time favorite movie. It isn't Polanski's best film (MACBETH gets that honor in my opinion), but this story (taken from Roland Topor's equally strange but less inspired novel) really "does it to me". Polanski himself (who also co-wrote the screenplay with long-time friend and collaborator Gerard Brach) plays Trelkowski, a timid, lonely Polish immigrant trying to make ends meet as a file clerk in Paris. Polanski's performace is genuinely amazing. There are not many actors, let alone directors, who would feel so comfortable playing such a difficult and potentially career-shattering role. In the film, Trelkowski finds an apartment in a dingy old building run by the oddly sinister Monsieur Zy (Melvyn Douglas) and a rude Concierge (Shelley Winters). The previous tenant, Simone Choule, attempted suicide by jumping out of the window. Monsieur Zy tells Trelkowski that if she dies, he may have the apartment. Trelkowski hot-foots it to the hospital to see how long it'll be before he can move in. Simone lies, semi-comatose, swathed in bandages like a mummy from head to toe. When she screams upon seeing Trelkowski's face, the head nurse demands that he and Stella (Isabelle Adjani), Simone's best friend, leave immediately. Trelkowski tries to initiate a half-hearted love affair with the frumpy Stella that evening, but they are unable to connect for some reason and go their seperate ways. The next day, Trelkowski learns of Simone's death. When he moves in, he begins to notice strange things: neighbors complain of noise, usually without cause; people seem to spy on him from the communal bathroom across the way; he finds a human tooth stashed in a hole in the wall behind his wardrobe; there are knocks on the door when no one is there; he is constantly bothered by neighbors who are either obnoxious (such as Jo Van Fleet) or pitiable (like Lila Kedrova). Eventually, surrounded by artifacts from the dead girl's life, and torn apart piece by piece by his increasingly demanding neighbors, Trelkowski slips into insanity, dressing in Simone's clothes, pulling out his own tooth to match the one lodged in the wall, and even purchasing a wig and high heels, intoning things like "I think I'm pregnant" to himself in the mirror. He begins to hallucinate, and his persecution complex turns into a severe case of schizophrenia. I won't tell you the ending, but I will say that if you enjoyed REPULSION and ROSEMARY'S BABY, then you will find this to be a fitting third piece of the puzzle. Like Carole and Rosemary in those films, poor Trelkowski is a victim of urban living, a pathetic lost soul not unlike Travis Bickle of Scorcese's TAXI DRIVER (released the same year), except that Trelkowski is a danger mostly to himself. Like I said, this isn't a great film, but it's worth your time if you enjoy horror films Polanski-style. And as a vision of one man's private hell, it's indispensable. I love this movie, flaws and all. Obviously not for all tastes.

I have heard The Tenant dubbed as exactly that, and there is not much to argue. Right from the moment when Polanski visits the women in the hospital and she lets out that BLOOD CURDLING scream, you know you are in for a good one. Guranteed the hair on the back of neck will stand up. If you enjoyed any of Polanski's other films you will surely appreciate this one. Or even if you havn't seen his previous works, why not start here? Recommended to any horror movie fan as well. This is the most unsettling movie I have ever seen.

**HELPFUL NOTE!** If you buy or rent the DVD version I would recommend watching it in French with English subtitles first. If not you will quickly find out it was dubbed over with English speech, so is very hard to understand the dialogue and the actors voices don't really match up.
Enjoy!

I bought this DVD solely because I have always wanted to see this film ever since a friend told me it is Polankski's best. I found it especially disturbing, I think, because I saw it shortly after seeing "The Pianist." The social isolation of Polanski's character (a timid but clever young man who manages to take over the apartment of a dying woman even before she dies from injuries sustained in a suicide leap), the fascist-like brutality of the the neighbors, and the ever-growing maddening tension that pushes the film forward are all elements that Polanski used effectively once again in his more recent masterpiece. This juxtaposition made me think about how even the most mundane lives are small reflections of a vaster political landscape. Of course, one doesn't need to draw these comparisons to be blown away by "The Tenant." (In fact, the film has more obvious links to "Rosemary's Baby.") The film can be appreciated as a well-constructed, flawlessly acted (Melvyn Douglas as the landlord and Shelley Winters as the concierge are great) suspense thriller. I highly recommend it.

I like THE TENANT better with each viewing. It's similar in mood to REPULSION (some call this the "male version" of that film), and is the last chapter of what others have called the Apartment Trilogy (along with REPULSION and ROSEMARY'S BABY). Polanski fans will love this, more mainstream fans might think the pace is a little too slow. I think it's great. Watch Polanski slide into madness, similar to Catherine Deneuve's slide in REPULSION, though he starts on more firm ground than did she. Polanski is superb as Trelkovsky, nobody else could have played the role. Watch this with the English subtitles (no matter what audio track you choose), as you'll need them at points. I watched this on video without subtitles, struggled through some quiet dialogue and occasionally Polanski's accent, and then watched the DVD with subtitles. It made a world of difference. One of my favorite neglected films, I recommend it highly.

Undoubtedly one of the most horrifying films I have ever seen, Polanski's "The Tenant" ranks as perhaps his overlooked masterpiece.

Polanski plays Monsieur Tarkovsky, a shy introvert (slightly neurotic) who wants nothing more than some meagre lodgings in a rather ugly, creepy apartment building. God knows why, but it sets up the framework for a really believable, chilling descent into madness.

Tarkovsky is consistently abused, harassed, and put down by both the absurdly stingy landlord (a hideous old man) and his neighbors. Not only that, it seems that everyone (or is this just his imagination?) sees striking similarities between him and the woman who jumped from the apartment room he is living in.
There are memorable scenes in which he is frantically offered her brand of cigarettes, coffee, etc. Perhaps Polanski wants us to see in Tarkovsky the male echo of the former tenant; perhaps the movie is a reminder of the power of suggestion. At any rate, it doesn't take long for Tarkovsky to reach breaking point.
Crossdressing (and having an utterly pointless, unbelievable affair with the woman's friend--someone was looped behind the camera), he hallucinates her figure in the apartments across from the building. He finds (or does he?) teeth in the walls, and an array of dresses he is quick to try on. His behavior becomes more and more irrational. He slaps a child who has a slit in his teeth resembling the woman, he asks to buy a gun at a bar, and at long last withdraws from his obnoxious and ridiculously 'American' friends into a world all his own. The ending is both predictable and unpredictable, and sometimes strikes one as funny, sometimes as awful.

What I don't understand is why more people aren't aware of this film, as it definitely one of the most powerful pieces of filmmaking I have ever seen. Aside from a few scattered absurd scenes, the entire thing is chillingly believable. I'm not surprised that Polanski himself played Tarkovsky.

Roman Polanski became one of cinema's most capable film directors, and THE TENANT is among his very finest works in or out of Hollywood.

Polanski has an unparalleled ability to externalize and visualize human insanity, or impending insanity, and to portray that condition of mind on-screen in a way that is clear and understandable and palpable to a broad audience.

Other filmmakers certainly have portrayed hallucination, for instance, but rarely do we see a film that requires no explanation, interpretation or telegraphing, regarding which images are delusional.

Roman Polanski needs no such decoder ring. He has a positive genius for devising images and shots which portray delusions as we would expect them to be; we quickly know what is illusion, what is reality, and what is, at a given point in his story's time line, still ambiguous for the story's purpose.

THE TENANT is a delectable treat for those viewers who can appreciate a journey into darkness, odd personalities, and extremely wry humor generated by nothing more contrived than human characters we've all encountered ourselves at some time or another.

The film segues deftly and seamlessly -- from serious moments, to undeniably hilarious moments, to moments of disturbing, frightening images leading inexorably to sub-climaxes, large or small, of stark horror.

THE TENANT is a fully formed film from start to finish, starting benignly enough (as with REPULSION) and developing into moments of human dysfunction to make one's skin crawl.

The last act and its climax are full of emotional complexity and revelation -- but so, in its way, is Polanski's first act as it establishes the protagonist's off-kilter existence at his new apartment.

The film is perfectly visualized with a sound effects track as inspired as that of ROSEMARY'S BABY. There are clues in it that casual viewers may miss.

Until REPULSION, this film's closest relative, is remastered, sharpened and fully framed, THE TENANT will stand unchallenged in Polanski's stellar career as his most disturbing film.

A slight spoiler: The scene in which a woman's decapitated head is bouncing like a basketball with hair flying at Roman's balcony window would clinch this film's creative reputation single-handedly. But combined with the elderly folk in the downstairs apartment who blast their stereo with old standards and marching music for their own unique reasons, you have something far beyond the realm of mundane horror films. This is thoughtful art exploring aspects of the human condition, inspired by a director with a singular eye for things quintessentially unsettling.