Product Details

• Actors: Pedro Almodóvar, Istvan Bajzat, Steve Barshop, Marilyn Beck, Madeline Bessmer
• Directors: Marina Zenovich
• Writers: Marina Zenovich, Joe Bini, P.G. Morgan
• Producers: Marina Zenovich, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Lila Yacoub, Michelle Sullivan
• Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish, English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
• DVD Release Date: January 27, 2009
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001HB1K46
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,080 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When Polanski’s defense attorney says midway through this film that he "isn’t surprised Polanski left under the circumstances" surrounding this corrupted court case, one really begins to understand why the director has not returned to America in nearly 20 years. Wanted and Desired, Marina Zenovich’s documentary about Polanski’s 1977 arrest for rape of a minor set facts straight about a case that was blown to ridiculous proportions by a sensationalistic press and a judge who was far from judicious. Comprised of interviews with producers and friends Andrew Braunsberg, Daniel Melnick, Mia Farrow, and many others, the film obviously sympathizes with Polanski. But ample interviews with D.A. Roger Gunson and defense attorney, Douglas Dalton, lend factual credence to the film’s assertion that the director was not guilty as charged and further, shows how separate public image and the real person are. Wanted and Desired covers the tragic loss of his wife, Sharon Tate, only to preface the court case and Polanski’s departing the country as a result. Short clips from many of his fine films are interspersed to poignant effect between interview clips, to show how his public image has been wrongly writ based on his films’ dark subject matter. Polanski’s lack of participation in the film, then, seems not like his condemnation of its making, but rather in keeping with his desire to avoid press in general. At best, Wanted and Desired may serve as a further invitation to the brilliant director, who has been living in France for almost 20 years with a wife and two children, to someday return to America. —Trinie Dalton

Product Description

THIS INTENSELY EXAMINES POLANSKI'S CONVICTION FOR HAVING UNLAWFUL SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH A MINOR & THE CHOAS THAT FOLLOWS.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Persuasive arguments, November 2, 2008

By	Clare Quilty (a little pad in hawaii) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is a crisp, well-structured documentary which brings together most of the principal facts and figures in Polanski's 1977-1978 unlawful sexual intercourse trial.

Two are missing from the scene -- Polanski himself and Judge Laurence Rittenband, who presided over the case -- and they're the most important and, among followers of the situation, the most divisive.

The filmmakers have a clear respect for Polanski the artist, but they make two points painfully clear: That, in 1977, he gave a 13-year-old girl Quaaludes and champagne before having sex with her; and that the case was poorly (in some cases illegally) handled by Rittenband, who was eventually removed from the case.

Rittenband is dead and Polanski fled to France rather than face his judge's increasingly sketchy demands but most of the principals are here, particularly defense attorney Douglas Dalton, former assistant D.A. Roger Gunson and the victim herself, Samantha Geimer, who's now in her mid-40s, a mother of three children and seems ready to put the whole matter to rest.

The account is fascinating, and artfully punctuated by scenes from Polanski's films, particularly those he appeared in including "Chinatown," "The Tenant" and "The Fat and the Lean," which was made a decade-and-a-half before the trouble but which features Polanski dancing on cue to a drum beaten by a man who, ironically, bears no small resemblance to Rittenband himself.

I never like to assume that I'm an expert on a situation simply after seeing one documentary about it, but it's a persuasive argument when a Mormon district attorney sides with a sex offender and his defense lawyer against a judge. That's pretty convincing evidence this movie is spouting something close to the truth.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay documentary; reveals a lot of info, October 24, 2009

By	Viva (So. Cal.) - See all my reviews

The way this documentary is put together is at times sloppy, at other times plodding, and sometimes it includes footage which is not needed at all, like the absurdist bit with Polanski moving like a puppet outdoors while a man pounds on a drum. Also, much of the music is irritating and distracting.

That said, it does contain a great deal of info about a case which I knew very little about until Polanski made the recent headlines. I don't sympathize with him. He may be a fine director, but we are talking about a preteen girl her, and the use of alcohol and drugs to ply her while she was alone with him. It's about time he faced up to what he did, no matter how long ago it was, no matter that she forgave him 12 years ago.

11 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stinging Indictment of the U.S. legal system, January 27, 2009

By	Cubist (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

There is an audio commentary by director Marina Zenovich and editor Joe Bini. She says that it took five years to get the film made: two to get financing and three to actually do it. She also talks about the challenge of merging Polanski's life and the court case. Zenovich points out that it was hard getting archival footage from the 1970s because much of it had been either taped over or lost. Bini talks a lot about the structure of the doc. - for example, where should they start the story? This quite a chatty track as Zenovich and Bini talk about how they put this film together.

Also included are five deleted scenes that feature the current L.A. District Attorney and his thoughts on Judge Rittenband. Prosecutor Roger Gunson returns to Rittenband's old courtroom. He also shares some of his memories of the case.

There are "Extra Interviews" with various attorneys talking about the case then and now, including the possibility that Polanski may come back to the U.S. They also discuss the possibility that he might be pardoned.

"Friends and Colleagues Talk about Polanski" feature several childhood friends and people who have worked with Polanski on films in the past. They talk about his rough upbringing during World War II and his time spent in film school in Poland. They take us through various periods in his life. Naturally, Mia Farrow talks about making Rosemary's Baby and speaks fondly of working with Polanski.

"Writers of Polanski" features three journalists talking about Polanski, the man and his career.

Finally, there is "Will He Ever Come Back?", a question posed to various people in the doc. Not surprisingly they almost all say no for a variety of reasons.