85-497: The Ninth Gate is a 1999 neo-noir horror thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski . An international co-production between the United States, Portugal, France, and Spain, the film is loosely based upon Arturo Pérez-Reverte 's 1993 novel The Club Dumas . The film stars Johnny Depp as a dealer of rare books who is tasked with authenticating a 17th-century book that - if used correctly - can summon
170-552: A cult classic . Dean Corso, a New York City rare book dealer, is hired by wealthy collector Boris Balkan. Balkan has acquired a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows , a book by 17th-century author Aristide de Torchia said to be able to summon the Devil . Torchia is alleged to have written the book in collaboration with the Devil, and only three copies survived when he and his works were burned for heresy. Balkan believes only one of
255-488: A 1994 interview with Diane Sawyer , but Nastassja says the rumors are untrue; they were never lovers or had an affair. She admits that "there was a flirtation. There could have been a seduction, but there was not. He had respect for me." She also recalls his influence on her while filming: "He was really a gentleman, not at all like the things I had heard. He introduced me to beautiful books, plays, movies. He educated me." On an emotional level, she said years later that "he
340-410: A Poland now occupied by German troops, he witnessed many horrors, such as being "forced to take part in a cruel and sadistic game in which German soldiers took shots at him for target practice". The author Ian Freer concludes that Polanski's constant childhood fears and dread of violence have contributed to the "tangible atmospheres he conjures up on film". By the time the war ended in 1945, a fifth of
425-583: A Polish couple who helped him hide and escape the Nazis. Stefania and Jan Buchala were recognized by Yad Vashem , Israel's Holocaust memorial, as "Righteous Among the Nations". Polanski recalled Stefania Buchala as being an "extremely noble" and courageous person. After the war, Polanski was reunited with his father and moved back to Kraków. His father remarried on 21 December 1946 to Wanda Zajączkowska (whom Polanski had never liked) and died of cancer in 1984. Time repaired
510-468: A Roman Catholic, although he was never baptized. His efforts to blend into a Catholic household failed miserably at least once, when the parish priest visiting the family posed questions to him one-on-one about the catechism , and ultimately said, "You aren't one of us". The punishment for helping a Jew in German-occupied Poland was death. As Polanski roamed the countryside trying to survive in
595-538: A Wardrobe (1958) and When Angels Fall (1959). He graduated in 1959. Knife in the Water (1962) Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water , was also one of the first significant Polish films after the Second World War that did not have a war theme. Scripted by Jerzy Skolimowski , Jakub Goldberg , and Polanski, Knife in the Water is about a wealthy, unhappily married couple who decide to take
680-566: A bit. You can make them appear serious on the surface, but you cannot help but laugh at them." The appeal of the film was that it featured "a mystery in which a book is the leading character" and its engravings "are also essential clues". In reading El Club Dumas , Polanski pictured Johnny Depp as "Dean Corso", who joined the production as early as 1997, when he met Polanski at the Cannes Film Festival , while promoting The Brave . Initially, he did not think Depp right as "Corso", because
765-644: A bookseller he had entrusted the book to and finds him hanged in his store like an engraving in The Nine Gates . Corso retrieves the book and travels to Toledo, Spain , to speak to the Ceniza Brothers, book restorers who owned Balkan's copy before the Telfers. The two show him that, of the book's nine engravings, only six are signed "AT"; the other three are signed "LCF" for Lucifer . Corso travels to Sintra , Lisbon , Portugal , and meets with Victor Fargas who owns
850-652: A certain extent I must say that I somehow perpetuate the ideas of that movie in what I do." Polanski attended the National Film School in Łódź , the third-largest city in Poland. In the 1950s, Polanski took up acting, appearing in Andrzej Wajda 's Pokolenie ( A Generation , 1954) and in the same year in Silik Sternfeld's Zaczarowany rower ( Enchanted Bicycle or Magical Bicycle ). Polanski's directorial debut
935-450: A copy of The Nine Gates . Corso finds that three different engravings in his copy are signed "LCF", and the engravings signed this way have subtle differences from those signed "AT". Corso relays his findings to Balkan and Balkan orders him to acquire Fargas' copy. The next day the Girl takes Corso to see Fargas, who has been drowned; Corso retrieves Fargas's burnt copy from the fireplace and finds
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#17328920276371020-458: A documentary film, described the demands of young movie viewers who he said always wanted to see something "new" and "different". Rosemary's Baby (1968) Paramount studio head Robert Evans brought Polanski to America ostensibly to direct the film Downhill Racer , but told Polanski that he really wanted him to read the horror novel Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin to see if a film could be made out of it. Polanski read it non-stop through
1105-471: A few weeks, until "all the Jewish children were abruptly expelled", writes biographer Christopher Sandford . That initiative was soon followed by the requirement that all Jewish children over the age of twelve wear white armbands, with a blue Star of David imprinted, for visual identification. After he was expelled, Polanski would not be allowed to enter another classroom for six years. Polanski witnessed both
1190-711: A few years, he moved to the United Kingdom, where he directed his first three English-language feature-length films: Repulsion (1965), Cul-de-sac (1966), and The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). In 1968, he moved to the United States and cemented his status in the film industry by directing the horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968). He made Macbeth (1971) in England and Chinatown (1974) back in Hollywood. His other critically acclaimed films include The Tenant (1976), Tess (1979), The Pianist (2002) which won him
1275-483: A financial success and was well received by both critics and the public. Polanski won France's César Awards for Best Picture and Best Director and received his fourth Academy Award nomination (and his second nomination for Best Director). The film received three Oscars: best cinematography, best art direction, best costume design, and was nominated for best picture. At the time, there were rumors that Polanski and Kinski became romantically involved, which he confirmed in
1360-449: A fugitive from American justice and could no longer work in countries where he might face arrest or extradition. Tess (1979) He dedicated his next film, Tess (1979), to the memory of his late wife, Sharon Tate . It was Tate who first suggested he read Tess of the d'Urbervilles , which she thought would make a good film; he subsequently expected her to star in it. Nearly a decade after Tate's death, he met Nastassja Kinski ,
1445-570: A fugitive from the U.S. justice system. Further allegations of abuse have been made by other women. Polanski's Polish Jewish parents moved the family from his birthplace in Paris back to Kraków in 1937. Two years later, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany started World War II, and the family found themselves trapped in the Kraków Ghetto . After his mother and father were taken in raids, Polanski spent his formative years in foster homes, surviving
1530-512: A lavish period piece starring Walter Matthau as Captain Red, which the director intended as an homage to the beloved Errol Flynn swashbucklers of his childhood. Captain Red's henchman, Jean Baptiste, was played by Cris Campion. The film is about a rebellion the two led on a ship called the Neptune , in the seventeenth century. The screenplay was written by Polanski, Gérard Brach, and John Brownjohn. The film
1615-407: A little went a long way. I lapped up every kind of film." As time went on, movies became more than an escape into entertainment, as he explains: Movies were becoming an absolute obsession with me. I was enthralled by everything connected with the cinema—not just the movies themselves but the aura that surrounded them. I loved the luminous rectangle of the screen, the sight of the beam slicing through
1700-461: A model and aspiring young actress who had already been in a number of European films. He offered her the starring role, which she accepted. Her father was Klaus Kinski , a leading German actor, who had introduced her to films. Because the role required having a local dialect, Polanski sent her to London for five months of study and to spend time in the Dorset countryside to get a flavor of the region. In
1785-449: A mysterious hitchhiker with them on a weekend boating excursion. Knife in the Water was a major commercial success in the West and gave Polanski an international reputation. The film also earned its director his first Academy Award nomination (Best Foreign Language Film) in 1963. Leon Niemczyk , who played Andrzej, was the only professional actor in the film. Jolanta Umecka, who played Krystyna,
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#17328920276371870-473: A psychological horror film focusing on a young Belgian woman named Carol ( Catherine Deneuve ). The film's themes, situations, visual motifs, and effects clearly reflect the influence of early surrealist cinema as well as horror movies of the 1950s—particularly Luis Buñuel 's Un chien Andalou , Jean Cocteau 's The Blood of a Poet , Henri-Georges Clouzot 's Diabolique and Alfred Hitchcock 's Psycho . Cul-de-sac (1966) Cul-de-sac (1966)
1955-501: A scene, and received an X rating because of its graphic violence and nudity. In his autobiography, Polanski wrote that he wanted to be true to the violent nature of the work and that he had been aware that his first project following Tate's murder would be subject to scrutiny and probable criticism regardless of the subject matter; if he had made a comedy he would have been perceived as callous. What? (1972) Written by Polanski and previous collaborator Gérard Brach , What? (1972)
2040-566: A screenplay with the Shakespeare expert Kenneth Tynan . Jon Finch and Francesca Annis played the main characters. Hugh Hefner and Playboy Productions funded the 1971 film , which opened in New York and was screened in Playboy Theater. Hefner was credited as executive producer, and the film was listed as a "Playboy Production". It was controversial because of Lady Macbeth's being nude in
2125-527: A second actress proved unable to learn the character's dialogue; with only days' notice, Jefford learned her part, spoken with a German accent. Depp met his long-time partner Vanessa Paradis during the shooting. The Ninth Gate was filmed in France, Portugal, and Spain in the summer of 1998. Selected prominent buildings in the film are: The musical score for The Ninth Gate was composed by Wojciech Kilar , who previously collaborated with Polanski on Death and
2210-528: A second chance, despite its disintegrations, and, in time, will undoubtedly acquire its own coven of heretical fans". In Time magazine, Richard Corliss said that The Ninth Gate was Polanski's most accessible effort "since fleeing the U.S. soon after Chinatown ". In the San Francisco Chronicle , Bob Graham said that "Depp is the best reason to see Polanski's satanic thriller" and "Polanski's sly sense of film-noir conventions pokes fun at
2295-461: A sociological than a psychological focus. Neo noir features characters who commit violent crimes, but without the motivations and narrative patterns found in film noir . Neo noir assumed global character and impact when filmmakers began drawing elements from films in the global market. For instance, Quentin Tarantino 's works have been influenced by Ringo Lam 's 1987 classic City on Fire . This
2380-452: A state of crazed bliss. After, as the two are traveling, the Girl explains Balkan's ritual did not work because the ninth engraving was forged. When they stop for gasoline she vanishes, but leaves Corso a note sending him to the Ceniza brothers. At their shop, Corso finds they have vanished and the shop is being cleaned out. As workmen remove a large bookcase, a dust-covered paper floats down from
2465-520: A still skeptical Corso. However, the ritual seemingly fails and Balkan begins to scream in pain from the flames engulfing his body. Corso eventually frees himself, retrieves the engravings and shoots Balkan to end his torment. Sitting in Balkan's car, Corso is startled by the Girl, and she kisses him. The two are then shown having passionate sex on the ground while backlit by the burning castle. The Girl's face and eyes seem to change as she writhes astride Corso in
2550-565: A supporting role, and was the last film Polanski directed in the United States. In 1991, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and it is frequently listed as among the best in world cinema . The Tenant (1976) Polanski returned to Paris for his next film, The Tenant (1976), which
2635-549: A whiff of decay and hauteur in a film not even a star as foxed, and foxy, as Johnny Depp, himself, could save". In the Los Angeles Times , Kenneth Turan said the film was "too laid-back, and unconcerned about the pacing of its story to be satisfying", because "while a thriller that's not high-powered, is an intriguing concept, in reality it can hold our attention for only so long". In the Village Voice , J. Hoberman said
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2720-557: A young housewife who is impregnated by the devil. Polanski's screenplay adaptation earned him a second Academy Award nomination. On 9 August 1969, while Polanski was working in London, his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, and four other people were murdered at the Polanskis' residence in Los Angeles by cult leader Charles Manson 's followers . Macbeth (1971) Polanski adapted Macbeth into
2805-528: Is a bleak nihilist tragicomedy filmed on location in Northumberland . The tone and premise of the film owe a great deal to Samuel Beckett 's Waiting for Godot , along with aspects of Harold Pinter 's The Birthday Party . The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967) The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) (known by its original title, "Dance of the Vampires" in most countries outside
2890-602: Is a mordant absurdist comedy loosely based on the themes of Alice in Wonderland and Henry James . The film is a rambling shaggy dog story about the sexual indignities that befall a winsome young American hippie woman hitchhiking through Europe. Chinatown (1974) Polanski was an outstanding director. There was no question, after three days seeing him operate, that here was a really top talent. Co-star John Huston Polanski returned to Hollywood in 1973 to direct Chinatown (1974) for Paramount Pictures . The film
2975-454: Is attacked, and the Baroness is strangled to death and her library set on fire. Corso returns to his hotel and discovers Balkan's copy is missing, probably stolen by Liana. The Girl and Corso track Liana to her family's ancestral manor where a Satanic cult are conducting a ritual using Balkan's book. Balkan interrupts the ceremony, takes his copy back, and strangles Liana to death as the rest of
3060-414: Is widely considered to be one of the finest American mystery crime movies, inspired by the real-life California Water Wars , a series of disputes over southern California water at the beginning of the 20th century. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including those for actors Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. Robert Towne won for Best Original Screenplay. It also had actor-director John Huston in
3145-515: The Academy Award for Best Director , The Ghost Writer (2010), Venus in Fur (2013), and An Officer and a Spy (2019). Polanski has made 23 feature films to date. Roman Polanski was born on 18 August 1933, in interbellum Paris. He was the son of Bula (aka "Bella") Katz-Przedborska and Mojżesz (or Maurycy) Liebling (later Polański), a painter and manufacturer of sculptures, who after World War II
3230-480: The Golden Bear and a Palme d'Or . In 1977, Polanski was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl . He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sex with a minor in exchange for a probation-only sentence. The night before his sentencing hearing in 1978, he learned that the judge would likely reject the proffered plea bargain , so he fled the U.S. to Europe, where he continued his career. He remains
3315-533: The Greek prefix for the word new , is defined by Mark Conard as "any film coming after the classic noir period that contains noir themes and noir sensibility". Another definition describes it as later noir that often synthesizes diverse genres while foregrounding the scaffolding of film noir . " Film noir " was coined by critic Nino Frank in 1946 and popularized by French critics Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton in 1955. The term revived in general use beginning in
3400-612: The neo-noir genre style, rare-book dealer Dean Corso's disheveled grooming derives from Philip Marlowe , Raymond Chandler 's quintessential literary private investigator. Polanski cast Frank Langella as Boris Balkan based upon his performance as Clare Quilty in Lolita (1997). Barbara Jefford was a last-minute replacement for the German actress originally cast as the Baroness Frieda Kessler, who fell sick with pneumonia , and after
3485-424: The 10 March 2000 weekend, earning a gross income of $ 6.6 million, and $ 18.6 million in total. Worldwide, it earned $ 58.4 million against a $ 38 million production budget. On May 22, 2007, an extended version was released with a runtime of 2 hours and 13 minutes. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 43% based on reviews from 95 critics, with an average rating of 5/10. The consensus reads, "Even though
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3570-407: The 1980s, with a revival of the style. The classic film noir era is usually dated from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. The films were often adaptations of American crime novels, which were also described as " hardboiled ". Some authors resisted these terms. For example, James M. Cain , author of The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) and Double Indemnity (1944), is considered to be one of
3655-497: The Devil . The premiere showing was at San Sebastián , Spain, on 25 August 1999, a month before the 47th San Sebastian International Film Festival . Though critically and commercially unsuccessful in North America, where reviewers compared it unfavorably with Polanski's supernatural film Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Ninth Gate earned a worldwide gross of $ 58.4 million against a $ 38 million budget. It has since been described as
3740-626: The Holocaust by adopting a false identity and concealing his Jewish heritage. In 1969, Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate , was murdered, along with four friends by members of the Manson Family in an internationally notorious case. Polanski's first feature-length film, Knife in the Water (1962), made in Poland, was nominated for the United States Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film . After living in France for
3825-554: The Maiden (1994). The film's main theme is loosely based upon Havanaise , for violin and orchestra, by Camille Saint-Saëns ; some of the score has a vocalization (specifically, a melodic aria) by Korean soprano Sumi Jo . A soundtrack album was released on 16 November 1999 via Silva Screen label. The premiere screening of The Ninth Gate was in San Sebastián, Spain, on 25 August 1999; in North America, it appeared in 1,586 cinemas during
3910-482: The Polish population had been killed, the vast majority being civilians. Of those deaths, 3 million were Polish Jews, which accounted for 90% of the country's Jewish population. According to Sandford, Polanski would use the memory of his mother, her dress and makeup style, as a physical model for Faye Dunaway 's character in his film Chinatown (1974). In October 2020, Polanski went back to Poland and paid respects to
3995-479: The United States) is a parody of vampire films. The plot concerns a buffoonish professor and his clumsy assistant, Alfred (played by Polanski), who are traveling through Transylvania in search of vampires. The Fearless Vampire Killers was Polanski's first feature to be photographed in color with the use of Panavision lenses, and included a striking visual style with snow-covered, fairy-tale landscapes, similar to
4080-584: The character was forty years old (Depp at the time was only 34). He considered an older actor, but Depp persisted; he wanted to work with Roman Polanski. The film press reported, around the time of the North American release of The Ninth Gate , creative friction between Depp and Polanski. Depp said, "It's the director's job to push, to provoke things out of an actor". Polanski said of Depp, "He decided to play it rather flat, which wasn't how I envisioned it; and I didn't tell him it wasn't how I saw it". Visually, in
4165-507: The darkness from the projection booth, the miraculous synchronization of sound and vision, even the dusty smell of the tip-up seats. More than anything else though, I was fascinated by the actual mechanics of the process. Polanski was above all influenced by Carol Reed 's Odd Man Out (1947) – "I still consider it as one of the best movies I've ever seen and a film which made me want to pursue this career more than anything else ... I always dreamt of doing things of this sort or that style. To
4250-475: The defining authors of hard-boiled fiction. Both novels were adapted as crime films, the former more than once. Cain is quoted as saying, "I belong to no school, hard-boiled or otherwise, and I believe these so-called schools exist mainly in the imagination of critics, and have little correspondence in reality anywhere else." Neo-noir film directors refer to 'classic noir' in the use of Dutch angles , interplay of light and shadows, unbalanced framing ; blurring of
4335-600: The family contacts; Polanski visited them in Kraków, and relatives visited him in Hollywood and Paris. Polanski recalls the villages and families he lived with as relatively primitive by European standards: They were really simple Catholic peasants. This Polish village was like the English village in Tess . Very primitive. No electricity. The kids with whom I lived didn't know about electricity ... they wouldn't believe me when I told them it
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#17328920276374420-401: The film is stylish and atmospheric, critics say The Ninth Gate meanders aimlessly and is often ludicrous. And despite the advertising, there's hardly any chills." On Metacritic it has a score of 44 out of 100 based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "D−" on scale of A to F. Roger Ebert said the ending
4505-423: The film was "barely releasable hokum, stuffed with cheesy blah-blah". European reviews were generally more attentive and praised the film's pace and irony. In Sight and Sound magazine, Phillip Strick said it was "not particularly liked at first outing — partly because Johnny Depp, in fake grey temples, personifies the odious Corso of the book a little too accurately — the film is intricately well-made, deserves
4590-414: The film, Kinski starred opposite Peter Firth and Leigh Lawson . [Polanski] took a lot of time, two years, preparing me for that film. ... He was strict with me, but in a good way. He made me feel smart, that I could do things. Nastassja Kinski Tess was shot in the north of France instead of Hardy's England and became the most expensive film made in France up to that time. Ultimately, it proved
4675-530: The genre, while, at the same time, honoring it". After the release of The Ninth Gate , Artisan sued Polanski for taking more than $ 1 million from the budget, refunds of France's value-added tax that he did not give to the completion bond company guaranteeing Artisan Entertainment a completed film. Neo-noir Neo-noir is a film genre that adapts the visual style and themes of 1940s and 1950s American film noir for contemporary audiences, often with more graphic depictions of violence and sexuality. During
4760-483: The ghettoization of Kraków's Jews into a compact area of the city, and the subsequent deportation of all the ghetto's Jews to German death camps . He watched as his father was taken away. He remembers from age six, one of his first experiences of the terrors to follow: I had just been visiting my grandmother ... when I received a foretaste of things to come. At first, I didn't know what was happening. I simply saw people scattering in all directions. Then I realized why
4845-550: The late 1970s and the early 1980s, the term "neo-noir" surged in popularity, fueled by movies such as Sydney Pollack 's Absence of Malice , Brian De Palma 's Blow Out , and Martin Scorsese 's After Hours . The French term film noir translates literally to English as "black film", indicating sinister stories often presented in a shadowy cinematographic style. Neo-noir has a similar style but with updated themes, content, style, and visual elements. The neologism neo-noir, using
4930-513: The like) are often rejected by both critics and practitioners. Robert Arnett stated, "Neo-noir has become so amorphous as a genre/movement, any film featuring a detective or crime qualifies." Screenwriter and director Larry Gross identifies Jean-Luc Godard 's Alphaville , alongside John Boorman 's Point Blank (1967) and Robert Altman 's The Long Goodbye (1973), based on Raymond Chandler 's 1953 novel, as neo-noir films. Gross believes that they deviate from classic noir in having more of
5015-572: The lines between good and bad and right and wrong , and thematic motifs including revenge , paranoia , and alienation . Typically American crime dramas or psychological thrillers , films noir had common themes and plot devices, and many distinctive visual elements. Characters were often conflicted antiheroes , trapped in a difficult situation and making choices out of desperation or nihilistic moral systems . Visual elements included low-key lighting , striking use of light and shadow , and unusual camera placement. Sound effects helped create
5100-560: The members run away in fear. Corso abandons the Girl, presuming she was working for Balkan, and pursues Balkan but loses him when his car breaks down. Corso finds a clue in Kessler's belongings that directs him to a remote castle, where Balkan is preparing to summon the Devil using the nine "LCF" engravings. He subdues Corso and forces him to watch as he performs the ritual; it apparently works and grants Balkan power and immunity to harm, and he immolates himself to demonstrate and attempt to convince
5185-477: The nearest building, squeezed into a smelly recess beneath some wooden stairs, and didn't come out for hours. I developed a strange habit: clenching my fists so hard that my palms became permanently calloused. I also woke up one morning to find that I had wet my bed. Polanski's father was transferred, along with thousands of other Jews, to Mauthausen , a group of 49 German concentration camps in Austria. His mother, who
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#17328920276375270-416: The night and the following morning decided he wanted to write as well as direct it. He wrote the 272-page screenplay in just over three weeks. The film, Rosemary's Baby (1968), was a box-office success and became his first Hollywood production, thereby establishing his reputation as a major commercial filmmaker. The film, a horror-thriller set in trendy Manhattan, is about Rosemary Woodhouse ( Mia Farrow ),
5355-456: The noir mood of paranoia and nostalgia. Few major films in the classic film noir genre have been made since the early 1960s. These films usually incorporated both thematic and visual elements reminiscent of film noir . Both classic and neo-noir films are often produced as independent features . After 1970, film critics took note of "neo-noir" films as a separate genre. Noir and post-noir terminology (such as " hard-boiled ", "neo-classic" and
5440-523: The novel's literary references and a sub-plot about Dean Corso's investigation of an original manuscript of a chapter of The Three Musketeers , and concentrated upon Corso's pursuing the authentic copy of The Nine Gates . Polanski approached the subject skeptically, saying, "I don't believe in the occult. I don't believe. Period." Yet he enjoyed the genre. "There [are] a great number of clichés of this type in The Ninth Gate , which I tried to turn around
5525-401: The screen through the barbed wire. I remember watching with fascination, although all they were showing was the German army and German tanks, with occasional anti-Jewish slogans inserted on cards. After the war, Polanski watched films, either at school or at a local cinema, using whatever pocket money he had. Polanski writes, "Most of this went on the movies, but movie seats were dirt cheap, so
5610-632: The screenplay by Enrique Urbizu , an adaptation of the Spanish novel El Club Dumas ( The Club Dumas , 1993), by Arturo Pérez-Reverte . Impressed with the script, Polanski read the novel, liking it because he "saw so many elements that seemed good for a movie. It was suspenseful, funny, and there were a great number of secondary characters that are tremendously cinematic". Pérez-Reverte's novel, El Club Dumas features intertwined plots, so Polanski wrote his own adaptation with his usual partner, John Brownjohn ( Tess , Pirates and Bitter Moon ). They deleted
5695-450: The segment removed from all releases of the film.) However, Polanski found that in the early 1960s, the French film industry was xenophobic and generally unwilling to support a rising filmmaker of foreign origin. Repulsion (1965) Polanski made three feature films in England, based on original scripts written by himself and Gérard Brach , a frequent collaborator. Repulsion (1965) is
5780-442: The street had emptied so quickly. Some women were being herded along it by German soldiers. Instead of running away like the rest, I felt compelled to watch. One older woman at the rear of the column couldn't keep up. A German officer kept prodding her back into line, but she fell down on all fours ... Suddenly a pistol appeared in the officer's hand. There was a loud bang, and blood came welling out of her back. I ran straight into
5865-537: The three "LCF" engravings torn out. Corso goes to Paris , France , to investigate the third copy owned by Baroness Kessler. Wary of Corso and knowing he is employed by Balkan, she refuses him. Corso is attacked while walking outside only to be saved by The Girl who exhibits seemingly supernatural powers. Corso hides Balkan's book in his hotel room and tells Kessler about the "LCF" engravings, proposing that each copy has three that together make an authentic set of nine. Intrigued, Kessler allows Corso to look at her copy. Corso
5950-510: The three is authentic and wants Corso to inspect the other two to determine which one. During his travels, Corso comes into contact with a mysterious woman ("The Girl") who appears to be following him. Corso interviews Liana Telfer, the widow of Andrew Telfer who sold Balkan The Nine Gates shortly before killing himself. Telfer later seduces Corso, hoping he will sell the book to her. After they have sex, and he refuses to sell, she attacks him, and knocks him unconscious. The next day, Corso goes to
6035-454: The top. This is the authentic engraving, which depicts a woman who resembles the Girl that she is the daughter of Satan and that she is pregnant with his child. Corso, now with all nine authentic engravings in his possession, returns to the castle. The gates open on their own and emit a powerful bright light as Corso walks through, taking the journey through the Ninth Gate. Roman Polanski read
6120-603: The work of Soviet fantasy filmmakers. In addition, the richly textured color schemes of the settings evoke the paintings of the Belarusian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall , who provides the namesake for the innkeeper in the film. The film was written for Jack MacGowran , who played the lead role of Professor Abronsius. Polanski met Sharon Tate while making the film; she played the role of the local innkeeper's daughter. They were married in London on 20 January 1968. Shortly after they married, Polanski, with Tate at his side during
6205-636: Was also in 1955 with a short film, Rower ( Bicycle ). Rower is a semi-autobiographical feature film, believed to be lost, which also starred Polanski. It refers to his real-life violent altercation with a notorious Kraków felon, Janusz Dziuba, who arranged to sell Polanski a bicycle, but instead beat him badly and stole his money. In real life, the offender was arrested while fleeing after fracturing Polanski's skull, and executed for three murders, out of eight prior such assaults which he had committed. Several other short films made during his study at Łódź gained him considerable recognition, particularly Two Men and
6290-507: Was an atheist. The Polański family moved back to Kraków, Poland, in early 1937, and were living there when World War II began with the invasion of Poland . Kraków was soon occupied by the German forces, and the racist and anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws made the Polańskis targets of persecution, forcing them into the Kraków Ghetto , along with thousands of the city's Jews . Around the age of six, Polanski attended primary school for only
6375-501: Was around age four or five. He recalls this period in an interview: Even as a child, I always loved cinema and was thrilled when my parents would take me before the war. Then we were put into the ghetto in Krakòw and there was no cinema, but the Germans often showed newsreels to the people outside the ghetto, on a screen in the market place. And there was one particular corner where you could see
6460-471: Was based on a 1964 novel by Roland Topor , a French writer of Polish-Jewish origin. In addition to directing the film, Polanski also played a leading role of a timid Polish immigrant living in Paris. Together with Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby , The Tenant can be seen as the third installment in a loose trilogy of films called the "Apartment Trilogy" that explores the themes of social alienation and psychic and emotional breakdown. In 1978, Polanski became
6545-538: Was discovered by Polanski at a swimming pool. Polanski left then-communist Poland and moved to France, where he had already made two notable short films in 1961: The Fat and the Lean and Mammals . While in France, Polanski contributed one segment ("La rivière de diamants") to the French-produced omnibus film, Les plus belles escroqueries du monde (English title: The Beautiful Swindlers ) in 1964. (He has since had
6630-439: Was enough to turn on a switch! Polanski stated that "you must live in a Communist country to really understand how bad it can be. Then you will appreciate capitalism." He also remembered events at the war's end and his reintroduction to mainstream society when he was 12, forming friendships with other children, such as Roma Ligocka , Ryszard Horowitz and his family. Polanski's fascination with cinema began very early when he
6715-497: Was four months pregnant at the time, was taken to Auschwitz and killed in the gas chamber soon after arriving. The forced exodus took place immediately after the German liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto , a real-life backdrop to Polanski's film The Pianist (2002). Polanski, who was then hiding from the Germans, saw his father being marched off with a long line of people. Polanski tried getting closer to his father to ask him what
6800-552: Was happening and got within a few yards. His father saw him, but afraid his son might be spotted by the German soldiers, whispered (in Polish), "Get lost!" Polanski escaped the Kraków Ghetto in 1943 and survived with the help of some Polish Roman Catholics, including a woman who had promised Polanski's father that she would shelter the boy. Polanski attended church, learned to recite Catholic prayers by heart, and behaved outwardly as
6885-555: Was known as Ryszard Polański. Polanski's father was Jewish and originally from Poland. Polanski's mother was born in Russia. Her own father was Jewish and mother was a Gentile , but Bula had been raised in the Catholic faith. She had a daughter, Annette, by her previous husband. Annette survived Auschwitz , where her mother was murdered, and left Poland forever for France. Polanski's parents were both agnostics. Polanski later stated that he
6970-480: Was lackluster: "while at the end, I didn't yearn for spectacular special effects, I did wish for spectacular information — something awesome, not just a fade-to-white". In his review for The New York Times , Elvis Mitchell said the movie was "about as scary as a sock-puppet re-enactment of The Blair Witch Project , and not nearly as funny". Entertainment Weekly rated the film "D+", and Lisa Schwarzbaum said it had an "aroma of middle-brow , art-house Euro-rot,
7055-600: Was one of the people in my life who cared, ... who took me seriously and gave me a lot of strength." She told David Letterman more about her experience working with Polanski during an interview. In 1981, Polanski directed and co-starred (as Mozart ) in a stage production of Peter Shaffer 's play Amadeus , first in Warsaw, then in Paris. The play was again directed by Polanski, in Milan, in 1999. Pirates (1986) Nearly seven years passed before Polanski's next film, Pirates ,
7140-558: Was particularly the case for the noir-inflected Reservoir Dogs , which was instrumental in establishing Tarantino in October 1992. Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański ( né Liebling ; born 18 August 1933) is a French and Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and convicted sex offender. He is the recipient of numerous accolades , including an Academy Award , two British Academy Film Awards , ten César Awards , two Golden Globe Awards , as well as
7225-534: Was shot on location in Tunisia, using a full-sized pirate vessel constructed for the production. It was a financial and critical failure, recovering a small fraction of its production budget and garnering a single Academy Award nomination. Frantic (1988) Frantic (1988) was a Hitchcockian suspense-thriller starring Harrison Ford and the actress/model Emmanuelle Seigner , who later became Polanski's wife. The film follows an ordinary tourist in Paris whose wife
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