Roman Polanski derided as he wins best director at France’s Cesar Awards

February 29, 2020

Roman Polanski won best director at the French version of the Oscars, known as the Cesar Awards, on Friday amid protests by women’s rights activists .

Polanski did not attend the Paris ceremony as protests decried the 12 nominations for the film he directed — “J’accuse” translated to “An Officer and a Spy.” Activists were responding, in particular, to a new rape allegation against the 86-year-old.

Paris Cesar Awards Anti Polanski Protest (picture-alliance/Zuma/J. Mattia)

Women’s rights protesters vented their frustrations at the nominations Polanski’s film “J’accuse” had received

At the announcement of Polanski’s award as best director, some boos emerged from those in attendance.

Read more: Mixed emotions as Roman Polanski turns 85

Walkout

Actress Adele Haenel, who last year said she had been sexually abused as a child by another director, got up and walked out of the Pleynel concert hall, followed by a few others.

“Distinguishing Polanski is spitting in the face of all victims. It means raping women isn’t that bad,” Haenel told US daily The New York Times earlier this week.

The winning film’s cast and production team, including best actor nominee Jean Dujardin, refused to attend the ceremony. Dujardin defended his decision to appear in the film, despite the director being a wanted man in the United States in a 42-year-old rape case. In an Instagram post Dujardin said: “By making this film, I believed and I still believe I made more good than harm.”

Polanski’s film earned further acclaim at the Cesars for best costume design and best adaptation but no one came on stage to accept the awards.

Last December, Polanski called off a planned visit to a film school in his native Poland after some students objected to his appearance because of outstanding sexual abuse allegations against him.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Knife in the Water (1962)

A woman and a man tightly embrace on a yacht, but looks can be deceiving. Made in Poland in 1962, Polanski’s first full-length feature film tells of a dramatic love triangle. The concept of creating human conflict in the smallest of spaces, charged with eroticism, would go on to be a regular feature of his later films.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Repulsion (1965)

Three years later, Polanski moved west for his second film. The psychological thriller Repulsion stars a young Catherine Deneuve in a London apartment on the verge of madness. Using many elements of the horror movie genre, the film reveals the desperation of a young woman who was likely sexually abused by her father when she was little.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Dance of the Vampires (1967)

Also made in England but more of a box office hit was Dance of the Vampires, known in the US as The Fearless Vampire Killers. Playing around with elements from the then-popular vampire genre, Polanski gave it a more cheerful twist. Unlike in Repulsion or the subsequent Rosemary’s Baby, the director gave audiences a liberating laugh and took a lead role himself.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

When the psychological thriller Rosemary’s Baby hit theaters, cinemagoers were given little to laugh about. The story tells of a childless couple, played by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, who move into a New York apartment that seems to hold a horrid secret. Rosemary’s Baby has been described as a “frightening tale of satanism and pregnancy that is even more disturbing than it sounds.”

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Chinatown (1974)

After a failed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and the failed comedy What?, Chinatown was a flawless cinematic masterpiece. With a standout performance from Jack Nicholson, the 1974 detective film is both a nod to film noir and a development of the crime-mystery genre. It also penetrates deep into the psyche of American society.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

The Tenant (1976)

Polanski’s next hit, The Tenant, saw him return to the theme of one of his earlier films. This time it’s a man struck by delusions within the four walls of his Paris apartment. Once again, Polanski proved his excellent acting abilities, playing the tenant himself, joined by the French actress Isabelle Adjani.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Tess (1979)

Polanski’s adaptation of a classic piece of English literature came as a surprise to his fans. Based on the 1891 novel by Thomas Hardy, Tess was an opulent cinematic experience featuring many classic Polanski themes in a new guise. “I’m not looking for originality, I’m looking for more simplicity,” the director said of his work then.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

The Pianist (2002)

The movie world was astonished when Polanski first presented The Pianist at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The story of the Polish pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman, who survives the Nazi-era Warsaw Ghetto, was also a reflection of Polanski’s own life as a child in the Krakow ghetto for Jews. The Pianist won the Palm D’or and several Oscars.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

The Ghost Writer (2010)

The Ghost Writer again showed Polanski’s cinematic mastery. Starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor and based on a novel by Richard Harris, the elegant thriller is set on an island off the US East Coast. Polanski shot much of the film in Germany.

Ten of Roman Polanski’s most memorable films

Carnage (2011)

Soon after, Carnage also proved to be another Polanski masterpiece. Although the plot, taken from a play by the successful author Yasmina Reza, plays out almost exclusively in an apartment building, Polanski once again unleashed a breathtaking drama about human division and passion.

Author: Jochen Kürten