Tess: Criterion Collection
March 18, 2014
Based on Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Tess (1979) ended a prolific decade of memorable films for Roman Polanski who, at this point in his career, had been exiled to Europe due to legal problems in the United States. The film featured...
Rosemary’s Baby: Criterion Collection
October 24, 2012
In the 1970s, films about demonic possession and Satan were all the rage thanks to films like The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976). This trend was actually kick-started on a mainstream level in the late 1960s with Roman Polanski’s Hollywood debut,...
Cul-de-sac: Criterion Collection
August 16, 2011
After leaving Poland for England, Roman Polanski made three films, one of which was Cul-de-sac (1966), before moving on to Hollywood. The film contains many of his hallmarks: dark humor and suspenseful camerawork that puts one on edge. After writing the...
Repulsion: Criterion Collection
July 28, 2009
Repulsion (1965) was Roman Polanski’s second feature after the auspicious debut of Knife in the Water (1962) and established him as a filmmaker with a knack for conveying psychological horror. The film is also a startling study of loneliness and one...
The Ninth Gate
October 31, 2006
Critical and commercial reaction to Roman Polanski’s films has always been mixed at best. To say that they are an acquired taste is an understatement. The Ninth Gate (1999) is no exception. Despite what the film’s misleading trailer promoted at the...
Oliver Twist
March 27, 2006
After the critical and commercial success of The Pianist (2002), filmmaker Roman Polanski decided to do something completely different and make a children’s movie. This seems rather odd considering the adult fare that he’s usually known for (films...
