DAMIAN CHAPA
Bil’s rating (out of 5): 0.
Original title: Polanski
USA, 2009. Amadeus Pictures, Laguna Productions. Screenplay by Damian Chapa, Carlton Holder. Cinematography by Pierre Chemaly. Produced by Damian Chapa, Edmund Druilhet, Silvia Suvadová. Music by Mark Buys, Vladimir Martinka. Production Design by Lode Geens, Madla Hruza. Costume Design by Madla Hruza. Film Editing by Keita Ideno.
Laughably bad attempt to capture the man and the mystery, hampered by terrible performances and embarrassing dialogue. Director-star Damian Chapa plays Polanski in a bad wig, romancing Sharon Tate while casting Mia Farrow and heading towards one of the most memorably two-pronged professional experiences in the history of Hollywood: at the same time that his box-office hit Rosemary’s Baby makes him a Hollywood star, Polanski suffers the terrible murder of his beautiful wife at the hands of the Manson gang. The film has flash forwards throughout to the other most famous incident in the auteur’s career, that of his arrest following his having committed statutory rape on an under-aged model (who in this film looks about thirty). I suppose it is an attempt to explore the man behind the notoriety, but it doesn’t concern itself much with his artistic successes either, instead focusing on badly directed recreations of star-meeting moments played by people who look and act absolutely nothing like the people they’re portraying. Avoid this stinker.
