ROMAN POLANSKI

Started by modage, June 26, 2003, 01:44:22 AM

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Reinhold

denied bail before extradition. apparently he's a flight risk.
Quote from: Pas Rap on April 23, 2010, 07:29:06 AM
Obviously what you are doing right now is called (in my upcoming book of psychology at least) validation. I think it's a normal thing to do. People will reply, say anything, and then you're gonna do what you were subconsciently thinking of doing all along.

Sleepless

Wonder what gives them that idea?
He held on. The dolphin and all the rest of its pod turned and swam out to sea, and still he held on. This is it, he thought. Then he remembered that they were air-breathers too. It was going to be all right.

Stefen

Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

polkablues

My house, my rules, my coffee

Neil

So, on that site stefen recommended, i caught 'Knife in the Water' for free.  anyone else catch this?

it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

Stefen

Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Neil

Yes, though i doubt i'll ever pay for one, i'll just catch free ones.

So, I guess my problem, is i don't really know how to talk about film, so it's no wonder no one really likes what i say.  I just love the idea of film, and emotionally shit works for me, stylistically things can work for me, i just can't verbalize it, in the same way as a lot the people who can here.

SPOILS

However, this film had me tense.  I wish i knew more about 60's cinema and what was going on (kind of like understanding how crazy and  radical rock in roll in the 50's and 60's was at the time, even though it sounds more towards the good ole' pop side now).  I wonder why more films don't do this, it seems like such an odd ending would never go down today.  Also, i know nothing about the language, but sometimes the characters would be talking, and subtitles wouldn't come up. Not sure, if i should know it, because it's common or something.  Anyhow, I can't discern acts very well in films, but, I think I enjoyed the vast lonely feel and vision when they finally got out sailing.  I thought it was obvious about showing youth and an elder clashing, towards several themes.  one clearly being testosterone, or just that male urge that some posses to mark their territory, or show why they are indeed the man (in a given situation).   I mean, to me picking up a stranger, had me on edge, because i was waiting for something terrible to happen, and i kind of felt like that at each turn in the film.  Although when these moments meticulously come in, just after you think he's an ok guy, or could be one.  The tension between the younger gentlemen, and the gorgeous woman was blatant which i thought was neat, because as i said, by the time he busts out this badass knife, and you're stuck on the boat with a stranger. Ya know? like i said i was expecting it to go south. But yeah, i like it.  It worked for me.  I thought the ending was pretty badass, although i didn't assume the husband(?) swam back, or could?  I thought the characters maintained this certain mysterious aspect, where you find out certain things about the characters through current dialogue in a casual fashion. It was awesome, i mean being able to get away with a 3 character film, and portray through one day, and you learn just enough about them, to not know what they're capable of, or how they would react.  Good flick though, i enjoyed it visually, and i thought it was great having them all have spaced out on the boat while out to sea, and then they're cooped up in the 3rd act.  Neat, how it played out like that.

it's not the wrench, it's the plumber.

MacGuffin

Polanski is finishing new film from jail, screenwriter says
Source: Los Angeles Times

While legal reps on both sides of the Atlantic argue over the fate of director Roman Polanski, the Oscar winner is quietly attempting to complete work on his latest film, "The Ghost," from his jail cell in Switzerland, where he awaits word on extradition to face sentencing on a statutory rape charge.

Robert Harris, who penned both the novel that inspired the film and its screenplay, said that Polanski is attempting to make decisions from prison, including decisions regarding composer Alexandre Desplat's score. "He can make his wishes known from his cell," Harris said at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in England. "I don't think he can make phone calls, but he can communicate." According to Harris, Polanski is attempting to complete the film for its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February. "The Ghost" stars Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Tom Wilkinson and Eli Wallach.

Polanski was arrested in Zurich on Sept. 26 for fleeing the United States 31 years ago on the eve of his sentencing.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

AP NewsBreak: Swiss tipped US to Polanski trip

LOS ANGELES - Swiss authorities set in motion the arrest of fugitive director Roman Polanski in his decades-old child sex case as he traveled to the country last month, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

A series of e-mails obtained under a public records request show the Swiss Federal Office of Justice sent an urgent fax to the U.S. Office of International Affairs on Sept. 22 stating Polanski was expected in Zurich. The director was to be feted at a film festival, and Swiss officials wanted to know if the U.S. would be submitting a request for Polanski's arrest.

It took little sleuthing to figure out Polanski would be in Zurich — the film festival had a Web site promoting its upcoming tribute to the "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown" director. The new details again raise the question of why Switzerland decided to go after Polanski now, even though the 76-year-old director was a frequent visitor to that nation, where he owns an Alpine chalet.

After receiving the tip, federal officials alerted the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which immediately began drafting an arrest warrant.

Polanski was arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award. He has been battling extradition ever since and on Tuesday suffered a serious setback when Switzerland's top criminal court rejected his appeal to be released from prison, citing the "high" risk that the director would try to flee again.

A Sept. 25 e-mail from the Office of International Affairs to the district attorney's office shows U.S. authorities seemed confident Polanski would not be released.

"Generally, Switzerland does not release fugitives sought for extradition," the e-mail states. "The default in Switzerland is that a fugitive will be detained until s/he is either extradited or determined by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to be non-extraditable."

Polanski's offers of bail, house arrest and electronic monitoring failed to sway the tribunal. Even his chalet in the luxury resort of Gstaad was brushed aside as insufficient collateral to guard against Polanski fleeing the country.

"The appellant has already once in 1978 eluded American criminal proceedings by traveling to Europe," the Federal Criminal Court said in its 17-page verdict, adding that Polanski's transfer to the U.S. could also cause family trauma and cost investors millions of dollars in losses.

Polanski was accused of plying a 13-year-old girl with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill during a modeling shoot in 1977 and raping her. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy.

He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse and fled amid a legal dispute over his sentence.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Polanski wins $4.5M bail, house arrest likely

GENEVA - Roman Polanski has been granted $4.5 million bail, clearing the way for the fugitive director to move within days from a Swiss jail to house arrest and electronic monitoring at his Alpine resort chalet.

The justice minister said Wednesday she saw no reason to appeal the surprise decision by the Swiss Criminal Court. Polanski would have to remain in Switzerland as authorities assess whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in Los Angeles in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

Ministry spokesman Folco Galli said the final decision on transferring Polanski to his chalet in the Swiss resort of Gstaad would be made "quickly."

"The 76-year-old appellant is married and the father of two minors," the court said as it considered Polanski's offer of a cash bail secured by his apartment in Paris. "It can be assumed that as a responsible father he will, especially in view of his advanced age, attach greater importance to the financial security of his family than a younger person."

The court said Polanski would be subjected to "constant electronic surveillance" at his chalet and an alarm would be activated if he leaves the premises or takes off the bracelet, adding that the filmmaker was still viewed as a high flight risk.

Polanski's lawyers Lorenz Erni in Zurich, Herve Temime in Paris and Chad Hummel in Los Angeles declined to comment. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office also had no reaction, spokeswoman Shiara Davila-Morales said.

The decision came as a surprise after a series of setbacks for the director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown" and "The Pianist."

The Justice Ministry ordered Polanski arrested Sept. 26 as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival.

Swiss legal experts had said earlier that Polanski's chances of bail were slim, and even U.S. authorities expressed confidence that a Swiss court wouldn't grant his release.

The court last month rejected Polanski's first bail offer of his Gstaad chalet as collateral, which the director claimed made up more than half of his personal wealth and would definitely guard against his flight because he has two children he must support through school.

The court demanded cash instead, and this time looked favorably on Polanski's offer of a bank guarantee and the threat of sacrificing his family's home if he fled justice.

"Cash is king," said Peter Cosandey, a former Zurich prosecutor. Still, he said he could "hardly remember a case where bail is granted to someone who isn't even a full-time Swiss resident."

A decision on extraditing Polanski to Los Angeles is still pending, and would also be subject to appeals.

For the duration of the procedures, it appears Polanski will be confined to his $1.6 million chalet surrounded by snowcapped peaks on the outskirts of Gstaad, one of the most exclusive winter resorts in the world. Celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Roger Moore have called the town home, and it remains popular with celebrities and royalty.

Polanski was accused of raping the 13-year-old girl after plying her with champagne and a Quaalude pill during a modeling shoot in 1977. He was initially indicted on six felony counts, including rape by use of drugs, child molesting and sodomy.

Polanski pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful sexual intercourse. In exchange, the judge agreed to drop the remaining charges and sentence him to prison for a 90-day psychiatric evaluation. The evaluator released Polanski after 42 days, but the judge said he was going to send him back to serve out the 90 days.

Polanski then fled the country on Feb. 1, 1978, the day he was to be sentenced and has lived in France since.

Polanski claims the judge and prosecutors acted improperly. A California appeals court will listen to oral arguments from his attorneys next month. They will be urging the court to order a lower court to decide whether to dismiss charges against the fugitive director, whether he is present or not.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Roman Polanski addresses extradition
Director asks 'to be treated fairly' in website post
Source: Hollywood Reporter

PARIS -- Filmmaker Roman Polanski, breaking a months-long silence, said Sunday the U.S. is demanding his extradition from Switzerland on a 33-year-old sex case largely to serve him "on a platter to the media."

Polanski, who is under house arrest in his Alpine Swiss chalet, laid out his case against extradition on an online magazine run by one of his staunchest supporters, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

"I have had my share of dramas and joys, as we all have, and I am not going to try to ask you to pity my lot in life," he wrote. "I ask only to be treated fairly like anyone else."

Polanski suggests the case against him is unjust and riddled with discrepancies. Each argument begins with the phrase: "I can remain silent no longer."

One of Polanski's complaints is that Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, "who is handling this case and has requested (the) extradition, is himself campaigning for election and needs media publicity!" Cooley is running for California attorney general.

Swiss authorities are trying to decide whether to extradite Polanski to Los Angeles for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski was arrested seven months ago as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award at a film festival. The Oscar-winning director of "Rosemary's Baby," "Chinatown," "The Pianist" and more recently "The Ghost Writer" was put behind bars for more than two months before being transferred on $4.5 million bail to house arrest in the luxury resort of Gstaad.

Polanski wrote in the online magazine, La Regle du jeu, that he had mortgaged his apartment to pay the bail.

He added: "I can no longer remain silent because the United States continues to demand my extradition more to serve me on a platter to the media of the world than to pronounce a judgment concerning which an agreement was reached 33 years ago."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

MacGuffin

Swiss refuse to extradite Polanski
Director set free from house arrest in chalet
Source: Variety

BERLIN -- Switzerland released Roman Polanski from house arrest on Monday after deciding not to extradite the director to the U.S. to face sentencing for having unlawful sex with a teenager over three decades ago, Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said on Monday.

"He is a free man," Widmer-Schlumpf told a news conference in the Swiss capital city of Berne, adding Polanski had been released at 11:30 a.m. local time. "He can go to France, or to Poland, anywhere where he will not be arrested."

Polanski, 76, was still at his mountain chalet in the ski town of Gstaad, where he had been held under house arrest. Widmer-Schlumpf said the foot bracelet that was used to monitor his movements had been switched off.

Polanski won a best director Oscar for his moving portrait of life in the Warsaw Jewish ghetto of World War II in "The Pianist."

"This is not about qualifying a crime," the Justice Minister told reporters. "That is not our duty. This is not about deciding on guilt or innocence."

She said the U.S. could appeal this decision but added she did not expect that would happen.

The release came after months of uncertainty -- and heightened international media attention -- over whether Polanski would have to return to the U.S. He was arrested in September 2009 as he arrived in Zurich to get a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival.

Polanski's lawyer Herve Temime expressed his delight over the Swiss move. "It's an enormous satisfaction and a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family," Temime said.

Polanski's arrest had prompted an outcry in the global film industry and especially in France, where he has been a long-time resident.

Polanski, who holds dual French and Polish citizenship, was put under house arrest in December 2009 at his chalet in luxury ski resort Gstaad, while Swiss officials awaited the outcome of U.S. legal proceedings.

Polanski pleaded guilty to having sex with the girl but fled the U.S. on the eve of his 1978 sentencing because he believed a judge might overrule his plea.

He has lived in Europe since with the prospect of arrest looming if returned to the U.S. as he continued his film career outside Hollywood.

Polanski completed his latest film "The Ghost," based on the Robert Harris best-seller, while under arrest in Switzerland.

Before Widmer-Schlumpf's news conference, the Swiss Justice Ministry issued a statement on Polanski's release that said: "The reason for the decision lies in the fact that it was not possible to exclude with the necessary certainty a fault in the U.S. extraditionary request."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

wilder

Slated Announces Inaugural Polanski & 'Seagull' Projects
via Deadline

Online film investment site Slated announced today that they have helped raise financing for a modern retelling of Anton Chekov's The Seagull and a follow-up to the Emmy-winning documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired. First announced at the Sundance Film Festival this year, Slated seeks to link up experienced and vetted filmmakers with investors to help indie movies secure financing. Partially funded via Slated, Christian Camargo's adaption of Anton Chekov's The Seagull marks The Hurt Locker actor's directorial debut. The film stars William Hurt, Katie Holmes and Allison Janney. Seagull is scheduled to start shooting in the next few months in upstate New York. Juliet Rylance is producing along with the New Globe Theater's Barbara Romer. Ed Vassallo is co-producer. The other film on Slated's slate is Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out. The documentary is director Marina Zenovich's follow-up to her 2008 Emmy-winning HBO film Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired. The new film chronicles the Oscar winning director's successful 2010 battle to avoid extradition in to the U.S. to face charges stemming from a 1977 sexual assault of a minor. Lila Yacoub produces Odd Man Out with Steven Soderbergh and Randy Wooten as executive producers. Co-founded by Duncan Cork, Stephan Paternot, William Mapother and Gavan Gravesen, Slated claims that they have investors with more than $100 million in capital to put into films that meet the site's criteria.

wilder

Roman Polanski To Helm 'D,' Based On The Dreyfus Affair Political Scandal
via Deadline

PARIS, FRANCE / LOS ANGELES, CA – May 9 , 2012 — Roman Polanski announced today that his next feature film project will be the political thriller "D," based on the Dreyfus affair, one of the most sensational political scandals and miscarriages of justice in history.

"D" reunites the team behind Polanski's 2010 award-winning movie The Ghost Writer. Polanski will direct from a screenplay written by Robert Harris, with long-time Polanski collaborators Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde serving as producers. The independently financed film will begin casting shortly and currently plans to be in production in Paris by the end of this year. Lionsgate/Summit International will represent the film's international sales. ICM will represent North American rights.

"I have long wanted to make a film about the Dreyfus Affair, treating it not as a costume drama but as a spy story," said Polanski. "In this way one can show its absolute relevance to what is happening in today's world – the age-old spectacle of the witch-hunt of a minority group, security paranoia, secret military tribunals, out-of-control intelligence agencies, governmental cover-ups, and a rabid press."

In December 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, one of the few Jewish officers on the General Staff of the French Army, was subjected to a secret court martial for passing secrets to the Germans. Found guilty, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Devil's Island.

However, the man charged with making sure Dreyfus never returned – Colonel Georges Picquart, the newly-appointed head of French counter-intelligence – gradually began to realize a huge mistake had been made and the real traitor was still at large. His attempts to prove it led him into a direct clash with his superiors. Picquart himself was then framed for crimes he had not committed and sent to prison.

It was to be twelve years before Dreyfus was eventually cleared of all charges. By then, the case had become one of the most talked-about events in the world.