Polanski - Softcover

Sandford, Christopher

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099486849 ISBN 13: 9780099486848

Publisher: Arrow, 2009

Synopsis

This in-depth examination of one of Hollywood’s most famous, and infamous, directors and stars is utterly absorbing.

Born in Paris to Polish-Jewish parents, Polanski dealt with the terrors of his childhood — including internment in Auschwitz — by creating an elaborate fantasy world in which he lived as a film star. He would go on to become one of the very best and most infamous directors in Hollywood’s history — with a backlist that includes Repulsion; Rosemary’s Baby; Macbeth; Chinatown; Tess; Frantic and, more recently, the Oscar– and Golden Globe–winning The Pianist. Yet it is within his personal life that the most dramatic story unfolds.

In August, 1969, his wife Sharon Tate, eight months pregnant, and seven of the couple’s friends were butchered by the Manson family. Polanski, the intended target, was in Paris at the time. Then, eight years later, he was arrested by LA police on charges of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. He fled the country and has since lived in exile in Paris. Polanski’s latest film was the hit Oliver Twist and, it is rumoured, he promises to follow it with his long-awaited version of the Tate killings. Both projects, dealing with child exploitation and murder, can only fuel the controversy that surrounds him.
This biography is the first chance his fans and detractors have had to read about him in real depth. It reveals the brilliant creativity, talent, self-destruction, sex, drugs and wild excesses, with names and stories told for the first time.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher Sandford has written about popular music and culture for twenty years for The Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Spectator and the New York Times, amongst others. His books have appeared on both the Sunday Times and the New York Times bestseller lists.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Early on the morning of 14 March 1943, the Krakow ghetto was finally liquidated. It was exactly a month since [Roman’s mother] Bula Polanski had disappeared; the destruction of families “one Jew at a time” was specifically encouraged in the German plan. [His father] Ryszard was able to smuggle Romek [Roman] out of the immediate area, [his friend] Stefan being left to his fate, before the SS came for him. From there the 9-year-old took to his heels, crossing Podgorze Bridge and riding the tram out of town to the [neighboring] Wilks, who happened to have been away. Unsure of what to do next, Romek doubled back to the bridge, where he found a column of men being marched off to the waiting trains. Among them was Ryszard.

        Romek came as close as he dared and gestured to his father. As the long line of prisoners went by, Ryszard was able to slip back through the ranks to a position furthest away from the guards. Like all the detainees, he had had his tie, belt, and shoelaces removed. It was standard procedure.

        For several seconds, the irregular-looking squad shuffled on in silence towards the wagons. Then Ryszard’s lips moved, though just barely, and he spoke in a voice so low that Romek had to strain to hear it from six feet away.

        “Zjezdzaj,” he said. “Get lost.”

...

                This was the backdrop at the time Romek Wilk, as he styled himself, went into permanent hiding in the spring of 1943. It was hard to say which was worse, the war situation or his own predicament. Either way, he was alone

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0099486849
• ISBN 13: 9780099486848
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496