Encyclopedia of French Film Directors

832 • POLANSKI, ROMAN
1980 La Sourde Oreille (also screenwriter, dialogist)
1981 Le Beau Monde (also screenwriter, dialogist)
POLANSKI, ROMAN (Raymond Polanski / August
18, 1933, Paris, France–)
He was born to Polish-Jewish parents who returned
to Poland and settled in Cracow in 1936. In 1939, his
family was arrested by the Nazis. His mother died in
a concentration camp, and his father returned only
after the liberation of Poland. He made his acting
debut playing in a radio program devoted to children
(1946). Onstage since 1948, he appeared as an actor
in many movies (1953 Trzy opowiesci, segment
“Jacek,” Konrad Nalecki, Poland; 1955 Zaczarowany
rower, Silik Sternfeld, Poland; Godzina bez slonca, short,
Pawel Komorowski, Poland; Pokolonie / UK and USA:
A Generation, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1956 Nikodem
Dyzma, uncredited, Jan Rybkowski, Poland; 1957
Wraki, Eva Petelska, Czeslaw Petelski, Poland; Koniec
nocy, also asssitant director, Julian Dziedzina, Pawel
Komorowski, Walentyna Uszycka, Poland; 1958 Co
rekne zena? / Zadzwoncie do mojej zony, Jaroslav Mach,
Halina Garus, Lech Lorentowicz, Frantisek Matousek,
Jerzy Passendorfer, Elishka Vojtova, Marian Zietkiewicz,
Poland; 1959 Lotna, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1960 Do
widzenia, do jutra, Janusz Morgenstern, Poland; Zezowate
szczescie / USA: Bad Luck, also assistant director,
Andrzej Munk, Poland; Niewinni czarodzieje, Andrzej
Wajda, Poland; 1961 Ostroznie, Yeti!, Andrzej Czekalski,
Poland; Samson, Andrzej Wajda, Poland; 1969 The Magic
Christian, Joseph MacGrath, UK; 1974 Dracula cerca
sangue di vergine . . . e mori di sette!!! / Dracula vuole
vivere: Cerca sangue di vergine! / Du Sang pour Dracula
/ UK: Blood for Dracula / USA: Andy Warhol’s Dracula,
Paul Morrissey, Antonio Margheriti, Italy / France;
1982 Chassé-croisé, medium-length, Arielle Dombasle;
1989 En attendant Godot, TV, Walter D. Asmus; 1992
Back to the U.S.S.R., Deran Sarafi an, USA / Japan; 1994
Una pura formalità / Une Pure Formalité / USA: A Pure
Formality, Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy / France; Grosse
Fatigue, as himself, Michel Blanc; 2000 Hommage à
Alfred Lepetit, documentary, short, Jean Rousselot;
2002 Zemsta / USA: The Revenge, Andrzej Wajda, Poland;
2007 Rush Hour, Brett Ratner, USA / Germany;
2008 Caos Calmo, Anton Giulio Grimaldi, Italy). Having
trained at the Lodz fi lm school, which he entered in
1953, he began fi lming shorts in 1955. Also a screenwriter
for other fi lmmakers (1964 Aimez-vous les
Femmes? / UK: Do You Like Women? / USA: A Taste for
Women, Jean Léon; 1965 Love Story, TV series, episode
“The Girl Opposite,” Lionel Harris, UK; 1968 La Fille
d’en Face, as co-screenwriter, co-dialogist, Jean-Daniel
Simon; 1970 A Day at the Beach, as screenwriter,
adapter, dialogist, producer, Simon Hesera, UK; 1971
Le Bateau sur l’Herbe / USA: The Boat on the Grass, as
co-screenwriter, Gérard Brach), he produced a few
movies (G.G. Passion, short, David Bailey, UK; 1972 Afternoon
of a Champion / Weekend of a Champion, documentary,
Frank Simon, UK; 1999 Castelnuovo, Stefano
Salvati, Italy) and appeared as himself in several documentaries,
including Ciao, Fédérico! (medium-length,
Gideon Bachman, Italy / USA / Sweden, 1971) and
L’Envers du Décor: Portrait de Pierre Guffroy (documentary,
Robert Salis, 1992). He won an Oscar for best
director and the Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm
in 2003 for The Pianist. Autobiography: 1984 Roman
(Editions Robert Laffont; published in USA by William
Morrow & Co). His three wives—Barbara Lass
(1940–1995 / married from 1959 to 1962), Sharon
Tate (1943–1969 / married from 1968 to her murder
in 1969), and Emmanuelle Seigner (b. 1966 / married
since 1989)—were or are actresses.
Filmography
1955 Rower (short; also screenwriter, actor; Poland)
1957 Usmiech zebiczny / UK: A Toothful Smile / USA:
Teeth Smile (short; Poland)
Rozbijemy zabawe . . . (short; also screenwriter,
dialogist, Poland)
Morderstwo / USA: A Murderer / Murder (short;
Poland)
1958 Dwaj ludzie szafa / UK and USA: Two Men and
a Wardrobe (short; also screenwriter; Poland)
1959 Lampa / USA: The Lamp (short; also screenwriter,
actor; Poland)
Gdy spadaja anioly / UK: When Angels Fall /
USA: When Angels Fall Down . . . (short; also
screenwriter, actor; Poland)
1961 Le Gros et le Maigre / UK and USA: The Fat and
the Lean (short; also screenwriter, producer,
actor)
1962 Noz w wodzie / USA: Knife in the Water (also
co-screenwriter; Poland)
1963 Ssaki / USA: Mammals (short; also co-screenwriter;
Poland)
1964 Les plus belles Escroqueries du Monde / Le più
belle truffe del mondo / De Wereld wil bedrogen
worden / UK: The Beautiful Swindlers / USA: The
World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers (segment “La