1976 ‘Le locataire’ Directed by Roman Polanski
A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in France where the previous tenant committed suicide, and begins to suspect his landlord and neighbors are trying to subtly change him into the last tenant so that he too will kill himself.
Roman Polanski Isabelle Adjani Melvyn Douglas Bernard Fresson Shelley Winters Gérard Jugnot Josiane Balasko Raoul Guylad Lila Kedrova Jo Van Fleet Claude Piéplu Rufus Romain Bouteille Jacques Monod Patrice Alexsandre Jean-Pierre Bagot Jacky Cohen Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu André Penvern Albert Delpy Louba Guertchikoff Claude Dauphin
L'inquilino del terzo piano, El inquilino, 테넌트, Жилец
Wanted to revisit this film (after not having watched in over 30 years) for Sven Nykvist's incredible work. Every shot is gorgeous. And production design by Pierre Guffroy (The Unbearable Lightness of Being) is so rich in detail. I see fewer and fewer modern films achieving this level of craft.
Part of Hoop-Tober
“What if she gets better?” “Don’t worry, she won’t get better.”
Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. If my cat’s reaction to my Dyson is any indication, this axiom is unimpeachably true. The maxim is usually attributed to Aristotle (in the appealingly macabre form of “horror vacui”), who believed that any theoretical void would be filled by surrounding material, instantly wiping it out. Nothing—the absence of something—cannot really exist, for something will always take nothing’s place.
This ancient principle underlies Roman Polanski’s The Tenant, the third and final entry in his so-called “Apartment Trilogy” (after Repulsion and Rosemary’s Baby). Each of the trilogy's films brilliantly explores the disadvantages and incipient paranoia of close-quarters city dwelling (paranoia…
I'm so tired of crossdressing being depicted as a sign of insanity. How would you like it if every fucking film you watched had, I dunno what you are, but whatever you are as a sign of insanity? Fucking hell.
October count: 26/31.
Roman Polanski's The Tenant builds a myriad of psychological layers around the director cast in the role of Trelkovsky. It is a film often grouped together with Rosemary's Baby and Repulsion under the 'apartment trilogy' banner although this film develops into far more mysterious and complicated film than the other two.
His decision to cast himself as the films protagonist is an odd one given his lack of prominence infront of the lens previously. Only twelve months later he would face a life defining moment with accusations of rape reshaping his artistic approach. As such it is suggested that The Tenant is heavily autobiographical.
Polanski makes it crystal clear that this timid newcomer to the building is struggling to remain…
An intricately plotted & skilfully layered study of urban paranoia & mental disintegration, the third & final entry in Roman Polanski's Apartment Trilogy is a highly ambiguous & utterly mystifying psychological thriller that utilises all the elements prevalent in the previous entries of this unofficial trilogy but may also polarise its viewers due to its drowsy pace & lack of transparency.
The Tenant (also known as Le Locataire) tells the story of a quiet, timid & inconspicuous man who moves into a Parisian apartment after its previous occupant commits suicide but soon finds himself being unreasonably reprimanded by his landlord & neighbours and begins suspecting that they are all plotting a scheme to transform him into the last tenant so that he too will follow her fate.…
Can outside context ruin a movie? Maybe, maybe not.
But damn does Polanski tread some damn thin ice here.
The Tenant has seriously shaken my faith in Roman Polanski as a filmmaker. The film is immaculately shot, scored, designed, with (almost) fine performances across the board, but all this craftsmanship is at the service of a story so dumb it's impossible to believe it could have been part-dreamt up by the director of something as mature as The Pianist.
The third instalment in Polanski's "Apartment Trilogy", it makes you wonder why he bothered continuing to make horror films after the unrepeatable artistic success of Rosemary's Baby. The plot centres on Trelkovsky, played by Polanski himself, who rents a flat in Paris that was previously occupied by a young woman, Simone Choule, who has lately killed…
Hooptober6 – mosQuito-thewinged-dragon-serpent #46
Rule 4: Films whose year ends in '6' - eighth of twelve
What is it about Polanski films that gives them such a rarefied atmosphere? It's not like they are artsy in an overt way - they just seem slightly better crafted than normal films.
I had never seen The Tenant, and I was unsure how I would respond to Polanski himself playing the lead role - I had only ever seen him play small, cameo parts or comic relief. But his performance in this movie surprised the hell out of me - I think he's majestic. It's not an easy role either - he starts out as a slightly comical, introverted guy - a role…
the roomie had this on his netflix dvd queue so we watched it and honestly didnt expect the bizarre gender narratives by the end
dont get me wrong, i've liked roman polanski films in the past, but this was NOT it lmfao, whew, i'm good luv, etc
É um belo trabalho sobre encarar a vida adulta, que tem como um dos pontos de partida o ato de ir morar só. Conseguir se encaixar nos círculos sociais do trabalho, da vizinhança, da namorada pode ser algo realmente enlouquecedor e é bom que seja o próprio Polanski a protagonizar essa história porque sua figura contrasta perfeitamente com a hostilidade dos outros personagens. Quanto mais emaranhado nas relações, mais insano ele fica e o seu desespero em se tornar aquilo que esperam que ele se torne é algo bastante familiar.
This little freak knows how to direct a movie, you simply gotta hand it to him.
Definitely lacks the broader appeal of his best known stuff, but I’m a little surprised to find so many contemporary critics panned this one. It’s exceptionally well made and wears its highbrow influences on its sleeve in a way that I thought would appeal to critics. Maybe the iffy dubbing threw them, or the cross dressing. That part may be problematic now, I have no clue. Either way this is nearly as refined and suspenseful as Rosemarys and worth checking out if you have a tolerance for the strange.
Roman Polanski becomes a polymath (director, actor, crossdresser, antisocial douche, you name it) in two hours before VOGUE magazine made him become a nonce, or he, himself, became a nonce.
It's about time he inserted himself as a paranoid insecure man instead of the recurring tragic female characters (e.g. Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Cul-de-sac) in the plot
Extra marks: Bruce Lee goes without saying
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Pessimistic worldviews. For when you want to wallow in despair.
It doesn't matter if we all die.
Suggestions welcome.
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