Starring: Roman Polański, Andrew Braunsberg
Directed by: Laurent Bouzereau
Rating: ★★★★☆
Based on an extended conversation between Roman Polański and his friend and producer Andrew Braunsberg during the filmmaker’s house arrest in Switzerland in 2009, Roman Polański: moje życie (Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir) has provided much deserved visibility for director Laurent Bouzereau. Probably one the hardest working directors in the business of DVD featurettes, Bouzereau was eventually given the chance to direct this documentary, filmed by Paweł Edelman, a regular contributor to Polański’s work since Oliver Twist (2005).
Genuine camaraderie was a prerequisite for Polański to open up in front of the camera, especially since he was facing possible extradition to the US at the time. On a simple level, Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir is about the friendship between Polański and Braunsberg, recounted in the here and now via a static camera. The interviewer sometimes comes to the fore, probably due to an excess of empathy that bursts onto the screen along with extensive footage from Polański’s filmography.
The controversial director recalls memories from his childhood in France and Poland with a harrowing candour that will surprise only the most ardent of moral crusaders. He recalls primordial sensations from his childhood, such as his parched lips after greedily drinking brine from a jar. Similarly, the scene in The Pianist (2002) in which Adrien Brody’s character desperately wolfs down pickled gherkins evokes the atrocities of war more effectively than any battle scene.
In Bouzereau’s feature, life and art are entangled in a jungle of cross-references as Polański lays himself bare without self-indulgence.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on August 23, 2012