Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Rajmund Roman Thierry Polański, known professionally as Roman Polanski, is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer, and actor. Having made films in Poland, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers". Born in Paris to Polish parents, he moved with his family back to Polandin 1937, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He survived the Holocaust, was educated in Poland, and became a director of both art house...
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth18 August 1933
CityParis, France
If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But f-ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f- young girls. Juries want to f- young girls. Everyone wants to f- young girls!
Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too. Now go ahead and ask me if I'm still Polish. You people keep asking me this question. You want Polish artists to make it in the world, but when they do, you accuse them of treason.
I did not have a reputation to defend.
Normal love isn't interesting. I assure you that it's incredibly boring.
I know that atmosphere of the Parisian apartment building, with the twin menaces of the concierge on the ground floor and the landlord upstairs.
I can only say that whatever my life and work have been, I'm not envious of anyone-and this is my biggest satisfaction.
I still had some honor... I still have some now.
In Paris, one is always reminded of being a foreigner. If you park your car wrong, it is not the fact that it's on the sidewalk that matters, but the fact that you speak with an accent.
I don't really know what is shocking. When you tell the story of a man who is beheaded, you have to show how they cut off his head. If you don't, it's like telling a dirty joke and leaving out the punch line.
My films are the expression of momentary desires. I follow my instincts, but in a disciplined way.
The torches ran off, and I found myself in a forest, at night, without any light, on skis, and that was not fun - particularly because I was drunk. Luckily at some point I started to see the light of the ski lift. To be in the forest in the middle of the night, it's terrible.
Some experience is helpful. "The Pianist" was a film that I could make with my eyes closed because I had lived it and everything was still alive in me.
I consider myself more a craftsman than an artist.
I don't know anyone who is not using drugs for the reason that they're illegal.