Roman Polanski Box Set [DVD]

Knife in the Water (Noz w Wodzie, 1962) was Polanski's Oscar-nominated debut- detailing a young couple intersecting with a lone hitchhiker on a yacht. Predating Dead Calm (1989) by a few decades &, like Hitchcock, there is a sense of sex & violence lurking beneath the surface. A bold debut & the kind of thriller that is sadly not seen these days **** Repulsion (1965) saw Polanski come to the UK, personally I think this is his strongest film, just pipping Chinatown (1974) in the masterpiece stakes. Here Catherine Deneuve plays a lone Belgian manicurist in swinging London, slowly going insane & drifting into psychopathic behaviour- somewhere between Blow Up (1966) & JG Ballard's book The Atrocity Exhibition (1968) in tone. Elements are shared with Hitchcock (notably Psycho) and later films such as Night of the Living Dead, Shivers (which has a not unsimilar hands through walls scene), Hellraiser (taking back men to kill)& parts of David Lynch- notably Mulholland Drive. The dialogue & plot are minimal, the film relies on atmosphere and imagery- disturbing, potent, surreal...Repulsion is, to quote JG Ballard, "Kafka reshot in the style of Psycho". Polanski's masterpiece, a cerebral horror film that might be locked into a period but remains timeless ***** The final film in this set is Cul-De-Sac(1966), the last film he made in Europe prior to moving to Hollywood to make films like The Fearless Vampire Killers & Rosemary's Baby. Polanski has often cited this as his favourite film- there is more than a hint of Harold Pinter (The Dumb Waiter, The Birthday Party) here- a black comedy with gangsters and cross-dressing in! The performances are great, notably from Donald Pleasance & Catherine Deneuve's sister, the late Francoise Dorleac. The film feels European and strange in tone- which is only something that recurs in Polanski's later work to a small degree (eg. the Kitty-nosecutting scene in Chinatown; Adjani in The Tenant) It's odd & absurd and endearing & is, in truth, almost brilliant ****

This DVD boxset is a great primer in Roman Polanski, each of the films are well worth watching, though perhaps it's the short-films that are the most interesting (these three films have been on VHS before, Cul&Repulsion both budget priced VHS-videos). A wonderful set & evidence of how great DVD's can be when put together with something more than just a few offcuts and lame interviews/commentaries, prior to a two-disc "definitive" set within the year, with more chuff etc.