Cherished Cinema

The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976)

Hello all.

This is the closing entry into the Horror Project and I have had a blast throughout. The Tenant was one of the stranger films of the entire project, with an eerily creepy Polanski playing the lead. The third of the so-called “Apartment Trilogy” is unfortunately the weakest of the three but far from a bad film. It is also the longest, contains the least amount of dialogue, and also is the only of the three with a “male” lead. If you have not seen the film, then I urge you to watch it prior to reading this review.

I put male in quotes above due to the fact that Polanski’s character is definitely not a firm symbol of masculinity and that the film’s climax comes about when he begins dressing like a woman. So again, the viewer is subjected to problems with a feminine character and that character’s sanity. The three films of the “Apartment Trilogy” are strikingly similar but I am inclined to say that The Tenant is most like Repulsion and that Rosemary’s Baby certainly stands on its own.

In these films, Polanski brilliantly constructs the apartment and gives a clear view/understanding of what is inside and how it changes who is inside. In this film, the viewer is made aware of the fact that the apartment is tiny, without many things, and clearly has thin walls (the problem of noise is central to the story). Also, each of the apartments is acquired on bizarre terms. In Repulsion, it is the lead character’s sister’s apartment where in Rosemary’s Baby the apartment was made available through the death of an elderly woman. In The Tenant, the apartment is acquired through an attempted suicide and the eventual death of the former tenant after a visit from Polanski.

This is one of the few films of Polanski’s that I have never seen (one of the others is going to be featured on an upcoming project) and I was glad I finally watched it. I am well aware of Polanski’s problems within society but it is near-impossible to take away the fact that he is an outstanding director. He is a clear perfectionist at heart and his films are beautiful displays of this notion. Tomorrow, you all will get an introduction to the next project and we will continue from there.

Thank you for reading!