The Tenant
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Movie Reviews of The Tenant
Movie Review: Wishing you good mental health
Summary: 5 Stars
I rarely get confused after finishing a movie or when trying to consider it in a small conversation with other viewers. This one really confused me.The film is about solitude of a human being in a tough world, beautifully describing how easy you may plunge in mayhem, without drawing the compassion of any person. Hence, the final act that you would commit might eventually -and falsely- draw the loathing of others, as a last and unique gesture of compassion.
There is no real scenario in the film; it is made of sequenced sketches picturing the life of very ordinary person. There is a suicide of a beautiful girl, to reach her deformed body and pathetic end on the bed of the hospital. There is another beautiful girl, who chooses to keep running, like burning time will give you a lighter pain. There is a friend, with strong attitude and confidence, but his non-human approach is not an idol. Finally, there is the principal character pushed by this great emptiness to... anything available.
Yet, you are anxious to reach the extent where the blow of all the frustration is coming: being the end of the mayhem (Polanski choose a violent death in this case). And albeit everything was presented in a tragic way, you still have a comic feeling about silliness, a silliness that unfortunately may end by a death.
It was possible to avoid that death, by finding a suitable and ordinary lover, a nice neighbor or an understanding friend that can give you time; but the movie was picturing the extremist, the status where the human soul couldn't make it.
This movie is almost identical with Taxi Driver; however, the reaction of the frustrated human took a different, more optimistic -yet more American- phase there.
It is one of the rare movies that strongly motivate you, get you scared of what could happen or confidence that you are "doing well". Do not miss it.
Movie Review: Outstanding, but be warned -- also quite odd
Summary: 5 Stars
When this film came out in 1976, critical reaction was strongly negative. Only one writer I can recall -- Penelope Gilliatt in the New Yorker magazine -- had the insight to see beyond the general weirdness, focusing on the title character's increasing paranoia and alienation. The film could be seen, ultimately, about a man being divorced from his home country, from his friends, from his identity -- even from his gender.
The unnerving plot gets underway when a man named Trelkovsky, played disarmingly by Polanski, moves into a creepy Parisian apartment building, occupying a flat in which the previous tenant committed suicide. Trelkovsky gradually grows suspicious that some of his disgruntled, crabby neighbors would like to see him do the same thing. Part of the unsettling nature of this film is created by the director's skill in methodically escalating the plot, bit by excruciating bit.
In addition to Polanski, the outstanding cast includes Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Shelley Winters and Isabelle Adjani, all seemingly having a great time with a story that is mesmerizing, but granted, may be just too exasperatingly strange for some. The high production values include gorgeous, moody photography by the great Sven Nykvist (who often photographed for Ingmar Bergman), and an appropriately eerie score by Philippe Sarde. The DVD transfer is beautifully clear.
And then we come to the bizarre, shocking last half-hour or so, and without giving away any of the details, suffice to say that it shows Polanski in a way that few have seen him. For all the attention that "Chinatown" gave this director in 1974, this film, coming two years later, is just as striking in a completely different vein.
Movie Review: Appreciation comes only when viewed as a psycology thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not a fan of the genre, but I think most viewers did not approach the film "The Tenant" for truly what it is: a psychological thriller. Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) suffers from schizophrenic psychosis and yearns to be a female. Simone is his Id and he turns into Simone at night where he goes to the bar next door and buys Marlboro cigarettes and hot chocolate, etc. In the day, he buys men's cigarettes (Gaulloise) and drinks dark coffee. The moment when he was standing with Stella early in the film and we get to see Simone's mouth is the moment when the director of the movie chooses to tell us what happened. This is the right interepretation: Simone and Roman Polanski are one and the same. People will enjoy the movie more when they see it this way and understand it as a double personality. Polanski playing as Simone did not commit the second suicide in the last scene within minutes after the first attempt, but rather there was a period of a few days that repairmen came and fixed the glass till a second suicide was attempted. Hence the tenants said "not again". Another detail is that Stella knows Simone and also knows Roman Polanski the man, she is a friend to both of them but she does not know they are the same person, till Roman Polanski gets to believe that she is "conspiring" against him with the other tenants and the landlord. Another hint is that viewers should accept that there is time-jumping in the film. Polanski as Simone now all bandaged and in the hospital is looking at Stella and Polanski the man in the last scene. It is really the same scene as in the beginning of the movie, only we see it for what it is, a schezophrenic character: Freud would love this movie!!Movie Review: BONE-CHILLING PSYCHOLOGICAL SHOCKER...
Summary: 5 Stars
Deliberately paced, ultimately gripping film about a seemingly nice, normal single man who moves into an apartment whose previous tenant, named Simone, committed suicide by jumping out the window. He meets her friend Stella (Isabelle Adjani) and finds himself unwittingly in the unfortunate girl's footsteps. Her brand of cigarettes, her favorite chocolate drink, her clothes and even her tooth (stuck in a hole in the wall) haunt him. No one seems to understand his concerns...least of all the difficult and bizarre tenants he's surrounded by who complain of his every move. He comes to believe it's a plot to drive him to suicide...like Simone. Roman Polanski (who co-wrote and also directed) is brilliant as Trelkovsky, the quiet tenant who's plunged into a nightmare that may or not be real. He's believable as an Everyman who suddenly finds himself alienated and in the grips of something he can't control. Is he going mad? Or is it...something else? Shelley Winters (as the concierge), Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet and Lila Kedrova as the other tenants contribute their considerable panache---making Trelkovsky's paranoic nightmare world even more sinister. A fascinating and haunting psychological journey that keeps you intrigued (and disturbed) right up until the final, bone-chilling scream. Not for every taste, but still "The Tenant" is pure cinema terror all the way. The DVD is a fine widescreen print that includes the original theatrical trailer. Even IT'S scary. Enjoy this macabre masterpiece. But I don't recommend watching it alone.Movie Review: Masterpiece Thriller
Summary: 5 Stars
If only today's mainstream horror/thriller movies could be as twisted as this. This movie is bizzare, I didn't really know what to expect from the description of the movie which said the movie was basically about a guy that rents an apartment where the previous occupant commited suicide.The main thing that drew me to this movie was that it was directed and starred Roman Polanski, who I've always heard good things about, (except for that pedophile incident he had, that's very bad). He plays a man who tries to be good and never means harm to anyone but his world turns upside down as soon as he gets hassled by his annoying neighbors. Later on he'll be lost in his mind, not knowing who to trust, except for his love interest, the friend of the girl that commited suicide which he meets at the hospital. Story, which is based on some novel, is great because it tells you about the tragedy of a man falling victim to an unfair world. You really see and feel how insane he goes with the good story pacing. Not too much freaky stuff was given in the beginning so the movie progressed well, leaving you with more of an impact from the pyschological mess the main character is in.
There's a few humorous parts but it's mostly dark and dramatic. I highly suggest this film for anyone that wants a horror film with depth. There isn't any gore or graphic violence, just a good old freaky story that will keep you on your seat wandering how the main character will react to all his thoughts, assuming you're not too impatient with story's pacing.