The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976)

"I am not Simone Choule!"

Introduction

The key to unlocking the 'Apartment' trilogy is knowing that the three films work hand in hand. Themes intertwine and connect; ideas weave between each film and complement each other. My visit to the BFI recently informed me of the psychological element to the series - a Freudian analysis dictated that The Tenant explored themes of repressed homosexuality within the lead character or Trelkovsky. The film is not an easy watch, and reading before or after a viewing will thoroughly inform you and ensure that the subtleties and themes expressed come to the fore - because otherwise it will play out as a strange story about a cross-dressing tenant losing their mind. Indeed, there is much more to The Tenant.

The Last 'Apartment' Film

As the closing act to the 'Apartment' trilogy, it is worth reflecting on the three films including Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant. All portray lead character who, we see their slow descent into a type of madness. The apartments in each film portray an enclosed space that becomes a place that limits their outlook - forcing the characters to become more introspective and lose their grasp on reality as they obsess and reflect on their own insecurities. Repulsion portrays Carol, the virgin who fears men and the sexual-attitudes; Rosemary's Baby portrays Rosemary, the hip New Yorker who fears that the baby growing inside her has a more sinister-side she is yet to witness; The Tenant portrays Trelkovsky, the Polish tenant who fears the apartment he lives within as the neighbours complain and moans about the slightest noise he makes.

In Repulsion, the neighbours are only seen fleetingly as they indirectly witness Carol within the house until the finale and they all witness her self-destruction. In Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant the neighbours become a larger role as in the former the neighbours are the Satanists who are too kind and too supportive of the unborn child whilst the latter shows every neighbour as a menace, each complaining about Trelkovsky's noises and reminding how much of an inconvenience he is. Polanski clearly intends the films to be symbolic - and this is most apparent in The Tenant as on the surface the story is too strange to be taken literally. Repulsion could be simplified to depict a woman slowly losing her mind and Rosemary's Baby could be simplified to depict a woman giving birth to Satan. The Tenant is more difficult - a man finding it difficult to blend in? A man who is secretly obsessed with transvestism? A man who slowly begins to believe he is someone else? This is a film that, as the Egyptian hieroglyphs clearly demonstrate, is meant to be symbolic. The question therefore is what is attempting to symbolise?

Family Problems

My own theory on the trilogy is rooted in the importance and influential nature of family. What defines hereditary illness and the impact of abuse within the family unit. Polanski has never been keen to use his own upbringing as an excuse to define the pessimism in his films, but the parrallels between The Pianist and The Tenant are more than mere coincidence. A "persecuted man locked inside an apartment, obliged to keep silent out of mortal terror from the neighbours, living or dying on the basis of whom he chooses to trust" writes Maximilian Le Cain in his essay Into the Mouth of Madness: The Tenant. He writes of a further parrallel as both characters use a window as a means to potentially kill themselves.

With this in mind, key photographs of family members are used throughout the trilogy - and in Rosemary's Baby, the film itself is about the beginning of a family unit. The single family photograph that depicts the detached-gaze of Carole is used throughout the film and noted in the final shot, hinting at an abusive family that may have influenced her actions in adulthood. In The Tenant, we see Trelkovsky set up his family portraits as one of the first actions when he moves into his flat - and, when staying with Stella, it is her family pictures that strike a chord as Trelkovsky physically rips the images in half, throwing the pictures across her flat and destroying her apartment. His own insecurities and lack of confidence may be rooted in his own upbringing - and his destruction of Stella's family album may tease an envious attitude that Trelkovsky desires. Even the couple who live alongside Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby and the older couple who own the apartment Trelkovsky lives within almost take on a parental role. Akin to parents scolding their child for minor misdemenours, Mr Zy seems to believe it is his role to dictate what Trelkovsky can and cannot do - it would not be unexpected if Mr Zy told Trelkovsky off witht he final words "when you have your own house, you can make as much noise as you want". The scream that Choule lets out, (clearly homaged in The Usual Suspects as the lone survivor shouts "Keyser Soze!") could represent the ongoing frustration of those born into a family that corrupts and changes you - you can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.

The three films together all explore the influence your upbringing has. The abusive Father in Repulsion; the corrupted and destructive marriage the baby has been born into in Rosemary's Baby and the relentless expectations forced upon Trelkovsky all explain the multitude of issues that adults often hold. And yet, as we know little of the families within each film - or in the case of Rosemary's Baby, we only see the outcome of the family unit at the end - there is an unspoken element. Despite the influence of the family... it is also the one element of our lives that we all feel uncomfortable discussing.

Sexuality

Mary Wild explained in her discussion Projections at the BFI that the undercurrent to The Tenant is Trelkovsky's repressed sexuality. That the film portrays him uncomfortable with women throughout - the only character he is close to, and is comfortable touching is a male character. Trelkovsky represses his sexuality and it manifests itself in the character of Simone Chule instead - a feminine woman with long hair, make-up and a sexy dress. Though I can appreciate Wild's interpretation, I am wary to make a clear judgement on the filmmakers attitude to this.

It seems like a naive assumption that transvestism and homosexuality is inextricably linked. In addition to this, any interpretation that Trelkovsky is going mad seems to associate insanity with homosexuality too. In both cases, whether this interpretation is true, it seems simple at best and insulting at worst. Even the poster hints at such 'deviant' acts as horrific: "something altogether new, altogether chilling". Personally, there is moment whereby Trelkovsky kisses Stella and, this moment, seems to indicate at heterosexual attitude - and his behaviour following this moment does seem to temper his transformation into Simone Chule. Having said that, the character Georges Badar does seem strangely out of place - and the few words this character states all have a strange tone. There is clearly something extra between Trelkovsky and Badar - but I'm not convinced that Trelkovsky is reciprocating any feelings towards Badaer. Could it be that Badar simply seems attracted to Trelkovsky as he has an emotional attachment to Simone Chule, the spirit that resides within Trelkovsky?

Symbolic

The Tenant is not an easy-watch - and I would not recommend this as a first viewing. It truly is the final part of a three-film series so it is essential to watch Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby, if only for the conversations afterwards that accentuate the multiple layers within the films. The Tenant clearly has multiple layers and they are not easy to grasp - especially on a first viewing. But this is clearly the point Polanski is making - that cinema is so much more than a passing-of-time. Cinema is deeply personal, and the links with The Pianist, give the indication that the entire concept of the 'Apartment' trilogy has connections to much more personal elements of Polanski's life than he lets on. The casting of himself in the lead role is also key - as it begs the question of how much of Trelkovsky is there in Polanski? Maybe the confines of Hollywood, represented by the apartment, and the pressures placed upon him in America has fed into his work - The Tenant was made two years after Chinatown and it was his final film before the fateful event that would ensure he never worked in America again. Maybe that was exactly what he wanted.

Projections: A Psychoanalysis of Polanski's Apartment Trilogy @BFI

In London we are privileged to have a broad range of activities that involve cinema. This particular treat at the British Film Institute is one example of something that would be difficult to access anywhere else in Britain outside of Universities.

Mary Wild, situated within the new BFI Reuben Library, led a talk and consequent discussion on Roman Polanski's 'Apartment' trilogy, comprised of Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant. My own recent viewing of Repulsion was fresh in my mind, whilst Rosemary's Baby has stayed in my mind ever since I watched the film a couple of years ago. The Tenant, on the other hand, I have yet to see and I am keen to watch it (and analyse it here on Flickering Myth) when I visit the BFI on January 30th.

Mary Wild begun her discussion explaining the Freudian psychoanalytical interpretation she was due to apply to each of Polanski's films - focusing on the key, lead characters in each; Carol in Repulsion, Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby and finally Trelkovsky in The Tenant. Each character analysed in this manner, reveals that they each hold underlying, subconscious urges and desires that are repressed and therefore manifest themselves in a different manner.

Wild managed to deconstruct all three films in the hour-and-a-half lecture and then drew parallels between all three films. It truly was a fascinating insight into each film - and will surely ensure that I perceive cinema, and crucially character-based films, in a different light in the future. In Rosemary's Baby, Wild highlighted how core the character of Guy truly is. Rather than merely a story of a difficult pregnancy, Wild managed to highlight how the pregnancy represented the growing awareness that Rosemary's married life is a sham - and that Guy was anything but a good husband. The dream-sequence in the film is a fascinating example of the Freud-connection, as it portrays Rosemary - often named 'Roe'/Row - on board an expensive yacht before she walks down, away from her life and into the bowels of her mind... revealing ritualistic and satanic acts.

This was only one element of one film that Mary Wild aptly explained - and it will change my own reading of the film in future. The night ended as she then analysed briefly the connection between Black Swan and the trilogy - specifically Repulsion. In my research for the Repulsion analysis I noted how Darren Aronovsky was inspired by Polanski - but I never knew how much. The recurring themes and almost shot-by-shot imitations show that these films were crucial in the making of Black Swan. In addition to this, Wild pointed out how important a scream mid-film combined with a finale that verges on performance is crucial in the Freudian reading as these moments portray the initial loss-of-mind and the eventual reveal, publicly, to others of the psychological trauma.

The beauty of cinema is within the multiple layers that reside within a film. To deconstruct characters and narrative so that you can reflect and consider how it applies to yourself and everyday life is what lifts cinema from mere entertainment. The BFI manage to present a way to "get inside the head" of Polanski and truly understand a series that you take away and consider, next, how this may reflect on society itself. The viscous cycle of child-abuse; the discrimination of homosexuality; the constraints of a false-marriage. These are real issues - and Polanski manages to delve deeper than merely highlighting the issue. He manages to show how destructive these attitudes truly are.

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

Roman Polanski remains a fascinating filmmaker to this day. Alongside Andrej Wajda and Jerzy Skolimowski, Polanski came to the fore in the late 1950’s in Poland. The BFI in London are screening all of Polanski’s films during January and February 2013 and through January, essays on separate films will be released on Flickering Myth in the hope that you too can join us in reflecting on Polanski’s diverse and ever-expanding career. Film essays will include Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac, Repulsion, Chinatown and The Tenant.

Introduction

As an interesting starting-point, it is worth noting that Night of the Living Dead filmmaker George A. Romero insists that Repulsion is the best Horror film of all-time. To support his claim, critic Bosley Crowther claimed it is an “absolute knockout” whilst other filmmakers, namely Darren Aronovsky, cites Repulsion as an influence (and it is clear in Black Swan how it has influenced Aronovsky).  The first of Polanski’s ‘Apartment’ trilogy (preceding Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant), it ensured Polanski would be taken more seriously across continents as Repulsion was his first English-language feature, and the fact that it made a “healthy box-office” secured financing for his next film, Cul-de-sac.

Repulsion tracks the slow, mounting madness in Carol (Catherine Deneuve), a single beautician who shares a flat with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux). From the outset, she is clearly an outcast – often staring into space, losing track of her surroundings and becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the advances of Colin (John Fraser) and the confident sexuality of her sisters married-lover Michael (Ian Hendry). Sister Helen and Michael decide to go on holiday to Italy, leaving Carol on her own – whereby her madness begins to take over her life. She is haunted by the prescence of a man in the flat – nightmares whereby he rapes her in bed. Hands stretch out from walls and Carol acts out irrationally, murdering men who attempt to seduce her.

Fear of Women

True to a recent article in Sight and Sound by Philip Horne, within the flat, Carol creates an environment that becomes grotesque – a rabbit is left to rot; a razorblade lingers in the background of scenes until the inevitable, shocking use of it. Repulsion doesn’t have the same social-conscience of Knife in the Water (Indeed, there is very little evidence to support such an interpretation) but the role of Carol, our scared-of-sex lead role is open to consideration. From male filmmakers, are they claiming that women who would turn down their advances are crazy? Are women who refrain from sex (Carol is mocked in the pub amongst Colin’s friends as a virgin) clearly missing a few cogs? Having said that, other than Colin, virtually all the other male characters are crude, sexist and sex-obsessed. The women who work alongside Carol additionally attest to the horrid attitudes of men. With this in mind, do we assume that Colin represents the rare occurrence of a man who is good – or is his singularity in the film an example of how unlikely a character truly is.

Carol’s madness is not seen as a mental-defect throughout the film - though Helen’s lover Michael does recommend medical help for her. This is a passing comment – and not the core of the film. Her increasing madness results in her attack on both the “good guy” Colin and the lecherous landlord (Patrick Wymark). Andrew Martin, in notes handed to viewers of the film at the BFI, writes that “Polanski asserts that the film is not… study of a sexual pathology, but is about … signs that someone among us is in crisis”. It is difficult, up unto that point, to agree with such a safe-interpretation. Doesn’t the unfaithful Husband Michael “save” her, almost heroically, as he carries her out in his arms? The only “good guy” is killed; aren’t we to assume he is foolish in pursuing such a “frigid” woman?  Everything argues that a fear of sex becomes a problem unto itself … until the final shot.

The Final Shot

Polanski, it seems, views this film as an example of someone in crisis. It begs the question – why is Carol in crisis? What has happened to establish such a repulsion of men? The final shot shows us the family portrait. Carol, as a child, is in the centre – looking to the right, in a manner similar to her detached-gaze that she has held throughout the film (from the first shot). Follow her gaze and we land on her Father, slightly in shadow. Her mother is almost completely obscured by shadow, but it is clear she is there. The large portrait – a portrait we have seen throughout the film – includes many other family members, but in the final shot, these three members of the family are the only people who are not completely covered in shadow. Polanski seems to hint that Carol was a victim of abuse; her disgust and repulsion of men, firmly rooted in her upbringing. Her Mother, may have been aware, but she did not help or stop the situation. Her detached-gaze shows that, even at a young age something was wrong. The image from the outset of a happy family; her sister with her head gently resting on her Mother’s lap, full of smiles has no such resentment.

The use of the eye; of a razorblade; of flies buzzing around a corpse of an animal, all point towards surrealism. The cracking walls and over-grown potatoes show a mind disintegrating throughout the film – but the roots are before the film. Surrealist elements equally hint at something more than what is on screen. Interestingly, after watching Chinatown, the outcome of events is similar and, in another parallel, the ants that lay on the floor in Ida Sessions kitchen in Chinatown precede an outcome that explores Father-daughter child-abuse. Repulsion truly is a milestone in Polanski’s career – and as only the second film in his canon, you cannot help but be astonished at how confident he is in exploring such multi-layered events within such a small space and context. Polanski had truly arrived.