Roman Polanski Always Thrived in France, But Now Even His Adopted Country is Turning On Him (EXCLUSIVE)
The French film industry is falling out of love with Roman Polanski, laments "The Palace" producer Luca Barbareschi.
variety.com
There was a time, not so long ago, when Roman Polanski was the toast of the film industry in France, where the director has been living since 1978, when he fled the United States before sentencing after pleading guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.
Despite the scandal and ongoing legal issues, the veteran auteur has flourished as a filmmaker in his adopted country, celebrated as a lifelong member of France's illustrious Academie des Beaux Arts (Academy of Fine Arts) and showered with a half-dozen César Awards, the latest three of which, including best director, are for his 2019 drama "An Officer and a Spy."
But things are changing. The director's latest César win, combined with more recent allegations of sexual misconduct, sparked outrage from French feminist groups and led to the 21-member board of the organization that oversees the Césars to resign en masse. Polanski has denied the more recent misconduct allegations.
But now the amour for Roman seems to have stopped. The French haven't rejected Polanski in the same way that the U.S. has shunned him, but the relationship is souring. Polanski declined to be interviewed by Variety for this article.
Polanski's upcoming film "The Palace," a black comedy that takes place at a posh hotel in the Swiss Alps resort of Gstaad, where he is currently shooting, has been unable to find any French financing, as Polanski's producer, Italian multi-hyphenate Luca Barbareschi, bemoans.
"[To shepherd 'The Palace'] you need lots of passion and lots of patience," said Barbareschi speaking from Gstaad, where "The Palace" –– which he says has a €17 million Euro ($17.8 million) budget –– has been shooting for 15 weeks, with two more to go (see photos from the set in this post).
Barbareschi, who also produced "Officer and a Spy," says it's been tough to finance the "Palace" which is an Italian, Swiss and Polish co-production between his Eliseo Multimedia and RAI Cinema, Poland's Lucky BOB and Switzerland's CAB. Some other investors disappeared after the film started shooting.
Besides France, Barbareschi – who personally invested more than €4 million in "The Palace" that he needs to recoup – is also concerned that Polanski's latest pic may get shut out elsewhere. Especially in English-speaking territories such as the U.K., North America and Australia, all of which passed on releasing "Officer" in their movie theaters.
Paris-based Wild Bunch, which is selling "The Palace," is showing a four-minute trailer to buyers in Cannes. They have already closed deals with unspecified distributors in Germany and Spain. Now they need to close more.
Similarly to its financing, "The Palace" has also been tough to cast. Several actors declined roles, fearing that working with Polanski would tarnish their careers, though "nobody said it in those terms," says Barbareschi, who underlines that he's pleased with the cast that he has.
