Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out (2012)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Marina Zenovich's follow-up documentary to her 2008 film ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED. That film took a look at the director's legal issues after he was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. The documentary focused on the original terms of him pleading guilty and what led him to leaving the country and becoming a fugitive. This documentary takes a look at his 2009 arrest where the U.S. tried to get him extradited back from Switzerland.
ROMAN POLANSKI: ODD MAN OUT isn't nearly as wonderful as the original film but there's no question that it's a well-made film and one that is likely to cause you to ask moral questions of yourself and of course lead to a lot of debates. This documentary is once again on the side of Polanski and tries to show him as a victim and especially with his arrest in Switzerland where he was supposed to have been getting an award at a film festival.
For starters, the word victim is thrown out a lot here in regards to Polanski yet no one seems to realize that the two months he was in prison he was treated extremely well and was even allowed to edit his film THE GHOST WRITER. I mean, being allowed something like that pretty much takes away the victim card and especially when you consider he's still a fugitive who committed the crime of rape.
With that said, questions are asked about what the point of him being arrested and sent back to America does. The argument is made that he's an elderly man at this point so why go to jail? If that holds true for Polanski does that mean it should be that way for everyone? Should other people running from the law be forgiven once they reach a certain age? Even back to the original plea deal, would a normal person be given such a light sentence?
These are just some of the issues that are brought up here but the majority of the film is certainly on Polanski's side and there's even an audio clip of him addressing the issue. For the most part I think the film offers up "the other side" but, again, there's no question that this film is really rooting for the famed director.
Some of the most interesting moments happen when the original victim talks about the issue as well as her husband and her mother. Hearing her mother discuss what happened the day Polanski took her 13-year- old daughter for photos was quite eye-opening and it makes you realize even more that what happened was wrong on so many levels.
