Oy-yoy! You got the wrong Polanski

Ksenia Danilova

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Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,0, University of Amsterdam (ISHSS), language: English, abst...

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Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Film Science, grade: 1,0, University of Amsterdam (ISHSS), language: English, abstract: His name rings a bell of recognition even in the ears of those people, who are not at all interested in cinema. He belongs to the greatest directors both in Hollywood and in Europe. Enigmatic and scandalous are two adjectives, which are most frequently used to describe him, one of the most controversial directors, actors and scriptwriters - Roman Polanski. His films are not regarded as authorial, since most of his works are collaborations with other scriptwriters and producers. However, certain trademarks, which make up a 'Polanski film', can be found throughout his movies: a circular plot structure, complex relationships between the victim and the perpetrator or the evil as his main subject. His movies shock, but even more shocking is his own life, which is often reflected in Polanski´s film-making. With his movies Roman Polanski manages to reconcile what seems to be irreconcilable. Mazierska (2007) points out that his cinema is at crossroads between many competing discourses, such as art film and mass cinema, America and Europe, entertainment and art-house visual effects, convention and its inversion. And the philosophical issues Polanski draws on are so culturally transposable, that he, furthermore, manages to cross the cultural boarders and gain popularity all over the world. In the following paper I will take up the challenge of uncovering the controversy of Polanski´s work using an example of the movie Dance of the Vampires that he shot in England in 1967. In the first step I am going to clarify the diversity of different ways, how the audience respond to the film, with the help of movie reviews displayed on amazon.com. Thereafter, using the literature about this particular movie, Polanski´s movies in general and the director himself, I am going to analyse the reasons for the emergence of these controversial reviews and compare the viewers´ attitudes with the opinions of the film critics and Polanski himself. In short, my research questions are as follows: - What are the different ways, how the audience of Dance of the Vampires respond to the movie? - What features that set the film apart and the intentions of the filmmaker generate this resonance? - Can be Dance of the Vampires considered to be a cult film?