While I try to move outside of my comfort zone in the films I choose to watch, sometimes I find myself in a place where only a certain kind of film will satisfy me. At the moment, that type of film is the psychological thriller. One of the masters of this particular genre is the Polish-French director Roman Polanski. Holocaust survivor, husband to Sharon Tate (who was murdered by Charles Manson and his ‘Family’) and fugitive from justice, Polanski has made many powerful and disturbing films though perhaps none as disturbing as his Apartment Trilogy.
- Repulsion (1965)
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
- The Tenant (1976)
In order to pay appropriate hommage to my current obsession, I have decided to turn Ruthless Culture over to the study of Polanski’s Apartment Trilogy for a period not exceeding one week.
Ruthless Culture 
Jonathan – an excellent undertaking! For me, Polanski’s work just grows in stature as I get older, and I find his achievements inspire and influence my own ventures with ever greater precision. I shall comment re specific films above, but I would like to strike a case here for ‘Frantic’ (1986) which to my mind is one of the great mainstream thrillers of the last 25 years. I can think of few films that have an opening act and set up that is quite so deftly handled, the camera work and encroaching paranoia superbly presented.
Anyway….to the Apartment Trilogy.
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