THE TENANT
Directed by ROMAN POLANSKI Screenplay by GERARD BRACH and ROMAN POLANSKI
Like much of Roman Polanski's work, The Tenant is a comedy tipped with poison. As in Rosemary's Baby or Cul de Sac, laughter comes as much from astonishment, even outrage, as it does from humor. Polanski has a carbolic wit and discovers unplumbed depths of amusement in emotional deformity, physical abuse and psychic shock waves. If Chinatown found Polanski in a slightly more mellow mood —owing probably to the keyed-down romanticism of Robert Towne's screenplay—The Tenant shoots him right back to the center ring of his absurdist circus.
Polanski stars as...