<<< September 17 - 24, 2005 >>>

This series is also at the Egyptian September 17 – 18.

Coming off the Oscar-winning achievement of THE PIANIST, and with his upcoming Charles Dickens adaptation OLIVER TWIST (TriStar Pictures) due in theatres in late September, director Roman Polanski is hotter than he’s been at any time since his glory years of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, when he turned out a seemingly unstoppable series of brilliantly paranoid dramas, thrillers and blacker-than-black comedies, including ROSEMARY’S BABY, CUL-DE-SAC, REPULSION, THE TENANT, A KNIFE IN THE WATER and arguably his greatest masterpiece, the epochal L.A. noir CHINATOWN. But has he ever really disappeared? Despite a much-publicized absence from the U.S. due to ongoing legal issues and the career ups and downs of any major director, Polanski has managed to weather the tastes of a changing public with surprising grace and nimble intelligence. Now more than ever, he’s poised to reclaim his position as one of the great post-modern directors along with Kubrick, Godard, Bergman, Fassbinder and precious few others. To celebrate the release of OLIVER TWIST, we’re bringing back a short series of some of Polanski’s greatest films (CHINATOWN, ROSEMARY’S BABY), along with a few of his most rarely-screened gems (CUL-DE-SAC, THE TENANT, A KNIFE IN THE WATER).

Saturday, September 17 -- 7:30 PM

Brand New Print!

ROSEMARY’S BABY, 1968, Paramount, 136 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. A young New York couple (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) move into a new apartment building, where they’re quickly befriended by lovable Ruth Gordon and husband Sidney Blackmer. All is not as it seems, though – and Farrow soon comes to suspect that her neighbors have truly sinister plans in store for her and her unborn baby … This eerie supernatural thriller builds shivery atmosphere through each successive scene, right up until the shattering climax.

Sunday, September 18 -- 5:00 PM

Roman Polanski’s Latest – Sneak Preview:

OLIVER TWIST, 2005, TriStar Pictures, 135 min. Following their Academy-AwardŽ winning film THE PIANIST, director Roman Polanski and writer Ronald Harwood re-imagine Charles Dickens’ classic story of a young boy who gets involved with a gang of pickpockets in 19^th Century London. Orphaned at an early age, Oliver Twist (Barney Clark) is forced to live in a workhouse lorded over by the awful Mr. Bumble, who cheats the boys of their meager rations. Desperate yet determined, Oliver makes his escape to the streets of London. Penniless and alone, he is lured into a world of crime by the sinister Fagin (Academy-AwardŽ winner Sir Ben Kingsley) -- the mastermind of a gang of pint-sized pickpockets. Oliver's rescue by the kindly Mr. Brownlow is only the beginning of a series of adventures that lead him to the promise of a better life.

>> Also showing at the Egyptian Theatre on September 17.

CHINATOWN, 1974, Paramount, 131 min. Dir. Roman Polanski. Jack Nicholson gives his greatest performance as 1930’s private eye J.J. Gittes, maneuvering through a nightmarish L.A. netherworld of cheating husbands, stolen water rights, incest and murder, as he desperately tries to save beautiful Faye Dunaway from her raptor-like father John Huston. Writer Robert Towne’s magnificent, labyrinthine portrait of Los Angeles has been widely hailed as the best script of its era.

>> Also showing at the Egyptian on September 17.

KNIFE IN THE WATER, 1962, Janus/Criterion, 94 min. Director Roman Polanski’s debut feature, co-written by Jerzy Skolimowski (DEEP END), is one of the most claustrophobic, tension-building psychodramas of the 1960’s, relegated to three characters – a husband and wife (Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka) and the hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) they pick up on their way to a remote lake to go sailing. Once aboard the yacht, sexual tension rears it’s ugly head and grows gradually from aggressive rough-housing to outright violence. Not released until late 1963 in the USA, the film was nominated for a 1964 Best Foreign Film Oscar. "…a slow-burning exploration of jealousy, spite and middle-age…creeping tensions and Oedipal undertow…a film whose scenes and themes stick with you." – Andy Jacobs, BBC

REPULSION, 1965, Public Domain, 104 min. Director Roman Polanski’s second film was his first shot in English and certifiable proof that he was the new wunderkind of the psychological suspense thriller, pictures deeply resonating with a warped psychology and metaphysical anguish as well as dark Bunuelian humor. Here beautician Catherine Deneuve, pathologically revolted by men, goes off the deep end when her loving, but worldly sister (Yvonne Furneaux) leaves for the weekend with her boyfriend (Ian Hendry). The men that interact with Deneuve over the ensuing hours – smitten young John Fraser and lecherous landlord Patrick Wymark – don’t have any idea what they’re in for. Still retains an astonishing wallop and remains one of Polanski’s most intense portraits of irrational fears triumphing in a climax of abject terror.

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!

Saturday, September 24 - 7:30 PM

New 35 mm. Print! THE TENANT, 1976, Paramount, 125 min. Polanski at his best, and strangest. Here, the director stars in his own film as a mild-mannered tenant, Trelkovsky, who moves into an apartment where the last inhabitant committed suicide. He soon comes to suspect that his neighbors -- including Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas and Jo Van Fleet -- have a similar end in mind for him …

SEMINA CULTURE: BEAT SHORT FILMS (100 minutes)

Short films that complement the Santa Monica Museum of Art’s current exhibition, "Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle." The program includes Wallace Berman’s only film, the mysteriously beautiful "Aleph," as well as Curtis Harrington’s rarely seen record of artist Cameron’s studio, "Wormwood Star." Bruce Conner is represented by his eight-minute masterpiece, "A Movie;" a lyrical tribute to Jay DeFeo, "The White Rose;" a stunning precursor to MTV featuring the gorgeous Toni Basil, "Breakaway;" and "Cosmic Ray." Four shorts by Lawrence Jordan include his footage of Joseph Cornell at work, two early lyrical films, and "Our Lady of the Spheres," an example of his amazing collage animation. The program will also include two rarely screened shorts by Academy Award nominee Russell Tamblyn. Discussion following with directors Curtis Harrington and Russell Tamblyn. For more info on the exhibit check www.smmoa.org.

An Aero Theatre Exclusive!