The Tenant (1976)

[K1stpierre]

Discuss

[Jake Gittes]

"If you cut off my head, what would I say... Me and my head, or me and my body? What right has my head to call itself me?"

 

Excellent, underappreciated film that combines sinister atmosphere, terrific dark comedy and a Polanski performance in the center that holds it all together. (I haven't yet seen The Double, but just from the trailers it seemed to me that Polanski's work here was a huge inspiration on Jesse Eisenberg's more timid and shy character. They even look nearly identical).

 

The ending is the delightfully creepy cherry on top. Besides Lost Highway, I haven't seen any other films that pull off a literally circular narrative nearly as successfully as this one. As far as Polanski's filmography goes, I'd rank it below Chinatown, Macbeth and Rosemary's Baby, but above everything else I've seen.

[Goffe]

I didn't understand it completely, it lacked some answers, but I really liked it.

The director can create atmosphere like no other and you never lose the interest in it despite the slow pace.

my favorite of the trilogy 80/100

[luna]

the final film in the apartment trilogy is probably my least favourite, but it's still an awesome work of horror, using the apartment as a metaphor for the claustrophobia of mental illness. this one in particular delves into the long history of films ala persona in making people turn into other people. polanski is a great actor as well as director.

 

8/10

Edited October 18, 2014 by lisa