Review of The Tenant (1976) by Philip W — 06 May 2009
If you've ever wanted to see Roman Polanski in a dress, this is your film. Directing and starring in this Kafka-esque exercise in claustrophobia and paranoia, Polanski as "Trelkovsky", a timid clerk, takes over the lease of a squalid Paris apartment recently vacated by a mysterious woman who jumped from the window to her death into the building's courtyard and through a glass porch.
Slowly becoming obsessed with her while convincing himself that the other tenants of the building drove her mad, Polanski delves deeper and deeper into her psychosis. A veritable feast of Oscar winners of yore appear in cameos (Jo Van Fleet, Melvyn Douglas, Shelley Winters, Lila Kedrova, etc.
), and there is also a young Isabelle Adjani to behold. Not bad, but only gets really interesting in the last third. Trelkovsky's passivity began to grate.
This review of The Tenant (1976) was written by Philip W on 06 May 2009.
The Tenant has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
