Roman Takes on Romans
Yes, cinema’s little runt, Roman Polanski, has signed on to what can only be the epic story of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii (near Napoli, Italy), which in 79AD was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted. And they were supposed to be an advanced race… didn’t they read their geography books?
Polanski has always been erratic in terms of talent. While The Pianist was a genuinely good film, I’ve yet to meet a person who actually bothered to attend Oliver Twist. And the less said about The Ninth Gate the better. Pompeii, as it’s called, is an adaptation of Robert Harris’s semi-factional account of engineer Marcus Attilius Primus and his role in the city, as he gets entangled with politics, a love-interest, and a bit of molten lava.
Harris has two other novels that were converted to screen. While Fatherland was a creepy what-if story, Enigma was an utter bore. It is reported that the film will cost $130 million to produce, so expect lots of spectacle. And when did Polanski last take on the spectacular? It was Pirates in 1986, which again wasn’t seen by most. Let’s just hope it won’t be a First Century Dante’s Peak.
Here’s a SPOILER ALERT for you all, but expect the film to end with Marcus attempting to return to save his buried loved one, only to be dragged back by his Roman soldier friend, er… Cassius, who tells him “Forget it Mark, it’s Pompeii”.
Pirates is the only Polanski film I haven’t seen. Walter Matthau in a role written for Jack Nicholson put me off on this one. I also gave up on Oliver Twist almost halfway, although I did like all the details Polanski poured into the film. Maybe the tagline for this new film will be “Romans by Roman!”.
Are you ten years old? What about ‘Repulsion’? ‘Rosemary’s Baby’? ‘Chinatown’? You’re judging him on ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘The Ninth Gate’? This is what makes you call him ‘erratic’?
Graham, surely it is fair to judge a director’s current performance on his latest films, no? It’s like calling Scorsese brilliant even though he hasn’t made a great film in 17 years. As for Polanski’s overall career, yes he’s made decent films (although I think Chinatown is his only great film), but don’t forget the hammy Fearless Vampire Killers, the over-the-top Pirates, and the frivilous What?, all littered throughout his ‘classics’.