Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Roman Polanski'

Filmmaker Roman Polanski declares in his autobiography that he was greatly influenced by renowned neuropsychologist Richard L. Gregory (1923-2010), whose work, Polanski claims, gave scientific confirmation to many of his own beliefs regarding the nature of perception. Gregory was a strong advocate for what is referred to as the ‘indirect’ theory of perception, a theoretical model that stresses the agency of cognition, specifically hypothesisation, in the act of perceiving. This analysis of Polanski’s cinema is guided by an exploration of perceptual psychology, with special attention paid to how the theory of indirect perception differs from competing, and often more intuitive, models of perception. The two main focuses of this thesis are: a) to identify the ways in which Polanski’s cinematography is actively informed by neuropsychological research on perception, and b) to discuss the various ways in which the key philosophical implications of the theory of indirect perception find expression in his cinema. My analysis will focus primarily on two (unofficial) ‘trilogies’, what I refer to as the ‘Apartment Trilogy’ of Repulsion (1965), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and The Tenant (1976), and the ‘Investigation Trilogy’ of Chinatown (1974), Frantic (1988) and The Ninth Gate (1999). Also included are minor case studies of Knife in the Water (1962), Death and the Maiden (1994), and The Ghost (2010). This thesis hopes to demonstrate the manner in which Polanski’s cinematic engagement with perceptual psychology evolves over his career, from more psychologically intimate explorations of the perceptual mechanism via portrayals of schizophrenia in his earlier films, to more distant studies of highly proficient perceiving bodies who are nevertheless confronted with serious challenges to their perceptual (and epistemological) frameworks.

Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles and Roman Polanski: three very different filmmakers in whose hands Macbeth becomes three very different films. For Kurosawa, who admits himself to being obsessed with exploring the "extraordinary things that lie in human hearts," the play becomes a humanist drama concerned with man's inner evil and ambition; in the hands of Welles - whose chief agenda was always extravagance and spectacle rather than character development -Macbeth becomes a more symbolic fight between good and evil; whereas Polanski, whose major concern is often with the "confrontation of evil," presents Macbeth as a gritty, psychological thriller. All three directors have remarkable filmographies - often being nominated for and winning prestigious awards as well as experiencing professional low-points which not only counterbalance this, but at times have even seemed out of sync with the rest of their careers. They have also had remarkable personal lives, variously tinged with tragedy, which often seems to be reflected in their films. Kurosawa, born in 1910, experienced first hand the Great Kanto Earthquake, which devastated Japan in 1923, killing more than 100,000, and lived through the Second World War, which cost more than 2 million Japanese lives. He also suffered great personal loss during his lifetime - one of his brothers and one of his sisters died during childhood; and both of his older brothers died when Kurosawa was in his twenties, the younger of whom committed suicide at the age of twenty-seven. Later in life, the director's personal difficulties became so great that at one point he even attempted suicide himself. Welles was born five years after Kurosawa, although his living in America meant that he was less affected by the Second World War. In other ways however, his upbringing was unconventional and not without tragedy. When he was four his parents divorced due to 'irreconcilable differences' - the reality of which was that his father was an alcoholic and his mother had had a live-in-lover for some time. He was considered a child 'prodigy' but as a result of this special treatment was somewhat set apart from other children, had very few friends of his own age, and spent a lifetime trying to live up to these early expectations of greatness. When he was nine his mother died, and six years later so did his father - who literally drank himself to death - leaving his upbringing to his mother's lover, who would act as a secondary father figure to him for the rest of his life. Like Kurosawa, Polanski grew up in politically catastrophic times, although his life may be said to have been the most affected by tragedy and controversy. Jewish, he was born in 1933 and was living in Warsaw during the German invasion of Poland, so was no stranger to the harsh realities of war. His mother was executed in a concentration camp when he was six; years later he was to relive this loss when his pregnant wife was brutally murdered by members of a crazed cult; and when he was still recovering from this tragedy, he was arrested and charged with the rape of a 13 year-old girl. This thesis aims to explore the ways in which these different personal factors affecting Kurosawa, Welles and Polanski have contributed over the years to their films and in particular, to their interpretations of Macbeth. As the play's primary concerns are the mechanisms of evil and human iniquity - subject matter they were all, in varying degrees, personally familiar with the occurrence of these themes throughout the three directors' films will be examined alongside the representation of them in their adaptations of Macbeth.

En quoi les génériques d'ouverture au cinéma peuvent-ils (re)présenter l'identité audiovisuelle et thématique d'un film et d'un cinéaste ? Ainsi, l'ultime question pourrait être : ne pouvons-nous pas étudier l'oeuvre d'un cinéaste (Roman Polanski) par le biais de ses génériques d'ouverture ? Pour y répondre, la première partie de cette thèse propose une synthèse historique des génériques d'ouverture au cinéma (condensé de périodes et autres évolutions des génériques à travers l'histoire du cinéma), puis une synthèse théorique (condensé d'écrits et de définitions autour des enjeux sonores, visuels, scripturaires et structurels des génériques). Ensuite, après la description du corpus (les génériques d'ouverture des dix-sept longs-métrages de R. Polanski), la seconde partie soumet une synthèse autour des figures audiovisuelles (son, image et montage) du générique d'ouverture en lien avec le style de chacun des dix-sept films, puis un examen des thèmes révélés par l'étude de ces génériques
Can opening title sequences (re)present the audiovisual and thematic identity of a film and of a film maker ? Can we study the work of a movie maker (Roman Polanski) through the opening credits of his film ? To answer these questions, the first part of this thesis is divided into two main chapters : one chapter synthesizes the evolutions of film credits through the history pictures, the other chapter condenses diverse writings and definitions on the roles of credits in terms of sound, image, word and strucure. In the second part, a desciption of the main corpus (the opening title sequences of R. Polanski's seventeen feature-length films) leads to a synthesis of the audiovisual devices used in these main titles to serve the style of each film (through sound, images and editing), as well as an analysis on the themes revealed by the study of these film credits

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Este trabalho realiza um estudo estilístico da obra do cineasta franco-polonês Roman Polanski a partir de recorrências encontradas na encenação – e entendendo-se a encenação como a relação estabelecida entre corpos e espaços nas imagens de um filme. Partindo-se de uma análise que identifica a penetração do real na cena ficcional polanskiana, o estudo atravessa as questões presentes no posicionamento dos corpos no espaço até alcançar a encenação do próprio corpo enquanto matéria expressiva.
This paper makes a stylistic study of the oeuvre of the French-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski from recurrences founded in staging – and understanding the staging as the relation between bodies and spaces in the images of a film. Starting with an analysis that identifies the penetration of reality in the Polanski’s scene, the study permeates the questions presents in the placement of the bodies in the space to reach the staging of the own body as an expressive subject.

Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006.
The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 27, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Uppsatsen analyserar och jämför hur den psykologiska skräcken och hur de suggestiva effekterna framställs i Ira Levins roman Rosemarys baby och Roman Polanskis filmatisering. Syftet med analysen är att söka svar på just denna fråga. Uppsatsen metoder utgår från närläsning, som är en noggrann och djupgående läsning utav verket, samt adaptionsteori, som är en metod som skapar förståelse för vilka likheter och skillnader som skapas när en roman överförs till film. Analysen visar att filmatiseringens berättande har många likheter med romanen då få scener plockats bort. Analysen visar också att mycket av den psykologiska skräck som existerar i romanen även framställs i filmatiseringen genom ljud, musik och visuella bilder. Trots likheterna mellan roman och film finns det även skillnader, då analysen visar att Polanskis version innehåller större symbolik som kan kopplas till katolicismen och kan således också ses som en tydligare kritik mot den tidens normer och samhällsfrågor.

This essay traces two trends in current philosophical and theological debates concerning forgiveness. One, advocated by Vladimir Jankélévitch and Jacques Derrida, I label “impossible” forgiveness. The second, advanced by John Milbank and L. Gregory Jones, I label “communal” forgiveness. I explore and critically examine each of these positions in the first two sections of the thesis. In the last section of the thesis I examine a recent conversation amongst religious ethicists against the background of the theoretical conversations described in the first half of the essay. Bringing the theoretical conversation together with the religious ethicists’ conversation, I argue that whether or not we embrace forgiveness depends in large part in what tradition, religious or secular, we place ourselves.

La notion de l'absurde a pris dans la pensée et le langage courant un très grand nombre de significations, parfois très éloignées les unes par rapport aux autres. Il est arrivé à au moins deux reprises que le terme « absurde » soit entendu dans le sens d'un courant : dans la philosophie absurde théorisée par Albert Camus en 1942, et dans le Théâtre de l'absurde (Beckett, Ionesco, etc.), qui lui a connu son apogée dans les années cinquante. Ces deux mouvements pourraient être envisagés comme l'expression d'un seul et même courant, l'absurde, qui prend ses racines dans une Europe ébranlée par les horreurs de la guerre et l'affaissement de la religion chrétienne. Pour les contemporains, l'hostilité et le désordre de l'univers, de même que la solitude irrémédiable de l'individu apparaissent comme des vérités à la fois douloureuses et difficile à ignorer. Roman Polanski (1933-), cinéaste à la fois prolifique et éclectique, ouvre à l'absurde de nouveaux horizons, ceux du septième art. L'analyse de son oeuvre (et des éléments autobiographiques qui la sous-tendent parfois) met à jour d'indéniables parentés avec les figures-clés de l'absurde que sont Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche et les dramaturges européens de l'après-guerre. Ces parentés se repèrent tout autant dans les thématiques récurrentes de ses films que dans leurs obsessions formelles.
The idea of absurd has taken a huge amount of different meanings in thought and current speech. Some of these meanings may present important differences with others. There is at least two occurrences where the word “absurd” has been understood as a current: first, in the philosophie absurde, theorized by Albert Camus in 1942, and second, in the Theater of the Absurd (Beckett, Ionesco and others), who had his hours of glory during the 1950s. These two movements can be seen as two branches of a single current, the Absurd, who has its roots in Europe after World War II. The horrors of the conflict and the loss of faith in Christianity pushed the intellectuals and artists of this period to become very sensitive to ideas such as hostility (of men, of world...) and loneliness. Roman Polanski (1933-), film director well-known for the eclecticism of his work, showed very notable acquaintances with Absurd in many of his movies. The analysis of his art (and of the autobiographical elements that sometimes appear in it) proves a clear relation with important figures of the Absurd current, such as Camus, Kafka, Nietzsche, and European playwrights of the post-war era. This relation can be observed in themes as well as in the mise en scène of Polanski's films.

Fung Tat-yeung.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 144-145).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Introduction --- p.1
Chapter 1 --- "The ""Polanskian"" Style as Established in Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Cul-de-sac and The Fearless Vampire Killers" --- p.10
Chapter (I) --- Knife in the Water and Cul-de-sac --- p.11
Chapter (II) --- Repulsion --- p.22
Chapter (III) --- The Fearless Vampire Killers --- p.26
Chapter 2 --- The Breakdown of Human Relationships --- p.32
Chapter (I) --- Friendlessness --- p.33
Chapter (II) --- Unfulfilled Marriages --- p.37
Chapter 3 --- The Extreme Sense of Superiority That Destroys Others --- p.67
Chapter (I) --- The Villains' Lust for Power --- p.69
Chapter (II) --- The Victims for the Villains --- p.78
Chapter (III) --- The Villains' Methods of Victimization --- p.84
Chapter 4 --- The Vulnerability of the Victims to Fight Against Evil --- p.90
Chapter (I) --- The Victims' Inability to Fight Back --- p.90
Chapter (II) --- Hallucinations as the Victims' Most Vulnerable Moments --- p.108
Chapter 5 --- The Extremely Pessimistic Endings --- p.119
Chapter (I) --- The Emphasis of the Evil's Ultimate Domination --- p.121
Chapter (II) --- The Recurrence of Events --- p.129
Conclusion --- p.139
Works Cited --- p.144

Dissertação de Mestrado em Estudos Artísticos apresentada à Faculdade de Letras
Este estudo consiste na análise do filme Repulsion realizado em 1965 por Roman Polanski, particularmente, o espaço físico habitado pela personagem enquanto forma de retrato psicológico. O filme é enquadrado num conjunto de outros dois filmes de temáticas semelhantes de Polanski, a intitulada ‘trilogia do apartamento’. O espaço habitacional é o ponto de partida para a análise da personagem principal do filme, relacionando o espaço com a doença mental retratada. O tema da psicose e da habitação enquanto elementos representativos da personagem são os dois aspetos que se destacam, estabelecendo uma relação próxima entre os dois. O espaço é considerado como um elemento caracterizador da personagem, como um reflexo da sua mente e da sua personalidade. O estudo pretende estabelecer a relação e simbiose entre a casa e a personagem, relacionando o espaço e a decadência do mesmo, com a deterioração da mente humana na personagem principal do filme. Esta análise ao filme é apoiada por uma base teórica, tendo sido levado em consideração diversos textos sobre o filme, sobre o apartamento da personagem principal do filme, sobre a representação espacial nos filmes e ainda sobre o sexo feminino e a sua representação por Polanski. Apesar da existência desta base teórica, existe mesmo assim algo a acrescentar, sendo pertinente a contínua discussão sobre o filme e a representação do espaço em Repulsion.Esta análise ao filme é apoiada por uma base teórica, tendo sido levado em consideração diversos textos sobre o filme, sobre o apartamento da personagem principal do filme, sobre a representação espacial nos filmes e ainda sobre o sexo feminino e a sua representação por Polanski. Apesar da existência desta base teórica, existe mesmo assim algo a acrescentar, sendo pertinente a contínua discussão sobre o filme e a representação do espaço em Repulsion.
This study consists in the analysis of the film Repulsion performed in 1965 by Roman Polanski, particularly, the physical space inhabited by the character as a form of psychological portrait. The film is framed in a set of two other films of similar themes of Polanski, entitled ' the apartment ' trilogy. The living space is the starting point for the analysis of the main character of the film, relating the space with mental illness portrayed. The topic of psychosis and housing while representative elements of the character are two aspects that stand out, establishing a close relationship between the two. The space is considered as a main characteristic of the character, as a reflection of your mind and your personality.The study aims to establish the relationship and symbiotic relationship between the House and the character, the space and the decline of the same, with the deterioration of the human mind on the main character of the film. This analysis of the film is supported by a theoretical basis, having been taken into consideration several texts about the film, about the main character of the film, about the spatial representation in the movies and on the female and your representation by Polanski. Despite this theoretical basis, there is still something to add, being relevant the continuing discussion about the film and the representation of space in Repulsion.The space is considered as a main characteristic of the character, as a reflection of your mind and your personality.The study aims to establish the relationship and symbiotic relationship between the House and the character, the space and the decline of the same, with the deterioration of the human mind on the main character of the film. This analysis of the film is supported by a theoretical basis, having been taken into consideration several texts about the film, about the main character of the film, about the spatial representation in the movies and on the female and your representation by Polanski. Despite this theoretical basis, there is still something to add, being relevant the continuing discussion about the film and the representation of space in Repulsion.

碩士
淡江大學
法國語文學系碩士班
99
The horror film has always been regarded as a commercial movie. It represents the bloody, evil, and perverted pleasure on the screen. It has been neglected or underestimated by many critics for a long time. The french philosopher Éric Dufour rethinks the nature of the horror cinema and proclaims that there is no good movie or bad one. The horror cinema is like the other genre, which could show its artistic quality. He puts forward a notion about “figure” and clarifies the misunderstanding of technique between explication and implication. It relies on how the directors embody their horror concept by these techniques. Roman Polanski is famous for his visual style. His horror films are deeply appreciated by the public. The director never shows the monsters, the bizarreries in the image or distorts the settings. All he has to do is follow a simple narrative and put a little thing to make the atmosphere uncanny. We select three films—Repulsion, Rosemary’s baby and The tenant for case studies. With the notion of the figure and film analysis, we could discuss these three films.

The thesis deals with gender analysis in films studying metamorphoses of archetypes in film Bitter Moon directed by Roman Polanski. The methodical and theoretical sections of the thesis analyse the influence of archetype changes of film characters in gender roles. The thesis identifies and analyses mainly woman film characters appearing in some classical feminist texts, feminist film theoretical and critical articles, in some psychoanalytical works, in dramatheraphy and film science. The sources mentioned above became primary resource materials for our archetypal research. The analysis of each of the film character is focused on the most distinctive archetype with respect to its metamorphosy. Apart from the archetype research the thesis is marginaly concerned with problems linked to the female ideal and her sexuality usually portrayed in an unalterable way, and archetypal patterns are in such a way transmitted to audiences through femininity and masculinity in the context of gender roles. Keywords: archetype, Roman Polanski, Laura Mulvey, Annis Pratt, cinematic archetypal coherence, feminist film criticism, film narrative analysis, archetypal masculinity, archetypal femininity.

This study deals with the representation of traumatic experience in Roman Polanski's oeuvre. I focus particularly on four films: Chinatown (1974), Bitter Moon (1992), Death & the Maiden (1994), and The Pianist (2002). My argument is that in these films, trauma acts not only as a textual (thematic and formal) motif, but also as an extra-textual element that offers insights into the emotional and psychological effects of traumatic experience. Polanski's own traumatic history--beginning with his experience of the Holocaust--makes him a fascinating and tragically fitting candidate for study. By examining Polanski's work from an authorial perspective as well as in relation to various psychoanalytic concepts, I trace the director's signature in the films' portrayal of male and female traumas. Through my analyses, I hope to show that a psychoanalytic auteur study generates an insightful point of entry into the discussion and understanding of Polanski's work.