movie The Palace | Roman Polanski | 0% RT (10 Reviews) | Can't find US/UK/FR distributors

[Espresso]

 

 

 

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Roman Polanski’s new film has been slaughtered by critics following its debut at the Venice Film Festival.

 

Starring John Cleese, Mickey Rourke, Fanny Ardant and Oliver Masucci, The Palace is a black comedy about rich hotel guests at a New Year’s Eve party in 1999.

 

It is the first film made by The Pianist director Polanski, who is wanted in the US for the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, since 2019’s An Officer and a Spy.

 

On Saturday (2 September), The Palace premiered at Venice, where it was universally panned by critics. At the time of writing, the 90-year-old film maker’s comedy has a rare zero per cent score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews.

 

In a savage zero-star review for The Times, critic Kevin Maher branded the film Polanski’s “latest and worst opus, an eye-scorching atrocity that is instantly one of the most egregious film-making failures of the year, possibly even the decade”.

 

“It’s so conspicuously bad, and so willfully anti-cinematic – there’s not a single shot that looks like it was filmed with intent or meaning – that it only makes sense as an act of vengeance on behalf of a veteran director lashing out at a mainstream industry from which he has been essentially ostracized,” he wrote. “To see it as a genuine attempt at coherent comedy film-making is almost unthinkable.”

 

The Palace received a one-star review fromThe Guardian’s Xan Brooks, who wrote: “The Palace is horrible: tacky and joyless, fatally confusing sexual disgust with arousal.”

 

An equally damning one-star review came from Jo-Ann Titmarsh, who wrote in Evening Standard that The Palace is “a film so dire that the filmmaker can no longer be defended because of his genius”.

 

“That the man who brought us The Pianist and Chinatown… could come to this is genuinely upsetting,” she wrote. “Critics were leaving the screening traumatized by what they had just seen. Reader, I sat through this film until the bitter end because it’s my job. You are under no obligation to do so.”

 

The Daily Telegraph’s Robbie Collin echoed this, writing that The Palace is “easily the worst film in [Polanski’s] career”.

 

Owen Gleiberman wrote in Variety: “As any critic will tell you, when you’re watching a comedy with an audience, it doesn’t matter how bad the movie is – even the jokes that are making you groan are going to provoke laughter.

 

“But at the Venice Film Festival, when I saw The Palace… it was literally coming from about six people. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a giant theater this deadly silent for a movie that’s working this strenuously to amuse you.”

 

The Independent has contacted Polanski’s representatives and production company Eliseo Entertainment for comment.

 

In 1977, Polanski pleaded guilty to “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor”, but fled the US to avoid sentencing.

 

In November 2019, he was accused of rape by actor Valentine Monnier, who claimed that Polanski assaulted her in 1975 when she was 18 years old. Polanski “absolutely denied” the allegations by Monnier.

 

In 2020, Polanski said that “activists are threatening me with a public lynching” after protests were made at the César Awards (the French equivalent of the Oscars). Polanski’s film An Officer and a Spy was nominated for 12 awards.

 

His win for Best Director prompted walkouts from Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Celine Sciamma and star Adele Haenel, the latter of whom shouted “shame” as she left the room.

 

Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)

 

The Independent

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VENICE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The producer of Roman Polanski's latest movie, "The Palace", bemoaned the fact that no one wanted the distribution rights for the film in the United States, Britain and France, saying morality should not weigh on art.

 

One of the most successful directors of his generation, Polanski fled the United States over a conviction for raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, a crime he admitted.

 

After the #MeToo movement gained global traction in 2017 following sexual abuse allegations against U.S. film producer Harvey Weinstein, a number of women alleged that Polanski had sexually assaulted them as teenagers as well.

 

Polanski, a dual French-Polish national, denied the allegations which never went to trial, but he has since found it hard to secure global distribution deals for his movies, even if actors are still lining up to work with him.

 

"The Palace", a comedy set in a Swiss hotel peopled with a cast of grotesque characters, stars Mickey Rourke, John Cleese, Oliver Masucci, Fanny Ardant and Joaquim De Almeida.

 

The producer Luca Barbareschi said he had sold distribution rights across continental Europe, but not in France, Britain or the United States, despite the fact well-known actors from all three countries appeared in the film.

 

Barbareschi said Polanski's last movie "An Officer And A Spy", which opened at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 to critical acclaim, had also never been seen in cinemas in the United States, Britain, Australia or New Zealand.

 

"And we ask ourselves why there are wars. The Anglo-Saxon world has to respect artists like the rest of the world does," he said, adding: "There is no moral judgement on art."

 

He added that Polanski movies were shown on numerous streamers, such as Netflix, "making millions" for those platforms. "Someone explain to me the logic for that," he said.

 

Polanksi, who turned 90 last month, is not in Venice for the premier of his film, which is not in the running for the main Golden Lion prize. Among his previous credits as director are "The Pianist", "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown".

 

Reuters

 

 

[Virgos Groove]

 

[wehan6]

[Gossip_Boy]

Imagine willingly working with a known pedophile only for your movie to end up being one of the most panned movies ever. Kii. 

[P.O.P]

Venice Film Festival showed this? What a disgrace 

[Mr. Blue_Shirt]

Not being picked by a single distributor when they desperate for new content during the high of Hollywood strike

 

Give it up!

[Johnny Jacobs]

Finally this rap¡st ped of phile is losing. 

 

God!!! You knlw humanity lost when he kept releasing successful films after rap!ng a 13 yo girl. 

 

And won oscars 

[ChapelHooker]

LOSER!!! LMFAO

 

 

[TMRA]

LOL I wonder if the movie itself sucks or this is just because its him. Either way cant believe people and actors still work with him

[Kimi]

1 hour ago, TMRA said:

LOL I wonder if the movie itself sucks or this is just because its him.

both

[Pendulum]

take your medication Roman! take a short vacation Roman!

[Eóghan]

i'm surprised France didn't want to distribute the movie, they've been one of his biggest supporter/enabler

 

maybe this is finally the end of the tunnel. good riddance 🙌 

[feelslikeadream]

4 hours ago, Espresso said:

His win for Best Director prompted walkouts from Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Celine Sciamma and star Adele Haenel, the latter of whom shouted “shame” as she left the room.

I never knew this  

[kandicha]

the film industry going out of their way to continue to shelter him/protect him just for this movie to get a 0% and no distributor, lol.