My Most Significant Film
Frantic (1988) by Roman Polanski
I was assigned to write about ”my most significant film”. At first the task sounded like a lot of fun, but once I really got into thinking about it more thoroughly, I realized that it is surprisingly hard to decide whether this or that film was actually my MOST significant. I have to confess that I am a huge movie nerd consuming maybe even too much movies. I like almost every genre or sub-genre coming to my mind and find myself watching movies (some of them good, some of them very bad) almost daily. So, how I decided on my title: ”Frantic by Roman Polanski”? Eventually, the pieces of the puzzle clicked into place and the choice was obvious.
Frantic is my first Polanski film I have ever seen. Back in the days, somewhere mid 90’s, I ended up watching it maybe solely because of it’s starring lead, Harrison Ford, known to me as “Indiana Jones” at the time. If I correctly recall, the film was not the best I had seen, but it’s suspense and a bit wacko mood really got my attention. Hence, Frantic introduced me to one of my most favorite director, Roman Polanski. Roughly 20 years have passed and Frantic is My Most Significant Film (by Polanski).
Frantic is a story about an american doctor who try to find his wife in Paris after her disappearing from their own hotel room. Doctor Walker (played by Harrison Ford) was taking a shower during her mysterious disappearing right after their arrival. Jet-lagged, without knowledge of french or a cellphone (it’s 1988) he soon finds himself entangled in the web of eccentric people, gangsters and dark alleys of Paris, only clue for finding his wife being a suitcase, which they accidentally took along from the airport. Finally, he meets a mysterious Parisian woman who may be able to help him.
In my opinion, Frantic is a very compelling thriller by the master of suspense, although it does not get as psychological as Polanski’s earlier films such as Repulsion (1965) or Rosemary’s Baby (1968). Maslin (1988) concluded nicely in her review that ”’’Frantic’’ generates its suspense precisely because it appears so reasonable, because it takes such a calm, methodical approach to the maddening events that lure Dr. Walker into the maelstrom.” Discourse in Frantic focuses more on observation of healthy perception, whereas in Repulsion (1965), Polanski obviously leans towards perception of unhealthy, almost schizophrenic protagonist. (Caputo 2012) The story in Frantic is structured around it’s protagonist, Dr. Walker, and Polanski uses a lot of POV in cinematography. The viewer is attached to Walker and mainly sees and hears what he does, but there is not as much psychological subjectivity in narrative as in Repulsion. (Caputo 2012)
In addition to suspense, one thing that captivates me in the film is the discourse of protagonist’s “national otherness”, as Caputo (2012) names it in his book. Protagonist finds himself truly lost in foreign country and narrative in the film is built strongly on it. ”Otherness” can also be seen in the way Paris has been captured on film. Frantic’s Paris is not your common city of love, which has been seen in films for decades. It is a scary and uncomfortable place where you easily lose yourself. However, the city is still visually astonishingly beautiful, and luckily, has been shot mostly in real locations.
At the time Frantic was released, it got fairly mixed reviews. Some of them were quite rewarding and some of them not. Maslin (1988) from The New York Times stated that: ”He (Polanski) has succeeded in picking up the clever, unnerving thread of his earlier career”, and Ebert (1988) from The Chicago Sun-Times concluded that: ”even with its excesses, “Frantic” is a reminder of how absorbing a good thriller can be”. According to Rosenbaum (2003): ”…the energy gradually dissipates, and by the time the mystery is “solved,” it’s difficult to care very much”. I do agree that the first half of the film is more interesting and capturing than the latter one. However, I still love the film and secretly might even rate it over Polanski’s more popular classics. I do realize that a great deal of my enthusiasm towards the film derives from the fact that it was my very first Polanski.
Last but not least, a couple of words about the music. The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful! The title track is slightly dated with it’s synthesizer orchestrations characteristic to 80's, but I like it and that actually fits perfectly to the mood of film. The original score is melancholic and emotional, but the true gem here is the use of Grace Jones’s song called ”Strange”. It highlights the uncomfortable emotions of Dr Walker, when he struggles to find he’s wife and is confronted with all those “crazy Parisians”.
If you have not seen the film yet, give it a try!
Bibliography
CAPUTO, D. (2012) Polanski and Perception: The Psychology of Seeing and the Cinema of Roman Polanski. Bristol: Intellect.
EBERT, R. (1988) Frantic. The Chicago Sun-Times. 26th February. Available from: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/frantic-1988. [Accessed: 11th November 2014]
MASLIN, J. (1988) Frantic (1988). The New York Times. 26th February. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE6DA173AF935A15751C0A96E948260.[Accessed: 11th November 2014]
ROSENBAUM, J. (2003) Frantic. Chicago Reader. 7th August. Available from: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/frantic/Film?oid=1048783. [Accessed: 11th November 2014]
Filmography
Frantic. (1988) Film. Directed by Roman Polanski. [DVD]. UK: Warner Home Video.
Repulsion. (1965) Film, Directed by Roman Polanski. [DVD]. UK. Odeon Entertainment.
Rosemary’s Baby. (1968) Film. Directed by Roman Polanski. [DVD]. UK: Paramount Home Entertainment.
