Sunday, October 4, 2009

With all the articles on Polanski lately I found this one on how he felt about Sharon


I found more on Polanski today as the story continues.  One was called the Haunting of Polanski, in Three Acts.  The first dealing with his mother dying and living through the Nazi occupation, his wife Sharon being murdered by the Manson family and the now--brought back to the forefront-- the case of raping a underage girl.

Here is the link:  http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/film-cinema/haunting-of-polanski-in-three-acts-1903758.html

Another article by Suzanne Moore recounted how she interviewed him for publicity purposes for "Bitter Moon."  She says she was told not to ask him about Sharon Tate.  However, after they spoke for awhile, he did mention Sharon's murder saying: "The only sense that I can make out of it is that it doesn't make any sense."

Many have said lately that they think Polanski was never the same after Sharon's death.  That the murder had to have had an effect in many ways on him.  Some even go so far as to say that it started interferring with his judgement, pacifically when it came to younger women.  Whatever the reason, it must have been a very difficult time.  But, sometimes in life, it seems that the old saying 'Time heals all wounds' is not always true. I do not think Polanski has ever gotten over Sharon's death and I don't think he will.

I am reminded of a quote by the late Rose Kennedy: "It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone."


A friend recently sent me this article that talks about how Polanski felt after Sharon's death.

Telecran January 25, 1970




"This is the way I remember you, my dear Sharon.

The Sadness of Roman Polanski

The widower of the beautiful Sharon Tate discusses the actress he knew as a great woman. After loosing her to the tragically absurd massacre that happened on August 9, 1969 in his home. The pain still lays in his spirit and his heart.

Sharon Tate has achieved worldwide fame now that the media of the whole world has been repeating her name with a nervous insistance.

But Sharon has payed a high price for this. Higher than the price that Martin Ransohoff "payed for her" years before.

The most paradoxical thing of this case is that fame came to her in a moment when she just wished for calmness and when she was completely uninterested in publicity; the truth is that she never cared too much about it anyway.

But sadly, in life, there are fates like hers.

SADNESS

Its difficult to find out Roman Polanski's current whereabouts. This poor prodigy man, who lost at the same time his wife and his unborn child, slips in among the crowd, and has settled in Mexico for the time being. He's still like a gypsy, but a gypsy with the heart crossed by the grief.

It is not strange that he finds it hard to know happiness for very long periods. What makes him think like this is the tragedy of his youth:

"Its weird," he says. "I always had the premonition that Sharon belonged to me just for a little while.

First I tried to liberate her from Ransohoff, who had her tied down by a contract which contained medieval clauses; later it was a visit to the doctor who alerted me about a heart murmur she had.

"However, when I travelled to Europe, on a business trip, I was full of optimism. Why should I be afraid of anything?

"During the last months of her pregnancy, Sharon had became lazier and more docile. She had promised me that she would visit the doctor every week and that she wouldn't drive. I'd be away only for two weeks.

"That fateful night I was having dinner at Nathalie Delon's apartment; we spent a great time, with friends of the cinema industry.

"When a friend told me what had happened, I couldn't believe it; sixteen hours ago I had phoned Sharon, she was optimistic, she had decided to change the baby's nursery, to change the color...I went mad, I was grief stricken... the question that was hammering in my brain was: Why would anybody want to kill her?

"Sharon was full of life , without any malice...

"When Faye Dunaway took the part of Bonnie in "Bonnie and Clyde"* Sharon was sulking for a few hours and suddenly she burst out laughing:

" 'Imagine how I'd look with Bonnie's long skirts!' she said. (Referring to how she loved wearing only mini skirts.)

"Maybe some people think that Sharon was a simple woman, I mean, she didn' talk about politics, she didnt care about joining committes to defend anything.

"I met her in one of those Ransohoff lunchs. This guy was hateful, tough, insensitive...Because of that stupid contract my wife had to sign, he used her as if she was his slave.

"Once a week Sharon had the questionable pleasure of having dinner in his company... I looked at her, without loving her yet, seduced by the bend of her forehead, and the languor of her eyelids. I think that our contempt for Ransohoff united us.

"I remember that once he took Sharon to Jean Harlow's house, but Sharon, maybe having the feeling that Jean's tragic fate would be like hers, just felt disgust and displeasure."

THE WOMAN SHE WAS

"Sharon used to say that only by being by my side she had noticed what happiness was.

"She wasn't the 'leader kind'; her only resort in case of contradictions was to take refuge in herself, but when she made any decision she made it seriously.

"I wasn't ready to get married at all when she decided to live with me, she settled in my apartment; she came with me in spite of all the spiteful words.

"I remember a funny day, when I saw her in my apartment, cutting onions and pork fat, trying to prepare for me a polish dish.

"She was the least hypocritical woman you could ever meet: once, when an executive told her that we should ask for single cabins in the transatlantic that brought us to the United States, she simply said;

'Why? Everybody knows that we live together.'

"I had been raised in the bosom of a polish family, first in Paris and later in Varsovia, and for me, her company was just so refreshing...

"Sharon never was any trouble with anything, never ever, even with clothes. If she was invited to a party you could be sure that she would look just stunning that night; but at the same time, she looked stunning too wearing jeans or old shirts.

"However, when she noticed she was pregnant she became more conventional and she spent all her free time choosing furniture for the baby's nursery.
 
"I'm forced to mix with people of this industry and I can swear that is really difficult to meet people with her nature and her spirit.
 
"Generally, everybody is oportunistic here. Sharon had grace and charm; she knew how to make anybody's life easier. When somebody was busy, she was there in a discreet manner to serve you a drink or a coffee."

"A lot of people say to me that I must forget. I think that it bothers them to see a man grief stricken by this irreparable loss.

"Without her I feel lost, I can't explain this in words. However there are things that I just can't stand thinking of; the way she and our son died.

"People say those swines are hippies. My wife and I... we were always surrounded by hippies.

"I have tons of questions but no answers; the only thing I have now is my work. I'll devote the rest of my life to my work."

*Note: Warren Beatty originally wanted Sharon to play Bonnie in "Bonnie and Clyde" but the director had other ideas and hired Faye Dunaway instead.  I have heard that Sharon admired Dunaway's performance and that she admired her as an actress as well.

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