The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)
Roman Polanski's take on the Transylvanian legend.
It's had various titles:
Dance of the Vampires (UK)/Tanz der Vampire (Germany)
The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck
(later, thankfully, shortened to The Fearless Vampire Killers)
The film co-starred the enchanting Sharon Tate.
Tate and Polanski were married in Chelsea, London, on January 20th 1968.
On August 9th 1969 Sharon Tate (aged 26) and four others were murdered
by members of the Manson Family in the home she shared with Polanski who was away.
She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.
In 1977, Polanski was arrested and charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
As a result of a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty
to the lesser offence of unlawful sex with a minor.
In 1978, after learning that the judge planned to reject his plea deal
and impose a prison term instead of probation, he fled to Paris.
A number of other women have later accused Polanski
of raping them when they were teenagers.
An Interpol red notice was issued for his arrest, and he rarely leaves France.
In 1979, Polanski gave a controversial interview with novelist Martin Amis
in which, discussing the case, he said
"If I had killed somebody, it wouldn't have had so much appeal to the press, you see?
But fucking, you see, and the young girls.
Judges want to fuck young girls. Juries want to fuck young girls.
Everyone wants to fuck young girls!"
So Polanski is a flawed genius to put it mildly.
His comments in the 79 interview have unnerving parallels
to Epstein and his high-rollin' friends.
I love many Polanski films but it's always disheartening
when the personal lives of people you admire turn out to be abhorrent.
I choose to separate the art from the artist.
Some of Hitler's paintings are not bad :)
regards
Titus
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