Roman Polanski: A Retrospective

The story of Roman Polanski's career is checkered with sadness and scandal. Arguably the most controversial film director of our time, his strokes of genius on the screen enthral, move and entertain us--and despite the events of his personal life, his power as a filmmaker is indisputable. He is a man who fascinates and intrigues, and the epic of his life is the stuff of movies itself. He continues to produce some of the most powerful movies of our time, notably The Pianist (2002), for which he won the Oscar for Best Director. Roman Polanski: A Retrospective is the ultimate tribute to one of the world's most prolific and influential film directors. Acclaimed film critic James Greenberg takes readers chronologically through Polanski's extraordinarily rich and varied career, offering profound insights and analyses for each film. Greenberg offers unparalleled insight into every one of Polanski's movies, from the early days of Knife in the Water (1962) to his latest masterpiece, Carnage (2011). Specially commissioned commentaries are interwoven with Greenberg's overview, along with sections that cover Polanski's talent not only as a director, but as an actor and screenwriter as well. The book is richly illustrated with more than 250 photographs, including behind the scene photographs from Polanski's movies, and it illuminates the backstory of a man whose harrowing childhood and highly controversial life could be a film themselves.