The Tenant

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The Tenant (Le Locataire)
original film poster
Directed by	Roman Polanski
Produced by	Hercules Bellville
Written by	Roland Topor (novel) Gérard Brach Roman Polanski
Starring	Roman Polanski Isabelle Adjani Melvyn Douglas Jo Van Fleet Bernard Fresson Lila Kedrova Claude Dauphin
Music by	Philippe Sarde
Cinematography	Sven Nykvist
Editing by	Françoise Bonnot
Release date(s)	May 26, 1976 (France) June 11, 1976 (USA) October 8, 1976 (Finland)
Running time	125 min
Language	English/French
IMDb profile

The Tenant (French: Le Locataire) is a 1976 psychological thriller/horror film directed by Roman Polanski based upon the novel Le locataire chimérique by Roland Topor. It is also known under the French title Le Locataire. It co-stars actress Isabelle Adjani.

Contents 1 Plot synopsis 2 Theories about the film 3 Cast 4 Trivia 5 Memorable Quotes 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Plot synopsis

• Trelkovsky (Polanski), a quiet and inconspicuous man, rents an apartment in France where the previous tenant committed suicide, and begins to suspect his landlord and neighbors are trying to subtly change him into the last tenant so that he too will kill himself.

[edit] Theories about the film

• The idea of an eternally recurring,cyclical nightmare existence,like a kind of wormhole that ends with two identities forever condemned to contemplate one another's fates for eternity,is a possibility-maybe functioning as a sort of psychoanalytic metaphor for the ageless human struggle for integrity of identity,the id side(or secret side-Simone's homosexuality was open,but she dies 10 minutes into the film,and we never really meet her,a symbol for suppression)attempting to reconcile itself with the superego,the Appollonian,the "higher" self.Trelkovsky would have been a latent homosexual,his id being suppressed and causing a spiritual contamination?Maybe this theoretically eternal transference at the end of the film is Polanski's idea of a real,spiritual hell?

This film does not clearly say whether the main character is mad or not, contrary to the previous entries in Polanski's Apartment Trilogy. Therefore a lot of theories have been made about it.

• The presence of Egyptian objects symbolism could lead to the reincarnation theory : Trelkovsky and Simone would be the same person, that would explain the scene where Trelkovsky sees himself in his apartment. One can then tell that the scene where Trelkovsky stare at Simone is the same scene, with a curious time warp. The bathroom can then be seen as a funeral chamber (the hieroglyphs), and Simone as a mummy because of her appearance.
• Trelkovsky is either a fictional character created by Simone, or a fantasy based upon the man visiting her at the hospital. Therefore the entiring film, except the first scenes, does not actually take place. Simone is schizophrenic and develops another personality in order to fulfill her homosexual desires upon her friend Stella.
• Trelkovsky is just a mad man who is hallucinating (this is suggested by the mise en scène).
• Trelkovsky was deliberately made mad by his neighbors (as he claims to Stella). He is schizophrenic and think he is Simone, which ultimately leads to his suicide.
• The film is auto-biographical. Some potential proofs are : Polanski changing Trelkovsky's origins (in the book, he is of Russi extraction), the statements he made about how he used his experience to make the movie (the racist jokes, the cold neighbors).

[edit] Cast

• Roman Polanski - Trelkovsky
• Isabelle Adjani - Stella
• Melvyn Douglas - Monsieur Zy
• Jo Van Fleet - Madame Dioz
• Bernard Fresson - Scope
• Lila Kedrova - Madame Gaderian
• Claude Dauphin - Husband at the accident
• Claude Piéplu - Neighbor (as Claude Pieplu)
• Rufus - Georges Badar
• Romain Bouteille - Simon
• Jacques Monod - Cafe Owner
• Patrice Alexsandre - Robert
• Jean-Pierre Bagot - Policeman
• Josiane Balasko - Office Worker
• Michel Blanc - Scope's Neighbor
• Shelley Winters - the Concierge

[edit] Trivia

• The film shown in the theatre is Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon.
• It is the last film in Polanski's Apartment Trilogy, following Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby.
• The film has no end credits; only the Paramount logo.
• In competition in Cannes film festival, 1976.
• The album Bites by Skinny Puppy uses many samples from this film.
• The song "Fritter (Stella's Home)" from Skinny Puppy's VIVIsectVI album also uses clips from this film.
• The coffee shop scene in the beginning of the film is one of the only ones in movie history in which a couple is being shown sitting in a coffee shop while on the table lies used coffee cups from a prior time. Waiter is taking the dishes away as soon as the two sit down.
• This film was #65 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
• Philippe Sarde (the composer) chose the glass harmonica after having seen Polanski, at the restaurant, mimicking with his finger the action making the glass sing.^[1] There were only one person left in the world that could play this instrument, for which Mozart wrote a few pieces.
• Philippe Sarde made a appearance in the film, he plays the man disturbed by Trelkovsky and Stella at the theatre.
• One of the ten most terrifying moments in history of cinema in the opinion of the French horror movie magazine Mad Movies.
• This film is amongst the first ones to use the Louma, along with Spielberg's 1941, and Superman. ^[2]

[edit] Memorable Quotes

Trelkovsky: These days, relationships with neighbors can be... quite complicated. You know, little things that get blown up out of all proportion? You know what I mean?

Stella's Friend: No, no I don't. I mind my own business.

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Trelkovsky: I am not Simone Choule!

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Trelkovsky: [talking to himself] [he opens a box and takes out a pair of shoes] Oh! My! Where did you find these? They are beautiful! A size 68? I had *no* idea!

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Trelkovsky: You want me to do it again? I shall do it again! You did not like it the first time.

[shouts] Simone Choule does not disappoint!

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Stella: Why don't you take your tie off? You look like you're choking to death.

Trelkovsky: I found a tooth in my apartment. It was in a hole.

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Trelkovsky: If you cut off my head, what would I say... Me and my head, or me and my body? What right has my head to call itself me?

[edit] External links

• Le Locataire at the Internet Movie Database
• The Tenant, Millipede Press 2006

[edit] References

1. ^ http://romanpolanski.online.fr/le_locataire.htm
2. ^ http://www.roman-polanski.net/filmo/film_locataire.htm

Films directed by Roman Polanski

Rower • Uśmiech zębiczny • Rozbijemy zabawę • Morderstwo • Dwaj ludzie z szafą • Lampa • Gdy spadają anioly (When Angels Fall) • Le Gros et le maigre • Ssaki • Nóż w wodzie • Les Plus belles escroqueries du monde • Repulsion • Cul-de-Sac • The Fearless Vampire Killers • Rosemary's Baby • Macbeth • What? • Chinatown • The Tenant • Tess • Pirates • Frantic • Bitter Moon • Death and the Maiden • The Ninth Gate • The Pianist • Oliver Twist • To each his cinema • Pompeii