Roman Polanski's 'The Palace' Failed to Create a Buzz in Venice

Roman Polanski’s black comedy “The Palace” received a lukewarm three-minute applause when it had its world premiere in the Sala Grande at the Palace of Cinema on Saturday night.

Producer Luca Barbareschi, French star Fanny Ardant and other key cast members, including German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Portuguese Joaquim de Almeida, and Italian Fortunato Cerlino (“Gomorrah”) stood and bowed, But the audience response seemed to be outwardly more polite, although there were occasional bouts of laughter during the show.

Before the premiere of the film “The Palace”, set designer Tonino Zera received the Campari Passion Film Award from Venice from art director Alberto Barbera.

Polanski directed the black comedy from a screenplay he wrote alongside Jerzy Skolemowski and Ewa Piaskowska. “The Palace” takes place during New Year’s Eve 1999, when a dinner party at the Gstaad Palace hotel in Switzerland takes an unexpected turn. Cast includes Olivier Masucci, Fanny Ardant, John Cleese, Bronwyn James, Joaquim de Almeida, Luca Barbareschi, Milan Bischel, Fortunato Cerlino, Mickey Rourke, Alexander Petrov, Viktor Dobronravov, Irina Kastrinidis, Olga Kent, Anna Celebu, Matthew T. Reynolds . Tico Cilio, Marina Strakhova, Michele Shapa, Danilo Kotov and Davide Gagliardi.

miscellaneous Chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote of the film: “When I saw The Palace, Roman Polanski’s dazzling comedy, I was sitting in the 1,400-seat Sala d’Arsena (and it was full), and on the rare occasion when there was a line in the film that made me laugh… It was literally about six people coming in. I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of a giant theater this Deadly silence for a movie that works so hard to entertain you.

Polanski has a history in Venice, having premiered his film “Carnage,” starring Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster, at the festival in 2011, as well as “An Officer and a Spy” in 2019.

His return to the festival this year sparked controversy, as he faced several allegations of sexual assault over the course of his career. He was originally arrested in 1977 in Los Angeles for assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Gilley. He entered into a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, and was sentenced to 90 days of psychological evaluation in a California prison. He was then released after 42 days and placed on probation. Gilley later sued Polanski in 1988 and eventually settled the suit in the 1990s. He was then arrested again in 2009 in Switzerland at the request of the United States, but in the end the attempt to extradite him for trial failed. In 2018, Polanski was removed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. However, in March this year, Gilly stated in an interview with Polanski and his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, that she forgave him and “anyone who thinks he deserves to be in prison is wrong.”

When asked why one of Polanski’s films was included in this year’s screening list, Alberto Barbera, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, said in an interview with: diverse“It’s been 60 years. Polanski has admitted his responsibility. He asked to be forgiven. The victim has forgiven him. The victim has asked for an end to this case. I think that continuing to attack Polanski means looking for a scapegoat for other situations that deserve more attention.”

Earlier on Saturday, during the film’s press conference, producer Luca Barbareschi expressed his support for the director by chanting “Viva Polanski!”. It also came to an end.

“I don’t understand why all the platforms: Paramount+, Amazon, Netflix, have Polanski [older movies] “They make millions for them,” he said. “Why don’t they make a new Polanski movie?”

“The Palace” will premiere in theaters in Italy on September 28.