Swiss cinema fans and industry professionals have paid homage to Roman Polanski at a special evening organised by the Swiss Film Archive in Lausanne.The organisers said they wanted to recall Polanski's immense talent as a director and his contribution to film history, rather than discuss the ins and outs of the ongoing legal case. But there was sharp criticism of the Swiss authorities.
The arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland was a bombshell that "shocked" the cultural world, Fréderic Maire, the new director of the Swiss Film Archive, told swissinfo.ch on Wednesday.
"Our idea was to remind people of Polanski's importance as a filmmaker," he said. "It's the Film Archive's role to watch films, ask questions and discuss such issues."
Maire was accompanied on stage by Swiss director Lionel Baier and François Albera, professor of cinema at Lausanne University.
"Today we only talk about him in terms of morals and hide his strengths and place in cinema history," Baier told the audience.
Albera echoed this sentiment: "When you look at a Caravaggio painting you don't think about the fact that he killed someone and went to prison, you admire his work. Or if you read a book by Marquis de Sade, you don't worry about his lack of morals for which he was imprisoned – we have to re-qualify the dimensions of this affair."
He added: "The bloggers who freely attack Polanski on websites don't know who he is or what they are talking about."
Maire, Albera and Baier (left to right) debated during the Polanksi evening (Keystone) Bitter commentary
Two films were shown, followed by a debate with members of the audience.
The first was Le Gros et le Maigre (The Fat and the Lean), a little-known silent short by Polanski from 1961, and then A King in New York by Charlie Chaplin from 1957.
"If we'd chosen two long Polanski films, people would have taken it more symbolically," Maire said. "By showing Rosemary's Baby, some people might have said Polanski was the son of Satan, or by showing The Pianist, we could have been accused of trying to get people to shed a tear over his fate."
The choice of the two films was significant, however.
The situation depicted in the Waiting for Godot-esque short film can be seen as a bitterly ironic commentary on Polanski's legal troubles. The ending of the film, when the bullying master angrily chases after his slave (Polanski) who is fleeing towards Paris, seems especially poignant.
A King in New York presents a satirical view of certain aspects of US politics and society, taking a bitter swipe at media harassment and the plight of the main character (Chaplin), who is accused of being a Communist and has to face a McCarthy hearing.
"There are lots of parallels between Chaplin's film and what's happening today to Polanski in terms of the role of the media and the situation of the filmmaker," said Baier.
"The history of American cinema has been punctuated by the persecution of certain filmmakers for their sexual appetites, like Fatty Arbuckle, or for political reasons, like Charlie Chaplin," Maire added.
"Moralistic period"
There was a consensus that now Polanski was detained in Switzerland and likely to be extradited to the US, he should face the music. But doubt was still cast on the fairness of the trial and related events over 30 years ago.
"There was a kind of witch-hunt surrounding Polanski's trial in the US, which was not a fair one, and which caused him to flee," Maire said.
"We are in a very moralistic period in which we forget to put into context what happened in the 1970s," said Baier.
"I don't want to lessen the crime, but Polanski did not plead guilty to rape but unlawful sex with a minor, which is not the same. We now talk about rape and paedophilia with words that take on different connotations."
Those in attendance also took swipes at the intervention by the Swiss authorities.
"I think the Swiss did everything correctly – it always does," Baier said. "You can't reproach the Swiss government for anything as it only did its job. But as the French writer Beaumarchais said, 'laws are linked to humanity in the way they are applied'."
"In 20 years people will look back on the Polanski affair and remember that Switzerland brought an end to his life and career in order to please the US authorities linked to banking secrecy," one member of the audience told swissinfo.ch.
Maire also questioned the "strange" and "clumsy" arrest of Polanski at the Zurich film festival on September 26, which in his view was sure to have a "very negative" impact on outside views of Swiss culture.
"It obviously gives a very uncultured image of Switzerland, which has little consideration for artists," he told swissinfo.ch.
Simon Bradley in Lausanne, swissinfo.ch
