Kinda Funny: What Did Hollywood’s Polanski Petition Actually Say?

Stephen Metcalf, Slate | Full Story | A petition has been circulated on behalf of Roman Polanski—henceforth, to my mind, "RoPo"—and signed by A-list movie directors (Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, Wong Kar Wai, David Lynch). Here it is, briefly annotated:

We have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski’s arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.

[We the undersigned constitute a special class of persons. We are both intensely sensitive and intensely well-connected. If we worked with, partied with, and celebrated the film director Roman Polanski, it cannot be that he is guilty of anything meaningful. Our astonishment constitutes prima facie evidence of the unjustness of his being unceremoniously nabbed—and on his way to a lifetime achievement ceremony!]

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

[A "case," mind you—a still-open state of affairs, not a conviction, in which guilt has been established and admitted to. "Of morals"—oh, those American prudes!]

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

[A film festival, in other words, is like base in tag.] ... >>

Published 09.10.02 00:00:00 -0500 GMT | Posted by Andrew Garib on 09.10.03 | |