Well, wouldn’t you know it, Roman Polanski might be in a wee bit of trouble.
The 86-year-old director of “Chinatown” and “Rosemary’s Baby” has been a fugitive of the law in the United States for the better part of 40 years now. Back in 1978, he fled to France instead of facing his sentence on a charge of statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer, charges which he had pleaded guilty to. Geimer has been fairly open about forgiving Polanski about what he’d done and has even pleaded to the press to stop harassing him and let him live his life.
However, now Polanski is facing new accusations, but from a different person. French actress Valentine Monnier is accusing the prolific director of raping her at a ski chalet in Switzerland in 1975, when the actress was 18-years-old.
The report was published by French newspaper Le Parisien (via IndieWire), in the wee hours of Friday evening. In the report, Monnier claims that the director “violently” raped her. The newspaper even has corroborating proof from a few witnesses who are willing to testify on Monnier’s behalf.
Monnier’s accusation stems from an alleged incident she said happened at Polanski’s chalet in 1975. Polanski invited her to his room after dinner, that is where he subsequently ambushed her, hit her and ripped off her clothes before raping her, she claims. Monnier called the incident “extremely violent,” and added: “He pummelled me until I gave in and then raped me, making me do all sorts of things.”
“Rape is a time bomb,” the actress told Le Parisien. “The memory does not fade. It becomes a ghost and it follows you, and it changes you insidiously.”
There is a 20-year statute of limitations involving rape crimes in Frances, so the director is in the clear, but this no doubt further dampens the reputation he’s garnered in the #MeToo era. Polanski has lived in France now for the better part of 40 years.
“I denounce this crime knowing that there can’t be any punishment, in an attempt to end exceptions, impunity. Public figures are being considered as models. By idolizing the guilty ones, we prevent people from realizing the serious consequences of their acts,” added Monnier.
This accusation comes as Polanski’s new film “J’Accuse” (“An Officer and a Spy”) is about to be released all over France next week.
Now it looks like Bradford Young — who took a sabbatical from movies these last seven or eight years — has attached to the project as DP. This is a welcome surprise.