Trailer for Roman Polanski’s ‘The Palace’ — Italian Dubbed

There’s a first look trailer for Roman Polanski’s “The Palace,” but it’s, amusingly, dubbed in Italian.

Since the film will be released in Italy on September 28th, I understand where this decision comes from. The film itself looks like a comic romp. Polanski is staying away from the more subdued and solemn filmmaking of 2019’s “An Officer And A Spy.”

“The Palace” is set to world premiere in September at the Venice Film Festival. And why wouldn’t it? “An Officer and A Spy” premiered at Venice in 2019 and won the Grand Jury Prize that year. It’s a well-loved film in Europe, having even won a few Cesar awards.

Polanski, who is turning 90 this month, has had his last five films premiering at festivals. Cannes (“Based on a True Story,” “Venus in Fur”); Venice (“J’accuse,” “Carnage”); and Berlin (“The Ghost Writer”).

The problem for Polanski, and this latest film, is that his narrative has radically changed since then, especially in France where he’s become Persona Non Grata. “The Palace” is having a hard time finding distribution in two of the biggest markets, the U.S. and France.

Venice boss Alberto Barbera defended the inclusion of Polanski’s latest in an interview last month:

The Polanski case [has been] debated for 50 years. I don’t understand why one cannot distinguish between the responsibilities of the man and those of the artist. Polanski is 90 years old, he is one of the few working masters, he made an extraordinary film… It may be the last film of his career, although I hope he does like De Oliveira, who made films until he was 105. I stand firmly among those who in the debate distinguish [between] the responsibility of the man and that of the artist.

“The Palace” cost $17 million to make and stars John Cleese, Mickey Rourke and Fanny Ardant. The movie takes place at a palace in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve in 1999, with “Hotel guests coming from all over the world to the lavish dinner party, however, the celebrations take an unexpected dark turn.”