These must be strange times in Roman Polanski’s life. I don’t necessarily mean that negatively — maybe the proper word to use is surreal.
Polanski’s upcoming “The Palace” is struggling to find buyers but might, maybe, show up at the Venice Film Festival in September. We’re not really sure. There seems to be intense hate for Polanski everywhere he goes.
Two weeks ago, French magazine Le Point published an unexpected face-to-face interview between Polanski's wife, actress Emmanuelle Seigner, and his accuser Samantha Geimer. How odd.
Today, Geimer posted a photo, a reunion, of sorts, that featured herself and Polanski embracing each other. A reunion more than 40 years in the making. Surreal, indeed.
Previously, in the Le Point interview, Geimer and Seigner had found common ground in their total ire with “today’s feminism”, specifically the crusade to crush Polanski. In the interview, they went after the media and, even more so, the #MeToo movement.
Here’s Geimer, in her own words, explaining how her “victim” story has been twisted up by the media for decades now:
Let's be very clear, what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn't even know it was illegal, that someone could get arrested for it. I was fine, I'm still fine, and that this thing was made into something bigger weighs heavily on me. Having to constantly repeat that it was no big deal is a terrible burden.
The Polanski/Geimer photo released today will surely anger a lot of people. But why must they be angry? Geimer seems to have found some kind of inner peace. Let her be.
Seeing Polanski/Geimer together is symbolic in ways that feel inexplicably finite. It‘s, hopefully, the final chapter of a saga that has lasted more than 50 years.