In Polanski’s short film, Two Men and a Wardrobe, there is a certain scene that demonstrates the theme of nonconformity in
society and the consequences of carrying a burden. There is one scene where the two men enter the front of a restaurant with their wardrobe and it is immediately evident that they do not fit in with the other civilians in the restaurant. Their clothing is much more casual and their mannerisms are noticeably dissimilar. They obviously wouldn’t fit in with the general population of that particular location. The men also carry the large wardrobe, which also sets them apart from the others. The wardrobe becomes their burden, separating them from the general people of society and making them outcasts.
What statement about humanity does Polanski attempt to make with the ending of his film, Chinatown, and was he successful?
In the final scene of Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski in 1974, he makes a statement about humanity that power and money will ultimately come out on top, no matter the circumstances of the situation. In the film, Cross is a very powerful, rich man who has a dark past. Having raped his own daughter and killing her husband as well, he will stop at nothing to see his daughter/granddaughter. Although he is guilty of serious crimes, no one dares to stop him except for Jake Gittes, who appears to be the only one to know the real truth. Evelyn threatens Cross and Jake tells her to let the police handle things, but she replies with “He owns the police.” Here we see that having money allowed Cross to assert his power over organizations that we would like to thik of as uncorrupted. But Cross managed to manipulate them because of his wealth and power. Then, when Evelyn dies, Cross again is one of the first on the scene, taking his daughter/granddaughter forcibly, and no one attempts to stop him. Even though he is guilty of hideous things, there seems to be nothing stopping him from doing it again. We can infer this by the strange way he grabs Katherine to take her from the car, in an almost posessive and inappropriate way.
In the script version of the final scene, Escobar, the leading officer of the investigation, protests that Cross is Catherine’s father and he should be allowed to hold her dead body. This again alludes to the way that he took advantage of her when she was younger. It is shocking that such a thing was able to be overlooked, but Cross was still respected regardless of all this because of his power in society. We saw how easily he manipulated the entire water situation, not even stopping at taking someone’s life. In the end, Cross gets what he wants, no matter what. He knows this is true himself, saying that Evely would have to kill him to keep him away from Katherine. He was aware that as long as he was alive, he would find a way to her, stopping at nothing.
Polanski Responses
In Polanski’s short film, Two Men and a Wardrobe, there is a certain scene that demonstrates the theme of nonconformity in
society and the consequences of carrying a burden. There is one scene where the two men enter the front of a restaurant with their wardrobe and it is immediately evident that they do not fit in with the other civilians in the restaurant. Their clothing is much more casual and their mannerisms are noticeably dissimilar. They obviously wouldn’t fit in with the general population of that particular location. The men also carry the large wardrobe, which also sets them apart from the others. The wardrobe becomes their burden, separating them from the general people of society and making them outcasts.
What statement about humanity does Polanski attempt to make with the ending of his film, Chinatown, and was he successful?
In the final scene of Chinatown, directed by Roman Polanski in 1974, he makes a statement about humanity that power and money will ultimately come out on top, no matter the circumstances of the situation. In the film, Cross is a very powerful, rich man who has a dark past. Having raped his own daughter and killing her husband as well, he will stop at nothing to see his daughter/granddaughter. Although he is guilty of serious crimes, no one dares to stop him except for Jake Gittes, who appears to be the only one to know the real truth. Evelyn threatens Cross and Jake tells her to let the police handle things, but she replies with “He owns the police.” Here we see that having money allowed Cross to assert his power over organizations that we would like to thik of as uncorrupted. But Cross managed to manipulate them because of his wealth and power. Then, when Evelyn dies, Cross again is one of the first on the scene, taking his daughter/granddaughter forcibly, and no one attempts to stop him. Even though he is guilty of hideous things, there seems to be nothing stopping him from doing it again. We can infer this by the strange way he grabs Katherine to take her from the car, in an almost posessive and inappropriate way.
In the script version of the final scene, Escobar, the leading officer of the investigation, protests that Cross is Catherine’s father and he should be allowed to hold her dead body. This again alludes to the way that he took advantage of her when she was younger. It is shocking that such a thing was able to be overlooked, but Cross was still respected regardless of all this because of his power in society. We saw how easily he manipulated the entire water situation, not even stopping at taking someone’s life. In the end, Cross gets what he wants, no matter what. He knows this is true himself, saying that Evely would have to kill him to keep him away from Katherine. He was aware that as long as he was alive, he would find a way to her, stopping at nothing.