I'm kind of ticked off right now. Yesterday, Roman Polanski was arrested upon his arrival in Zurich. His intention was to attend the Zurich Film Festival and receive a lifetime achievement award. Unfortunately, that's now impossible. Some of you might not know who Polanski is by name. If that's the case, I'm sure you're familiar with his films. They speak for themselves. Chinatown. Rosemary's Baby. The Pianist. Ironically, I watched his version of Macbeth only yesterday. You can imagine my surprise to wake up this morning and see what had transpired.
Polanski's 32 year exile from the United States had evolved into one of quiet predictability. After fleeing the country after his carefully negotiated plea bargain was reneged upon, he's spent most of his time in France. Up to this point, he's been especially careful to avoid traveling to countries that would extradite him back to the United States.
I'm not in any way dismissing his crime. What he did was wrong. I doubt that anyone will disagree with me on that front. However, the trial was conducted under somewhat dubious circumstances, and the fairness of that trial has, particularly in recent years, been severely called into question. Polanski has requested to have the case dismissed and what's more, his accuser has publicly stated that it is her desire that the case against him be dismissed.
Apparently, both the Polish and French governments are all over this already and are going to do everything that they can to keep him from being extradited to the United States. Under Swiss law, Polanski has the right to contest his imprisonment and any decision related to his extradition in a court of law. This looks to be a long, lengthy process by any stretch of the imagination.
Maybe this is just me and perhaps I'm colored by the fact that I have a tremendous amount of respect for his work, but what will be accomplished by imprisoning a 76 year old man for a crime he committed 32 years ago that even his accuser doesn't think he ought to be locked up for?
