The Tenant

This macabre, made-in-France psychological horror film is often described as a remake of Repulsion with Polanski himself in the Catherine Deneuve role —although The Tenant is perhaps closer in spirit “to Kafka than to the earlier film's bizarre admixture of Freud and Edgar Allan Poe” (Tom Milne). Polanski is Trelkovsky, the tenant of the title, a naturalized French citizen of Polish origin who takes over the lease of a gloomy Paris apartment after the previous tenant, a young woman, commits suicide. In a claustrophobic two-room flat where his every movement is observed, the mild-mannered Trelkovsky begins to suspect that his certifiably creepy neighbours are involved in a sinister plot to drive him to a similar fate. Everywhere he sees the menacing signs and symbols of malice. Even more alarming, he finds himself gradually assuming the identity — and donning the clothes — of the previous tenant. The oppressive forces bullying him in ways both overt and subtle cause Trelkovsky to retreat further and further into insanity, until his slow disintegration reaches its shocking conclusion. A very young Isabelle Adjani plays Stella, a woman who befriends Trelkovsky. The expert cinematography is by Swedish great Sven Nykvist. Colour, DVD. 124 mins.

Post-screening discussion with Dr. Roland Atkinson, Professor of Psychiatry at the Oregon Health and Science University. A long-time cinephile, Dr. Atkinson is the film columnist for Clinical Psychiatry News, and the author of over 500 reviews on films portraying psychiatric themes, all posted on his website www.Psychflix.com.