Roman Polanski’s ‘European Oscar’
Earlier this month, Roman Polanski’s would-be “political thriller” The Ghost Writer won “best picture” at the European Film Academy awards, which were held this year in Tallinn, Estonia. The academy’s “best picture” award is officially known as the “European Film” award. The Ghost Writer also took the awards for “European Director” (Polanski), “European Screenwriter” (Polanski and Robert Harris), “European Actor” (Ewan McGregor), “European Composer,” and “European Production Designer.”
The film is a kind of amalgam of “good European” pieties (e.g., the righteousness of the International Criminal Court) and delirious anti-American phantasms. It follows the trials and tribulations of a ghostwriter working on the memoirs of a former British prime minister. In the midst of his assignment, the ghostwriter gradually uncovers the “appalling truth” — as the official synopsis puts it — that his employer had been under the control of the CIA while residing at 10 Downing Street. Any resemblances between the fictional former prime minister and the real former Prime Minister Tony Blair are clearly intended. For good measure, the film has the “Blair” character assassinated by the father of a British soldier who was killed in Iraq.
As discussed in my earlier PJM report on “Berlinollywood,” Polanski’s The Ghost Writer was not only largely filmed in Germany, it also benefited from massive German public subsidies. These included €3,540,944 directly from the German government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. This works out to nearly $5 million at current exchange rates. The money came in the form of a grant from the German Film Fund (DFFF). The DFFF is a federal program under the direction of Germany’s commissioner for Culture and Media. As noted on the German government’s website, the commissioner reports directly to the chancellor. The commissioner is commonly referred to as the “Culture Minister.”
The German Federal Film Board (FFA), a distinct federal program, pitched in with another €500,000, as did the joint “Media Board” of the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Other regional film funds contributed smaller sums. The Ghost Writer also received some €590,000 in support from the European Union’s MEDIA program. (See European Commission press release here.) This brings total either German or EU support to over €5.5 million or nearly $7.5 million at current exchange rates.
That’s nice. Our friends in Europe shelter an American fugitive from justice, a convicted child-rapist, and then their governments give him money to make anti-American propaganda films.
About what I’d expect from the Eurotrash.
And to top it off, thanks to the liberal Democrat morons, we’ve been spending billions, for decades, in order to keep these pricks from slaughtering each other.
Why?
Absolutely. The anti Americanism comes from the military presence in Germany. It is no surprise what so ever that this movie is German funded. I have been saying this on PJ for years. But every time, someone will claim that having forward bases in Europe, mid east and far east somehow is good for US national security.
As long as the US insists on having military bases all over the globe, then the US should accept that the globe hates them right back. It’s part of the package.
The ridiculousness about the hole thing is that they serve absolutely no military purpose what so ever as witnessed by the Turkish denial of letting US use their own airbases in turkey during OIF.
This is the the math in a nutshell:
Use a fortune + risk the lives of your servicemen = Be hated + no military benefit
So true, so true. Sadly, though, the political ‘elites’ and other powers-that-be in Washington tend to accept the version they get from European governments to be closer to the truth. But it’s pretty much the same version of the truth no matter who says it.
Will we ever stop subsidizing Europe’s security? If our politicians get their spending under control there won’t be enough money to spend on other nations’ security needs. So, maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
…. thanks to the liberal Democrat morons, we’ve been spending Trillions of Dollars for more than two hundred years, to keep these pricks and/or their well-deserved enemies from all around the world from slaughtering one other.
…. Why ….?
The war-profiteering Kennedy, Kerry & Gore et al Crime Family Military-Industrial Complex and Lyndon Baines Brown & Root/Haliburton branches of the vast RICO-racketeering organized-criminal-enterprises AKA the “Democratic” National Socialist Workers’ and Fascist Gangsters’ potty are alive and well and profit mightily from every real and/or imagined scrap they can rustle up any place on Earth.
This despite none of us ever met a Euro-puke or a Euro-craphead he wouldn’t rather see engaged in the slaughter of every other sanctimonious, supercilious self-styled “superior” Europrick!
Well… if this award went, say, to an American-funded, Polish-made anti-German movie, it would be newsworthy. This, on the other hand is business as usual. USA has no friends in Western Europe. Soon you’ll have no friends in Central/Eastern Europe too, thanks to the foreign policy of US government…
“..if this award went, say, to an American-funded, Polish-made anti-German movie, it would be newsworthy”. You seem to know nothing about European-German relations and absolute nothing about German-Polish relations. Or have you ever heard of pro-German news or a pro-German narrative? And our relations to the US? Forget it.
“USA has no friends in Western Europe.”
Might as well be “friends” with a viper.
It is interesting and very clever the way the left likes to invert the truth.
From what I have read there was indeed one British Prime Minister that was either under the control of, or worked in cooperation with a foreign intelligence service.
Only the service was the KGB and the Prime Minister was much further to the left than Mr Blair.
Lefty American film critic Roger Ebert gave The Ghost Writer 4 stars. He said the main character was so modeled on Tony Blair that he might as well have been wearing a name tag. Of course, Ebert wasn’t bothered by (or perhaps just didn’t notice) any anti-American theme.
Roger Ebert, a second rate “public intellectual”
Didn’t notice? It was the whole reason it got four stars. I once went looking for consistency in film reviews. There is none. They are as biased as the rest of us. If it’s liberal proselytizing, then it’s a deep message, if it’s conservative, then its bombastic jingoism aimed at putting morons in seats. If it’s gory, violent, and sadistic, but its themes are liberal, then it’s art. If it’s violent, and bloody, but it’s message is conservative, then it’s just shock.
Roman Polanski is a pervert and a convicted criminal on the run from the United States. Why this pedaphile isn’t in jail is beyond words. The mere fact that he is NOT in jail and living the high life in Europe tells you that the Europeans are nothing but a bunch of morally bankrupt, corrupt, greedy, and self-centered hedonists. They should be shunned by all decent people, not that they would care.
“The mere fact that he is NOT in jail and living the high life in Europe tells you that the Europeans are nothing but a bunch of morally bankrupt, corrupt, greedy, and self-centered hedonists.”
Well, yes, but where’s the news? As for their moral correction, it would appear that Islam is slowly bringing a form of that to the Continent. This current generation of Eurotrash will be gone, unfortunately, by the time that happens. But their children and grandchildren will benefit fully.
The movie by Polanski is not anti American; it is anti leftist. It shows the left as bloodthirsty, hateful, and dissembling. It shows that the “Peace Movement” is nothing more than an anti American movement.
This movie was boring and illogical. The stars would probably have had to accept a contract far below their standard fees for it to even have a chance to break even financially. Roman Polanski and the others involved in the project seem to be guilt tripped Westerners. We are the supposedly the reason there is so much suffering in the world. Our enemies are merely victims forced to fight against our imperialistic and aggressive actions.
German-funded anti-American films. And people tell me things have changed since the 1930s. Ha!
Next time let the Germans win. Or the Russians or the Muslims or a nuclear Iran or China or—-. Who Cares? If that happened then all the Euro weenies could walk around happily with both hands raised above their heads of the shouting we did it we did it, we got rid of everything, our soles are cleansed, we can now live as victims.
I love it when artists like Wim Wenders class America as a totalitarian regime apparently oblivious that it never has been but his own country has.
Another artist, Italian Max Papeschi makes a living out of art that shows America as fascist when his own country actually was facist. This is the delusion liberals suffer; reality means nothing nor the word hypocrisy.
I made a Facebook page in answer to Papeschi with, to me, hilariously anti-Italian artwork and it is somewhat filthy. Okay, it’s just filthy. I use his name – you’ll know it’s mine by the Mussolini profile pic. Papeschi hasn’t the gonads to go after Europe and knows that by tapping into European anti-American fantasies he can go, cha-ching.
As one wag put it, Fascism is always said to be rising in America, but it always ends up being Europe where it actually lands.
We should withdraw our troops from Europe and stop our military from serving as a jobs program for these Euro-losers.
One would think this was just a little German pay-back for WWII, but it is a lot more than that. All the Euros have been like this since well before WWII. Their anti-Americanism only intensified when its dawned on them, sometime after the First World War, that Europe was no longer the world’s political epicenter.
This is not a German or even a European phenomena. Witness the recent “artistic” disaster at the Smithsonian, when they were forced to shut down an exhibit of ants crawling over a crucifix due to public outrage. The Andy Warhol Foundation is predictably howling about censorship. The universal truths are these.
The left hates traditional American values. They have gained control of the governmental funding decision making centers in the arts, and have built a perpetual funding mechanism. They grant funds to select artists, then grant awards for their production, then grant more funds based on the success of the artist. It is a closed system, devoid of public involvement, except for tax revenue. The long term effect is that art is dying, or has died, in the West. There is a universal disconnect between people and art. Disgust is the commonality on both sides.
The solution is an adherence to law, and common sense. If an artist, or a priest rapes a young child, they should go to jail. Both may have talent; both are criminals. The funding government decision makers should have a high turn over. Currently death is the only real means to change power centers. And a personal view, the latter half of the twentieth century has been an artistic low point in the history of mankind. Most of what has been produced will be in land fills by the next century. Why? Because it neither relates to people, or lifts them up. Shock and hatred are the common themes. The mantra, “This disgusting object challenges you to think about….” has become jaded and trite. There are superb artists working, but they are not well supported, and scramble to survive because the money flows toward political junk. This has often happened in history, e.g. Stalin’s art. His great artists left Russia.
Western culture is sick, in trouble, and conflict.
This douchebag needs to die the slow death of infamy.
Awards Shmawards.
Give him the pos exit stage left cum spurting creepy crawly pervo award he really deserves: JAIL
Wenders described the United States as a “fundamentalist totalitarian state”
When a moron like this describes my country as a totalitarian state it’s clear he doesn’t understand what the term ‘totalitarian’ means. I guess he’s too young to remember the USSR? Or East Germany? Or ‘modern day’ China for what it is. If he’s that stupid it’s understandable why he doesn’t recognize a good film when he sees it – or a piss poor one.
Did anyone else actually see this movie?
In a nutshell, it was terrible. And not just because Roman Polanski has an agenda. The “shocking” revelation was that the CIA had *gasp!* recruited the prime minister’s wife to *gasp!* do Very Bad Things like encourage the prime minister to get involved in the war on terror. And at the end, the main character gets clobbered by a car during the prime minister’s funeral, thus preserving the secret forever.
The cinematography was dull, the characters were rigid and predictable, and worst of all, the plot line was nothing new. The only possible way a reviewer could come away with a positive impression would be if they:
a) hadn’t seen a single spy movie involving a main character who was a head of state in 30 years or
b) are already within Polanski’s reality distortion field
So to sum up, it was boring, unoriginal, slow, and boring. I want those two hours of my life back.
I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, the plot was an anti-American fantasy. So what? It also had two excellent performances from Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams, a wonderfully dark sense of humor, a literate script, and a twist ending that actually made sense in the context of the film. Very few thrillers these days can boast of anything like that. And I thought it was beautifully shot, right from the opening image of the ferry emerging out of the fog. Hate Polanski the man as much as you want, but put it aside when it comes to his movies.
Europeans like to pretend they were never Nazis and Fascist’s and pretend America, which saved Western Europe, is a Fascist state. How’s that for neo-realism?
Here we go again. Who are these “Europeans”? There are quite a lot of countries in Europe and they all tend to think differently. Even within these countries there are differences; the people of Bavaria refer to the rest of the Germans as “Prussians” and its not a term of endearment. You Americans (I generalise) should take a hint from one of your greatest presidents.
“Well, I learned a lot….I went down to Latin America to find out from them and (learn) their views. You`d be surprised. They`re all individual countries.”
‘Who are these “Europeans”?’
Folks who live in Europe.
And, yes we know that there are a few minor differences between the Swiss Confederation and Nazi Germany, and we know that all Europeans and European nations aren’t exactly alike.
We Americans are ignorant and provincial, but not that ignorant and provincial.
Hollyweird is full of indoctrinated liberals who throughout their lives are taught to hate America first by their parents, and then their profs at institutions of “higher learning”, and lastly the movie industry. It used to be 300,000 people in the industry but now Californians are leaving the state like rats on a sinking ship because of the total incompetence of the liberal leadership. Remember though, the Hollyweirders sure won’t be giving up (or paying taxes) on their off-shore trusts when this country is flowing down the toilet with two more years of “The Anointed One.” Maybe he could call the rock’n’rollers to help. Oh, sorry, I forgot, most of them are probably busy with those Aliester Crowley Satanic meetings and the sacrificial evening festivities. Then there are all the hundreds of sad stories. Doctors now say that the amount of bogus prescriptions among celebrities and their children are staggering. Unfortunately, unless something is done soon, it won’t be long until we add another name to the list that already includes Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, Brittany Murphy, Heath Ledger and now Corey Haim. And lastly, they love their “heroes” like Roman. Only the European atheist’s love him more. But give Roman time, there’s always a chance for another Satan worshiping film winner.
So where are the real heroes’s for Hollyweird? I have some simple advice. You want to meet a real hero so you can figure out what kind of movie to make? Go talk to the three Navy SEALs who faced assault charges for capturing one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq. Remember, when it comes to Hollyweird: There is no space as vacant as that of an actor without a script in their hand
While I have my hatreds for the Euro weenies, let’s not forget our brothers and sisters who are conservative (and they exist) in Europe who have to live with this filthy reprobates. We all tend to want to paint all of Europe with the same brush, but our own denizens voted Obama into office. Conservatives of the world, unite!
“Did anyone else actually see this movie?”
Not likely. I’m not going to put money in the pocket of a child-rapist like Roman Polanski.
I might steal a copy and throw it in the town dump to help keep Polanski from making any money, if I thought I wouldn’t get caught…but, that’s the limit of my financial interactions with Mr. Child-raper.
Everything this article says about the cronyism of the European film community may be true, but the truth is that The Ghost Writer was an excellent movie and Polanski, while a reprehensible human being, a great director.
You are right. Furthermore, one should focus on the meaning of the sentence: ” Polanski’s The Ghost Writer was not only largely filmed in Germany, it also benefited from massive German public subsidies”. The correct sentence might be: ” The Ghost writer profited from massive German public subsidies because it was largely filmed in Germany”. By the way, American films might profit(and did already)too if the same criteria can be applied.
Personally, I think his movies are crap, but the fact that he’s a scumbag child-rapist would cancel out the fact that he makes good movies, even if he was John Ford reincarnated (which he ain’t).
One doesn’t have anything to do with the other. He could be the devil himself and still make good movies. And he doesn’t make good movies, he makes great movies, and he’s made a lot of them. He’s certainly made some mediocre films as well, but Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Tenant, Bitter Moon, and The Pianist are more than enough to put him in the pantheon. Most directors barely manage one great film in a career. Even his less successful films, like Cul-de-Sac, usually have something interesting or compelling in them. And yes, he’s also a child rapist and he should be in jail. It doesn’t change a frame of any one of his movies. The work is not the man.
Hey, it’s a package deal. Hitler doesn’t get a break because he liked dogs. Killing millions of innocent people cancels out the fact that he was kind to Alsatians.
Besides, making movies is such an insignicant achievement, that making a good one is cancelled out by the evil of jaywalking.
What a plumber does is more valuable than what a movie director does.
Way more valuable.
If I’d never heard the name Roman Polanski my life wouldn’t be one whit the worse, if I have raw sewage running through my house, I’m screwed. Because of peculiarities in the market system, movie directors can make more money than plumbers, but there ain’t no way in hell they’re more valuable.
Have not, nor ever will see this movie.
My comment is about the anti-Americanism in europe that seems to animate this film. I’ve over time come to the conclusion that the rabid hatred some in europe exhibit against us in the US really isn’t even political for most of them.
It’s more they see us by never considering them in our every action as giving them the finger. We have our own concerns, which they uniformly refuse to acknowledge. The anti-US factions act as if we are committing a huge insult just for trying to protect our own enterests. They of course routinely do that for their own nations, but consider our doing it without their premission as a great crime. That’s what doesn’t make any sense..
They treat us more like an estranged child than a rival nation.
Nothing we do or say is enough to satisfy them. They got the president they craved.. and the result is.. they still hate us. Him they kinda like, since he likes to apologize for the rest of us so much. But they still can’t let go the notion we don’t want to be like them, or ask their premission for every action.
We passed that day a great many years ago.
“But they still can’t let go the notion we don’t want to be like them”
For some reason putting millions of Jews to death or packing people off to the gulag doesn’t float my boat.
Plus, they all talk funny over there.
Why not try to be open minded & like & respect people where ever they are from. Obviously Roman Polanski has forgiven his past even if he has not forgotten it…
The Ghost Writer is a great film and should win awards everywhere
Switzerland’s refusal to extradite film director Roman Polanski to California was not the burning political issue of the past year ending 2010 according to the Swiss.
But in California there is still a political issue burning – and that is Judicial Corruption.
Roman Polanski’s 1977 case is not the only instance of Judicial Corruption at the Santa Monica Courthouse, California, since others have suffered the same Judicial corruption & the stings of injustice, in the form of police brutality for reporting police cover up of sexual assault.
This makes a diabolical double standard in how sexual assault cases are handled at the very same venue, with partiality and police cover-up being given to those perpetrators working for California government.
This State of affairs in California strangely enough parallels the burning issues in the movie “Rosemary’s Baby” directed by Roman Polanski more than 41 years ago, since also in reality, there are secret covens to boot sexual assault victims for reporting police cover-up of their sexual assault complaints in the Santa Monica Courthouse California.
ileak because what is past is prologue!