From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Tenant
The Tenant
The Tenant (Le Locataire) The Tenant (French: Le Locataire is a 1976 psychological
Locataire)
thriller/horror film directed by and starring Roman
Polanski based upon the 1964 novel Le locataire chimérique
by Roland Topor. It is also known under the French title
Le Locataire. It co-stars actress Isabelle Adjani. It is the last
film in Polanski’s "Apartment Trilogy", following Repul-
sion and Rosemary’s Baby. It was entered into the 1976
Cannes Film Festival.[2] The film had a total of 534,637 ad-
missions in France. [3]
Plot
Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski), a quiet and unassuming
man, rents an apartment in Paris whose previous tenant,
Egyptologist Simone Choule, attempted to commit sui-
cide by throwing herself out the window and through a
pane of glass below. He visits Choule in the hospital but
finds her entirely in bandages and unable to talk. Whilst
still at Choule’s bedside, Trelkovsky meets Simone’s
friend, Stella (Isabelle Adjani), who has also come to visit.
Stella begins talking to Simone, who becomes aware of
original film poster her visitors. Initially showing some signs of agitation up-
Directed by Roman Polanski on seeing them, Choule soon lets out a disturbing cry,
then dies. It isn’t clear which of the two has caused this
Produced by Hercules Bellville
reaction. Apparently unaware that Choule is now dead,
Written by Roland Topor (novel) Trelkovsky tries to comfort Stella but dares not say that
Gérard Brach he never knew Simone, instead pretending to be another
Roman Polanski friend. They leave together and go out for a drink and a
Starring Roman Polanski movie (Bruce Lee’s Enter The Dragon), where they fondle
Isabelle Adjani each other. Outside the theatre they part ways.
Melvyn Douglas As Trelkovsky occupies the apartment he is chastised
Jo Van Fleet
unreasonably by his neighbors and landlord, Monsieur
Bernard Fresson
Lila Kedrova Zy (Melvyn Douglas), for hosting a party with his friends,
Claude Dauphin apparently having a woman over, making too much noise
Shelly Winters in general, and not joining in on a petition against an-
other neighbor. Trelkovsky attempts to adapt to his sit-
Music by Philippe Sarde
uation, but is increasingly disturbed by the apartment
Cinematography Sven Nykvist and its tenants. He frequently sees his neighbors stand-
Editing by Françoise Bonnot ing motionless in the toilet room (which he can see from
his own window), and discovers a hole in the wall with
Release date(s) May 26, 1976 (France) a human tooth stashed inside. He receives a visit and
June 11, 1976 (USA)
a letter from one Georges Badar (Rufus), who secretly
October 8, 1976 (Finland)
loves Simone and has believed her to be alive and well.
Running time 125 min Trelkovsky updates and comforts the man and spends
Country France the night out with him. Gradually he changes his break-
fast habits like Simone and shifts from Gauloises to Marl-
Language English / French boro cigarettes.
Box office $1,924,733[1] Trelkovsky becomes severely agitated and enraged
when his apartment is robbed, while his neighbors and
the concierge (Shelley Winters) continue to berate him
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Tenant
for making too much noise. He becomes hostile and para- • Michel Blanc - Scope’s Neighbor
noid in his day-to-day environment (snapping at his
friends, slapping a child in a park) and his mental state
progressively deteriorates. He buys a wig and woman’s
Production notes
shoes and goes on to dress up (using Simone’s dress • Polanski receives no acting credit, despite the fact he
which he had found in a cupboard) and sit still in his plays the lead character.
apartment in the dead of night. He suspects that Zy and • While the main character is clearly paranoid to some
neighbors are trying to subtly change him into the last extent (as exemplified in the scene when he believes
tenant, Simone, so that he too will kill himself. He has a neighbour is strangling him, when he is in fact
visions of his neighbors playing football with a human shown strangling himself), this film does not entirely
head, sees himself staring out of his own window and reveal whether everything takes place in his head or
finds the toilet covered in hieroglyphs. Trelkovsky runs if the strange events happening around him exist at
off to Stella for comfort and sleeps over, but in the morn- least partially, contrary to the previous entries in
ing after she has left for work, he concludes that she too Polanski’s "apartment trilogy."[4][5][6]
is in on his neighbors’ plot, and proceeds to wreak havoc
in her apartment before departing.
At night he is hit by an elderly couple driving a car.
References
He is not wounded too seriously, but receives a sedative [1] http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tenant.htm
injection from the doctor due to his odd behavior—he [2] "Festival de Cannes: The Tenant". Festival-
perceives the elderly couple as landlord Zy and cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/
wife—after which the couple returns him to his apart- archives/ficheFilm/id/2115/year/1976.html.
ment. A deranged Trelkovsky dresses up again as a Retrieved 2009-05-08.
woman and throws himself out the apartment window in [3] http://www.jpbox-office.com/
the manner of Simone Choule, before what he believes to fichfilm.php?id=8166
be a clapping, cheering audience composed of his neigh- [4] Meyncke, Amanda Mae (July 02, 2008). "Roman
bors. The suicide attempt, in fact, wakes up his neigh- Polanski’s Apartment Trilogy Still As Artful As
bors, who arrive at the scene together with the police just Ever". Film.com. http://www.film.com/dvds/story/
in time for Trelkovsky to crawl up to his apartment and roman-polanskis-apartment-trilogy-still/
jump one more time. 21687948.
The end of the movie is enigmatic. Trelkovsky is ban- [5] Thompson, Anne (July 25, 2007). "Rush Hour 3:
daged up in the same fashion as Simone Choule in the Ratner Casts Polanski as Sadistic Cop". Variety.com.
same hospital bed, but we see his and Stella’s own visit to http://weblogs.variety.com/
Simone. Trelkovsky then lets out the same disturbing cry thompsononhollywood/2007/07/movie-
that Simone had screamed. There is the possibility that directo-5.html.
the scene is not a flashback and that Trelkovsky is really [6] "A POLANSKI GUIDE TO URBAN LIVING".
Simone Choule. Cinemaretro.com. 2009-08-19.
http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/
archives/209-A-POLANSKI-GUIDE-TO-URBAN-
Cast LIVING.html.
• Roman Polanski - Trelkovsky
•
•
Isabelle Adjani - Stella
Shelley Winters - Concierge
External links
• Melvyn Douglas - Monsieur Zy • Le Locataire at the Internet Movie Database
• Jo Van Fleet - Madame Dioz • The Tenant (Le Locataire) at AllRovi
• Bernard Fresson - Scope • The Tenant at Millipede Press 2006
• Lila Kedrova - Madame Gaderian • The Tenant at Rotten Tomatoes
• Claude Dauphin - Husband at the accident
• Claude Piéplu - Neighbor (as Claude Pieplu)
• Rufus - Georges Badar
• Romain Bouteille - Simon
• Jacques Monod - Cafe Owner
• Patrice Alexsandre - Robert
• Jean-Pierre Bagot - Policeman
• Josiane Balasko - Office Worker
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Tenant&oldid=463638282"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Tenant
Categories:
• French films
• French thriller films
• 1976 films
• 1970s thriller films
• Satirical films
• Supernatural thriller films
• Black comedy films
• Films based on French novels
• Films directed by Roman Polanski
• Psychological thriller films
• Films shot in Luxembourg
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