Zenovich on David Wells

Here, at long last, is a response by Marina Zenovich, director of Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, regarding David Wells' claim, contained in a recent Daily Beast article by Marcia Clark, that he lied to Zenovich on-camera about having goaded Judge Laurence J. Rittenband into throwing out the 1978 Roman Polanski plea deal:

"Dear Editors:

"I am perplexed by the timing of David Wells' statement to the press that he lied in his interview with me for my Polanski documentary. Since June of 2008, the film has been quite visible on U.S. television via HBO, in theaters and on DVD, so it is odd that Wells has not brought this issue to my attention before.

"For the record, on the day I filmed Mr. Wells at the Malibu Courthouse, February 11, 2005, he gave me a one-hour interview. He signed a release like all my other interviewees, giving me permission to use his interview in the documentary worldwide. At no time did I tell him that the film would not air in the United States.

"Mr. Wells was always friendly and open with me. At no point in the four years since our interview has he ever raised any issues about its content. In fact, in a July 2008 story in The New York Times, Mr. Wells corroborated the account of events that he gave in my film.

"I am astonished that he has now changed his story. It is a sad day for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens."

Lying Around?<< previous | next >>Raw Deal

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on October 1, 2009 at 1:36 PM

comment #1

Gogocrank Author Profile Page says ...

But I bet it'll make a great twist in her in-progress sequel. So ... a great day for this particular documentary filmmaker, no?

Posted by Gogocrank Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 1:57 PM

Posted by Gordon27 Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 1:59 PM

comment #3

Gordon27 Author Profile Page says ...

Something is weird here; I can post that link, but I can't explain it? That link is to the full story to which she refers; he contradicts the documentary at least twice.

Posted by Gordon27 Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:01 PM

comment #4

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

Just saw him on CNN. It was like Wolf Blitzer was the principal and David Wells was the student caught smoking in the bathroom. What a weird guy.

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:08 PM

comment #5

VictorLazlo Author Profile Page says ...

Good thing Polanski didn't fight pit bulls, then he'd really be finished.

Posted by VictorLazlo Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:34 PM

comment #6

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

I eagerly await the Law & Order episode that shamelessly exploits this whole mess.

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:34 PM

comment #7

Mgmax, le Corbeau Author Profile Page says ...

By the way, remember Jeff claiming that the 1973 rape was the only time Polanski ever screwed somebody underage (unlike Michael Jackson, who we all "know" did it many times)?

Find Polanski's autobiography. Look up "Kinski, Nastassja."

Posted by Mgmax, le Corbeau Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:48 PM

comment #8

George Prager Author Profile Page says ...

If Klaus Kinski's "All I Need is Love" had an index, I would tell you to look up Kinski, Nastassja. Now that is some weird shit.

Posted by George Prager Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 2:51 PM

comment #9

Mark Author Profile Page says ...

Jeffrey's pass to Polanski and condemnation of Jacko isn't because the former made only one mistake, instead of two. It's because the former's victim had developed breasts instead of a prepubescent penis. Sure there's also a little in that Chinatown means more to him than Thriller, but for longtime HE readers to think that Jeffrey doesn't accept a little misogyny, is like saying that Mel Gibson is cool w/ the Jews. That cat is out of the bag.

Posted by Mark Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 3:02 PM

comment #10

Gordon27 Author Profile Page says ...

Mark - the disengenuousness is even more obvious when Jeff continually harps on "just think of what the victim wants!" In Jackson's case, the victims all recanted their testimony. Granted, we realize that's because he paid them off (but, then, Polanski also paid his victim), but it just shows why "what the victim wants (or claims to want)" isn't a major factor in determining punishment.

Posted by Gordon27 Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 3:05 PM

comment #11

Gordon27 Author Profile Page says ...

"It is a sad day for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens."

You know, just because somebody picks up a camera and films somebody talking to them, it doesn't make it a documentary. Documentaries have extensive research; they don't just accept statements that conform to their bias without any independent verification or evidence. Sure, these things can slip up, but keep in the mind that they already had to re-edit the documentary to remove libellous claims about a sitting judge. I'd like to believe her motives were in the right place, even though she openly admits to her own bias, but it certainly seems as if this documentary was sloppily researched. (I thought that when I watched it too, but since its release, it seems to be confirming it several times over.)

Posted by Gordon27 Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 3:35 PM

comment #12

mmcshrry Author Profile Page says ...

Bill Wyman's Salon article from February 19, 2009 is available at

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2009/02/19/roman_polanski_documentary/index.html

It is his take on the Zenovich doc and it is titled "Whitewashing Roman Polanski".

The key paragraphs---

"In "Wanted and Desired," Zenovich casts Polanski, whose face repeatedly fills the screen with a Byronic luminosity, as a tragic figure, a child survivor of the Holocaust haunted by the murder of his wife, the actress Sharon Tate, at the hands of the Manson family. His friends are uniformly supportive: "This is somebody who could not be a rapist!" one exclaims.

"As for the judge, Laurence J. Rittenband, why, he's a risible self-promoter. If Polanski is Byron, the judge is an Oliver Hardy or a Billy Gilbert, all but twiddling his tie in a series of ever-more-comical photographs. He actually kept a scrapbook about the celebrities who came through his Santa Monica courtroom. He had two girlfriends.

"Now, that's one way to portray those two men -- and one that Polanski's current lawyers would prefer. But there's another way, too: You could show one as a child-sex predator who drugged a 13-year-old girl with quaaludes and champagne; lured her to pose for naked photographs; ignoring her protests, had sex with her; and then anally raped her.

"The other could be cast as a canny jurist -- possibly a brilliant one, smart enough to have gone from high school directly to Harvard Law and graduated so young he wasn't allowed to take the bar exam -- who may have gone too far in his intent to block off the legal escape hatches celebrity wrongdoers use.

"The truth is somewhere in between, but it's probably a lot closer to the second version. Yet that initial stark contrast -- the tragic hero, the goofy jurist -- permeates the film."

Posted by mmcshrry Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 6:08 PM

comment #13

Jeffrey Wells Author Profile Page says ...

One way or the other, the torch and pitchforkers will find a way to keep it all comin'. Is this an election? Are we counting votes here? More to the point, what would a truly devout follower of the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth say? I'll tell you what he/she would say. Throw the little fucking dwarf in the clink!

Posted by Jeffrey Wells Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 7:46 PM

comment #14

arturobandini2 Author Profile Page says ...

We've become an extremely vengeful society since 9/11, haven't we? Our rage stems from our impotence in the face of terrorists, international despots, Wall Street, botched elections, rogue politicians, tabloid media, H1N1, healthcare reform, redneckism ... shall I go on? Roman Polanski is a very convenient target all of a sudden, the one thing America can kick to the ground and stomp on and feel good about vanquishing: a foreigner, a celebrity, a despoiler of our children. But I ask this: Who is more sinister and posed a bigger threat to America -- Polanski or Dick Cheney? Who made a greater contribution to American culture? Of those who want to castrate the dwarf, I wonder what they think we should do with Darth.

Posted by arturobandini2 Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 8:09 PM

comment #15

Mark Author Profile Page says ...

arturobandini2 - I too must shake my head at the fervor of some of the castrators, many of whom sound as if they are to personally gain via the pending punishment. E.g., Gloria Allred wringing her hands, leaning into the camera of the Today show, and screaming "This was a crime against California!" Please. This was a the date rape of a minor, not Enron fleecing the state 8 years ago during the rolling blackouts.

That said, Jeffrey will never convince me that the inconsistencies between his Polanski and Jacko positions has to do with anything besides the victim's sex.

Posted by Mark Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 9:12 PM

comment #16

Deathtongue_Groupie Author Profile Page says ...

Congrats, apologists, you get your wish:

LA DA Cooley Says EVERYTHING Is On The Table
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/in-los-angeles-district-attorney-talks-of-polanski-charges/

Steve Cooley responds specifically to Weinstein's "so-called crime" line while also saying that "there's five or six more serious charges" to be dealt with.

In other words, had Polanski simply agreed to come back ASAP to face the charges and had his defenders kept their ignorant apologies to themselves, he might have escaped serious jail time.

Now that they are making themselves into a giant stereotypical "lefty Hollywood" target and bringing more attention to the case, Cooley doesn't want to be seen as the guy who let an admitted child rapist skate on a suspended sentence.

Perfection!

Posted by Deathtongue_Groupie Author Profile Page at October 1, 2009 9:39 PM

comment #17

Gordon27 Author Profile Page says ...

"More to the point, what would a truly devout follower of the teachings of Yeshua of Nazareth say?"

Jeff's dismissiveness would be irritating if it weren't *so* absurdly one-note that it just makes me laugh. Yes, Jeff, everybody who think that Polanski is not being railroaded by an out-of-control justice system is obviously a frothing at the mouth right-wing nutjob Christian. It's obvious just from the fact that they don't understand: he's Roman frickin' Polanski!

Speaking of the correlation between Polanski and Michael Jackson, does anybody remember the 'South Park' episode... it's not the one about MJ, it's about something else, but they keep cutting back to a talk show, and there's a guy in the crowd who keeps bringing up Michael Jackson, culminating with, "You know, who cares, even if he did molest some kids... he's Michael Jackson!"

As with many great 'South Park' moments, it's the vocal performance that really sells it.

Posted by Gordon27 Author Profile Page at October 2, 2009 12:35 AM

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Jackrabbit Slim Author Profile Page says ...

Katha Pollitt of The Nation:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/anotherthing/479379/roman_polanski_has_a_lot_of_friends

"The widespread support for Polanski shows the liberal cultural elite at its preening, fatuous worst. They may make great movies, write great books, and design beautiful things, they may have lots of noble humanitarian ideas and care, in the abstract, about all the right principles: equality under the law, for example. But in this case, they're just the white culture-class counterpart of hip-hop fans who stood by R. Kelly and Chris Brown and of sports fans who automatically support their favorite athletes when they're accused of beating their wives and raping hotel workers.

No wonder Middle America hates them."

Posted by Jackrabbit Slim Author Profile Page at October 2, 2009 2:01 PM

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Elva Blog Author Profile Page says ...

So, He lied? Very sad day for documentary film makers when something like this happens. Mobil Keluarga Ideal Terbaik Indonesia. Maybe, That link is to the full story to which she refers; He contradicts the documentary at least twice. Peace.

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The scandal is a sordid affair. All I know about Roman Polanski so far is that he is pretty high up in the Hollywood hierarchy. We probably won't know what is the truth and what isn't.

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Incidentally, remember Jeff claiming that the 1973 rape was the one time Polanski ever screwed somebody underage (unlike Michael Jackson, who we all "know" achieved it often)?

Find Polanski's autobiography. Research "Kinski, Nastassja."
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