Roman Polanski

No wonder he ran away. In February 1978, when Roman Polanski skulked off to LAX and hopped a plane to Europe, never to return, it seemed like the act of a frightened, guilty man. Convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl - after ducking a list of more serious charges - the celebrated director of Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown blew town rather than face jail time. The coward's way out. But Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, a fascinating if flawed documentary about the scandal and the man - and the victim, Samantha Geimer, nee Gailey, now 45 - tells a different story.

"Do you like oysters?" Roman Polanski is peering over the faux leather menu, his hazel eyes as mischievous as a teenage boy's on a Saturday night. Polanski. The man who coaxed Nastassja Kinski into turning a simple bite into a lush, ripe strawberry into one of the most sensuous scenes of the '80s. The man who got adorable Mia Farrow to suck on a mousse-covered spoon, searching out the chalky undertaste that led her to be raped by the devil. The man who fled to France rather than face charges he sexually assaulted a 13- year-old California girl.

THE LEVEL OF ignorance demonstrated by some of your correspondents never ceases to amaze me. According to Donna Di Giacomo's letter, child-drugger/rapist Roman Polanski is a "victim of the U.S. judicial system. " Why? Because he paid off his accuser, she forgave him and he said "sorry. " I hope she really enjoys all the hit movies made by this sick pervert. Andrew Stewart Philadelphia

Roman Polanski has warned that his latest release, "Bitter Moon," is a comedy. And this claustrophobic tale of erotic obsession, faded love and addictively harbored hatred is a campy hoot. For a while. But halfway in - right after our impassioned narrator, Oscar (Peter Coyote), recalls how the magic went out of his relationship with the luscious young Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner, Polanski's wife) when the pig mask routine stopped working for them - giggles become gasps. Polanski leads us into an emotional no man's/woman's land of such exquisite cruelty that reactions like humor or horror can't protect us. "Bitter Moon" is Polanski's deepest, most disturbing film in two decades.

WHEN FOUR adults attempt to mediate a playground dispute, it all goes desperately wrong in Roman Polanski's bitter comedy "Carnage. " The pic is claustrophobic by design - four characters, one apartment - but we're trapped in this small space with a pretty enviable cast. Mike and Penelope (John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster) are the concerned parents of a boy wounded in a scuffle among grade-school lads. They invite the parents (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) of the perp for a "friendly" exchange, and all four attempt to hammer out the wording and circumstances of a formal apology (any parent knows what a terrible idea this is)

OVER TIME, I have seen how many readers could take issue with columnist Michelle Malkin. But her most recent column ("Lecherous celebs still livin' large," Feb. 3) actually made some sense. Ms. Malkin was dead-on accurate. Pedophilic celebrities are made to be above the law. Regardless of the accusation, they never seem to get their just rewards. Both R. Kelly and Roman Polanski have admitted to several sexual encounters with underage girls 13 to 15 years old. That on its own is statutory rape.

I'd wager that there are two reasons why Roman Polanski set his new movie, "Frantic," in Paris. The first being that the movie's story, about a man whose wife suddenly disappears, benefits from a foreign setting: Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) is in a country he knows nothing about, whose language he doesn't understand, which only adds to his frustration and bewilderment over what has happened. The second being that Polanski isn't allowed in the United States. Well, he's allowed here, but if he comes, he has to stand trial on morals charges.

Shake hands with the devil and next thing you know, you've got the devil to pay. He doesn't take checks. His is a souls-only business. And be advised: Satan never sleeps. This pretty much summarizes The Ninth Gate, Roman Polanski's overwrought and underwritten thriller set somewhere between the devil and the deep blue sea. It's about an unscrupulous bibliophile (Johnny Depp!?) hired by an ungodly industrialist (Frank Langella?!) to authenticate a rare volume believed to be the devil's work.

When his name was announced as having just won the Academy Award for Best Actor two months ago, there was probably no one more surprised than winner Adrien Brody himself, edging out such formidable nominees as Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis. If you hadn't seen the film, you could've asked, "Was it that good?" Well, the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Recalling moments from his own youth in Nazi-occupied Poland, director Roman Polanski's extraordinary "The Pianist" (VHS: priced for rental; DVD: $26.99)

If any further proof was needed that much of Hollywood exists in its own star-studded galaxy far, far away, look at the reaction to the arrest of Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski. Polanski was picked up last Saturday while on his way to accept a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival. Swiss filmmaker Otto Weisser said of the arrest: "This for me is a shock. . . . He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago. " A little mistake? Here's the reality.

WHEN FOUR adults attempt to mediate a playground dispute, it all goes desperately wrong in Roman Polanski's bitter comedy "Carnage. " The pic is claustrophobic by design - four characters, one apartment - but we're trapped in this small space with a pretty enviable cast. Mike and Penelope (John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster) are the concerned parents of a boy wounded in a scuffle among grade-school lads. They invite the parents (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) of the perp for a "friendly" exchange, and all four attempt to hammer out the wording and circumstances of a formal apology (any parent knows what a terrible idea this is)

AS WORDS OF consolation to fans of R.E.M. , everybody hurts sometime. The Athens, Ga., alternative-rock group that began with a "Murmur" in 1983 and later earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, announced on its website yesterday that it has "decided to call it a day as a band. " "A wise man once said - 'the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave.' We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it," frontman Michael Stipe said in a statement.

Special treatment for Polanski A man brutally rapes a 13-year-old girl. He goes to jail and stays there. Not Roman Polanski. He directs movies, and people go to see them. He reaps the rewards. So Polanski gets another gift. No jail time, and money and acclaim ("One more gift for Polanski," Wednesday). This is a real travesty of justice. Down deep, I am disappointed at the people who made his movies such huge successes. Do people know and care what this man is all about, or do we have to be reminded every 30 years, by caring writers such as Steve Lopez, about the scum that walk the streets?

You'd have to call it Roman Polanski's luckiest day since 1978, when he managed to flee Los Angeles before a judge sentenced him for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. On Monday, Swiss authorities refused to extradite the Oscar winner, who was arrested last year in Switzerland and placed under house arrest while Los Angeles prosecutors lobbied to have him brought back for a final verdict on a crime committed more than 30 years ago. The Swiss government said there were "persisting doubts concerning the presentation of the facts of the case.

One 'Sex and the City' not enough Oy. And vey. That's all we have to say. Another day, another Sex and the City flick. SATC2 debuts May 27. Arms linked, 187 years among them, striding relentlessly toward your wallet, the four SATC seniors, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, and Sarah Jessica Parker, will do anything for a camera, cover, column, or commercial. Kim roars: Don't you ever call Samantha, my fiftysomething sex decathlete, a cougar! "I think that's something that people who are uncomfortable with strong women have labeled her," snarls Kim to Extra.

Oy. And vey. That's all we have to say. Another day, another Sex and the City flick. SATC2 debuts May 27. Arms linked, 187 years among them, striding relentlessly toward your wallet, the four SATC seniors, Kim Cattrall , Kristin Davis , Cynthia Nixon , and Sarah Jessica Parker , will do anything for a camera, cover, column, or commercial. Kim roars: Don't you ever call Samantha, my fiftysomething sex decathlete, a cougar! "I think that's something that people who are uncomfortable with strong women have labeled her," snarls Kim to Extra . Correct, Kim. Also correct is SJP, who tells columnist Marc Malkin , "You don't want to see me topless.

Fugitive filmmaker Roman Polanski has been accused for a second time of sexually abusing a teenage girl. British actress Charlotte Lewis said the Oscar-winning director sexually molested her when she was 16, just a few years after Polanski was charged in California with assaulting a 13-year-old girl. Polanski, 76, is under house arrest in Switzerland, facing extradition to the United States. After pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse, he skipped out just before sentencing in 1978 and remained on the lam until Swiss authorities arrested him on Sept.

Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer is as cold and snappy as the wind crashing into the New England coastline where much of this agreeably pulpy political thriller takes place. There's no deep subtext here, just a page-turner turned to the screen (Robert Harris, adapting his own best seller) with trenchant performances and evidence of a dark - very dark - wit. Loaded with Hitchcockian hugger-mugger, this is a genre Polanski clearly revels in. Ewan McGregor is the unnamed hero, or sap, of the tale: a cocky journalist who accepts a fat paycheck to punch up a bland memoir by former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan)

TATTLE'S ALWAYS been fond of Switzerland. The chocolate. The Alps. The neutrality. Unfortunately, newspaper salaries don't pay for Swiss vacations. If only we'd raped a teenager 32 years ago and fled the country. Roman Polanski is expected to leave his Swiss jail cell this week for house arrest in a luxury, three-story chalet on the edge of Gstaad with a view of the Alps. There he'll walk around his private garden and listen to the yodeling and wait to hear whether the Swiss will extradite him to the United States.