Main Cast: Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bernard Fresson, Shelley Winters
Release Year: 1976
Country: US/FR
Run Time: 125 minutes
Plot
Director Roman Polanski casts himself in the lead of the psychological thriller The Tenant. Trelkovsky (Polanski) rents an apartment in a spooky old residential building, where his neighbors -- mostly old recluses -- eye him with suspicious contempt. Upon discovering that the apartment's previous tenant, a beautiful young woman, jumped from the window in a suicide attempt, Trelkovsky begins obsessing over the dead woman. Growing increasingly paranoid, Trelkovsky convinces himself that his neighbors plan to kill him. He even comes to the conclusion that Stella (Isabel Adjani), the woman he has fallen in love with, is in on the "plot." Ultimately, Polanski assumes the identity of the suicide victim -- and inherits her self-destructive urges. Some critics found the movie tedious and overdone; others compared it to Polanski's early breakthrough, Repulsion. The film was based on Le Locataire Chimerique, a novel by Roland Topor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Lila Kedrova - Gaderian; Rufus - Badar; Claude Dauphin - Man in Car; Folco Jacques Monod - Cafe Owner; Jean-Pierre Bagot - Policeman; Josiane Balasko - Viviane; Michel Blanc - Scope's Neighbor; Florence Blot - Mme. Zy; Romain Bouteille - Simon; Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu - Bar Waiter; Alain Frerot - Beggar; Helena Manson - Head Nurse; Maite Nahyr - Lucille; André Penvern - Cafe Waiter; Claude Piéplu - Neighbor; Serge Spira - Philippe; Gérard Jugnot - Trelkovsky's co-worker; Eva Ionesco - Mme. Gaderian's Daughter; Francois Viaur - Police Sergeant
Credit
Albert Rajau - Art Director, Claude Moesching - Art Director, Alain Sarde - Associate Producer, Marc Grunebaum - First Assistant Director, Roman Polanski - Director, Françoise Bonnot - Editor, Hercules Bellville - Executive Producer, Philippe Sarde - Composer (Music Score), Hubert Rostaing - Musical Direction/Supervision, Pierre Guffroy - Production Designer, Eric Simon - Production Designer, Sven Nykvist - Cinematographer, Andrew Braunsberg - Producer, Eric Simon - Set Designer, Gérard Brach - Screenwriter, Roman Polanski - Screenwriter, Roland Topor - Book Author
Trelkowski (Polanski), a quiet and inconspicuous man, rents an apartment in France where the previous tenant committed suicide, and begins to suspect his landlord and neighbors are trying to subtly change him into the last tenant so that he too will kill himself.
Perhaps peculiarly, the film has no end credits, only the Paramount logo. This may, however, vary between different editions.
This film does not clearly indicate whether the main character is insane or not, contrary to the previous entries in Polanski's "apartment trilogy."[2][3][4]
