Roman Polanksi attacks ‘despicable’ press coverage of wife Sharon Tate’s murder

Polanski’s film ‘An Officer and a Spy’ is a controversial entry at the Venice Film Festival

Roman Polanski poses during a photocall prior to the screening of his movie 'Based on a true story' at the Cinematheque in Paris on 30 October, 2017 (LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

Roman Polanski has condemned the "despicable" coverage of his wife Sharon Tate's murder at the hands of the Manson Family.

The director’s latest film, An Officer and a Spy (which centres around the 19th century Dreyfus affair, in which a Jewish man was wrongfully convicted of treason), is featured in this year’s Venice Film Festival competition category.

Polanski, who fled the United States after entering his guilty plea and now lives in France, isn’t attending the festival but answered questions in an interview featured in the press notes, according to Deadline.

“The way people see me, my ‘image’, did indeed start to form with Sharon Tate’s death,” he said.

“When it happened, even though I was already going through a terrible time, the press got hold of the tragedy and, unsure of how to deal with it, covered it in the most despicable way, implying, among other things, that I was one of the people responsible for her murder, against a background of satanism."

He continued: “For them, my film Rosemary’s Baby proved that I was in league with the devil! It lasted several months, until the police finally found the real killers, Charles Manson and his ‘family’. All this still haunts me today. Anything and everything. It is like a snowball, each season adds another layer. Absurd stories by women I have never seen before in my life who accuse me of things which supposedly happened more than half a century ago.”

In the same interview, Polanksi defended himself over the statutory rape case that saw him plead guilty to unlawful sex with a minor four decades ago.

He was asked how he intends to “survive the present-day neo-feminist McCarthyism” and responded: “Working, making a film like this helps me a lot. In the story, I sometimes find moments I have experienced myself, I can see the same determination to deny the facts and condemn me for things I have not done.

“Most of the people who harass me do not know me and know nothing about the case. ... My work is not therapy. However, I must admit that I am familiar with many of the workings of the apparatus of persecution shown in the film, and that has clearly inspired me.”

Polanski’s inclusion in the Venice Film Festival’s competition caused controversy when the line-up was unveiled in July.

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Jury president Lucrecia Martel has since said she wouldn’t congratulate Polanski at the festival, while stating she believes it’s “correct” for his film to be featured in the competition.