The Oscars are one of the most prestigious events in the field of cinema and few award ceremonies hold the level of honor that the Academy Awards. The ceremony ends the coveted awards season and has been the aim for many of the greatest films of the year. However, the biggest awards show has been tainted by several events that occurred during the ceremony.
While events such as Envelope Gate and Will Smith slapping Chris Rock were moments of embarrassment for the Academy, one particular decision made by the organizers and Hollywood, in general, can be called the ceremony’s most disgusting moment. The decision in question is when Roman Polanksi, a fugitive on the run for s*xually assaulting a minor was awarded the Best Director Oscar for The Pianist.
The Oscars Have Been Tainted Due To Roman Polanski’s Academy Award Win
The 75th Academy Awards had some of the most memorable films as the nominees. Films such as the musical Chicago, Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in competition. However, one of the most anticipated but controversial nominees was director Roman Polanski’s The Pianist.
Starring Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman, a Holocaust survivor, the film was based on the experiences of the pianist. Polanski himself reportedly had experienced the concentration camp in Krakow Ghetto in Germany and had lost his mother there. The director had run away from the camp and had reunited with his father after the Second World War.
The film received universal acclaim for Brody’s performance and Polanski’s direction, with both winning the Oscar. However, in the years since the ceremony, the awarding of Roman Polanski by the Academy has been under fire. In 1978, Polanski fled the United States of America after he pleaded guilty to having unlawful s*x with a minor.
According to the New York Times, the filmmaker was accused of r*ping a 13-year-old girl whom he had photographed as a model. The filmmaker was accused of dru*ging and having non-consensual intercourse with the minor and faced several other charges. After entering a plea for a reduced sentence, Roman Polanski fled to Paris as he got wind that the judge would not be honoring the agreement.
Hollywood Had Supported Roman Polanski Despite Pleading Guilty
Roman Polanski’s Oscar win brought forth much criticism in the wake of the ‘Me Too’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements. According to Glamour, Harrison Ford, who announced the winner personally went to Paris to present the award to Polanski. Only in 2019, the filmmaker was expelled from the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences along with Bill Cosby (via Variety).
In the Oscars footage of Roman Polanski’s win, several noted Hollywood celebrities were seen giving standing ovations to the filmmaker who was absent from the ceremony. Celebrities such as Meryl Streep, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Nicolas Cage, and more can be seen applauding the win.
The filmmaker was reportedly arrested in 2009 in Switzerland at the request of the USA but was released a year later. According to Far Out, one of the reasons for Polanski’s release was the petition put forth by a host of Hollywood directors and actors demanding his release. Prominent celebrities such as Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, David Lynch, Tilda Swinton, Natalie Portman, and more had reportedly signed the petition.
After the ‘Me Too’ and ‘Time’s Up’ movements, Natalie Portman came forward to regret the petition, saying that she did it because someone she respected handed the petition to her. She said in an interview with Buzzfeed News,
“I very much regret it. I take responsibility for not thinking about it enough…The thing I feel like I gained from it is empathy towards people who have made mistakes. We lived in a different world, and that doesn’t excuse anything. But you can have your eyes opened and completely change the way you want to live.”
The filmmaker has still been making films and has received accolades at different international award ceremonies and festivals. He received the Cesar Award for Best Director for his film The Officer and the Spy in 2019.
