Polanski relates to ‘Oliver Twist’s’ suffering

Drawing on painful memories
Until “The Pianist,” none of Polanski’s movies had the power of “Rosemary’s Baby,” the occult thriller starring Mia Farrow as a woman who suspects the worst about her unborn baby, or “Chinatown,” the detective story that gave the slight, puckish director a memorable cameo as a thug who slits open Jack Nicholson’s nostril with a knife.

Polanski had long dreamed of telling a Holocaust story, though he waited years to find the right one. “The Pianist” — though it told the story of a Polish musician during World War II — drew on some of the director’s childhood memories.

They are not something Polanski discusses freely.

“Roman Polanski is not putting himself out there and going, ‘This is my experience,”’ said actor Thomas Kretschmann, who played the German captain in “The Pianist.” “But you always feel that he talks out of experience.”

During shooting, “he talked later on about it, when we became a little more familiar, but I always had the sense that this is something very personal to him,” said Kretschmann, who says he still draws constantly on Polanski’s less-is-more acting approach.

“The Pianist” won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, then took home Oscars in 2003 for best director, best actor (Adrien Brody) and best screenplay.

Because of his fugitive status, Polanski did not attend the ceremony in Los Angeles. Instead, he issued a brief statement:

“I am deeply moved to be rewarded for the work which relates to the events so close to my own life, the events that led me to comprehend that art can transform pain.”

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