THE TENANT   1976 (Le locataire) Directed by Roman Polanski 126 minutes In English

After the triumph of his Hollywood film Chinatown, Roman Polanski went back to his roots and made this film which marked an unsettling return to the horrifying dark psychodramas of Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby along with the surreal absurdism of his earlier films.

Polanski himself plays the lead character of Telkovsky, a young Polish immigrant who's having a hard time finding an apartment in Paris. When he finally finds one, he discovers that it is empty, because the previous tenant, Simone Choule, attempted to kill herself by jumping out of the window. Curious about the incident, he goes to visit her in the hospital. After Simone dies of the injuries, Trelkovsky begins to become obsessed with her, and starts believing that the tenants in the building are involved in a sort of conspiracy. Is Trelkovsky's dread truly justified - or is it the result of his seemingly disintegrating mental state? Or is he being haunted by the previous owner's spirit?

That is just the premise of the film, and I won't go more into the plot. Let's just say that the film is full of haunting images, black humor, and a fascinating plot adapted from the novel by Roland Topor (Fantastic Planet). Starring Isabelle Adjani and Shelly Winters.

This will be a high-definition screening.