Don’t You Recognise Me?

Great films often hide their true meaning in the folds of their fabric. So is the case with many of the films of Roman Polanski: they may appear as mere genre exercises, but rich thematic depths are often lurking just below this generic surface. The video essay can be the ideal format to bring those hidden meanings and motifs to the fore. As was illustrated for instance in Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin‘s recut version of Repulsion.

 

In this particular piece and its accompanying text, Stefano Notaro examines the theme of identity in Polanski’s The Tenant. He makes his point (very convincingly) by reordering the film’s narrative. This remix is a prime example of how the practice of editing – creatively tinkering and toying with the very images and sounds you are examining – can generate and communicate insights with a clarity that is hard to achieve in (only) a written exposé.