The Tenant (1976)

★ 7.6 2h 6m 1,224 votes IMDb

A quiet and inconspicuous man rents an apartment in Paris where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia.

The Tenant

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Cast

Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski as Trelkovsky Age 92 · Paris, France Roman Polański (born 18 August 1933) is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer and actor. Born in Paris to Polish parents, Polański relocated with his family to Poland in 1937. After survivin...
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani as Stella Age 70 · Paris, France Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born June 27, 1955) is a French film actress and singer. Adjani has appeared in 30 films since 1970. She holds the record for most César Award for Best Actress with five, for...
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas as Monsieur Zy Died 1981 · Macon, Georgia, USA Melvyn Douglas (born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg; April 5, 1901 – August 4, 1981) was an American actor. Douglas came to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man, perhaps best typified by his perf...
Jo Van Fleet
Jo Van Fleet as Madame Dioz Died 1996 · Oakland, California, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Catherine Josephine Van Fleet (December 30, 1914 – June 10, 1996) was an American stage, film, and television actress. During her long career, which spanned over...
Bernard Fresson
Bernard Fresson as Scope Died 2002 · Reims, Marne, France Bernard Fresson (27 May 1931- 20 October 2002) was a French cinema actor. He starred in over 160 films. Some of his notable roles include: Javert in the 1972 mini-series version of Les Misérables, Ins...
Shelley Winters
Shelley Winters as Concierge Died 2006 · St. Louis, Missouri, USA Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned almost six decades. She appeared in numerous films, and won Academy Awards for T...

Audience Reviews

CinemaSerf 7/10 Nov 26, 2024
This is probably my favourite Roman Polanski film, as he takes centre stage playing the timid "Trelkovsky". He is looking for an apartment to rent in Paris and despite the rather frosty reception from concierge (Shelley Winters), the inquisition from his landlord "Zy" (Melvyn Douglas) and the fact that it's got no bathroom he decides to live there. He knows from the start that the previous occupant tried to kill herself by jumping from the window, and that she is still clinging on in hospital, so he goes to visit her and encounters her pal "Stella" (Isabelle Adjani). She's a bit of a live wire and that doesn't sit well in his new lodgings where a library-like atmosphere is actively encouraged. Indeed, before long he begins to feel that his neighbours are engaged in a plot to force him out, or even worse. He's hearing noises, voices; he's imagining things. Or is he? His flat is broken into; he fears that someone is going to try and kill him as he sleeps. In short, paranoia is taking a firm hold of this man. What also doesn't help is the fact that he is becoming increasingly obsessed with the (now deceased) previous occupant, and that leads to significant changes to his frequently erratic behaviour too. Is all of this real or is he just losing the plot? Polanski delivers well here, as does Adjani but it's really the whole concept that makes this interesting. It reminded me a little of "Rosemary's Baby". Not in any Satanic fashion, but in the way the claustrophobia of his dwelling with animosity on all sides; his own personality instinctively weak, susceptible and all in the face of a danger that might be real, or then again... It has some effective menacing elements of a psychological conspiracy thriller to it that I though worked really quite well and the two hours flew by as his character really does start to get under your skin.

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