News: Polanski Ruled to Return to US

Several years ago, I watched a touching film based on a musician during the Second World War. The director's vision was so strong and powerful that it stood out from others films of its time. The movie won an amazing 3 Oscars on top of many other awards. The title of the film is The Pianist, and the director is Roman Polanski.

This world renowned filmmaker has recently been in the news not for his film making prowess, but for his earlier criminal convictions relating to sexual abuse of a 13-year old girl. Over 32 years ago, at age 43, Roman Polanski was convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse after a plea bargain with the prosecution. Roman Polanski is now being forced to return to the US to face up to his demons after fleeing to France in 1978 to escape his sentence.

Polanski was detained at Zurich airport on September 26, 2009, due to a warrant that was put out for him in 1978. He was flying in to Switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award. Some might say it's a wonderful achievement to have managed to escape sentencing for 32 years, but now it is time to face up to his charges. As a French citizen, Polanski has cowered under this protection, and has not faced extradition charges. In all this time, he has never returned to the United States and has yet to answer for the sexual abuse he admitted to long ago. Some people believe enough time has passed for the director to be excused from his past, but most do not.

On Friday, January 21, it was ruled Polanski must return to the United States at 76 years of age to answer for his crimes. His lawyer stated that Polanski would appeal the ruling. Despite the global controversy surrounding his escape from punishment, Polanski has continued his filmmaking career and has a new film, The Ghost Writer, due out soon. Clearly, Roman Polanski has enough money to pay for his lawyer's fees without hesitation, but his past behavior and with his directing talent have created a bit of a quandary for Hollywood and film goers.

Great films, regardless of how irresponsible the director may be, will always remain as they are, but it's hard to continue backing someone who continues to run from their past. The Pianist is a stand out film, but unless he stands up for his previous acts and accepts responsibility for them, there will be at least one less viewer in the cinema.