The Tenant (Classic Film Pick)

Roman Polanski’s intense 1976 psychological thriller stars the director himself as Trelkovsky, a troubled file clerk who takes over the former apartment of a young female suicide victim named Simone Choule who jumped from its Parisian windows. Trelkovsky comes to believe that his cruel nagging neighbors were to blame for the woman’s suicide, and are now using their same bizarre methods to extract a similar response from him. Enigmatic performances from Isabelle Adjani as a chic friend of the deceased, and from Polanski as a man losing his sanity, contribute greatly to the film's unusual layers of suspense that coincide with the director's keen eye for Paris locations, and brilliant visual compositions. Known as the last of Polanski’s apartment trilogy, following “Repulsion” and “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Tenant” contains one of the most outrageous double climaxes ever committed to celluloid. Nightmares will follow.

Not Rated. 120 mins. (A+) (Five Stars)