First Look: HBO's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:30:55 PDT

If you're looking for something to watch besides the Greek finale tonight, you might want to head over to HBO, where the very buzzworthy - and very controversial - documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired premieres at 9 p.m.

The film revisits the events of 1977, when Polanski forever tainted his reputation by becoming embroiled in a sex scandal with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski pleaded guilty to a felony charge but then fled to France to avoid serving time in prison; he's never returned to the United States, including when his film The Pianist won him a Best Director Oscar in 2003. The documentary, which HBO bought after it screened at Sundance earlier this year, goes beyond issues of guilt and innocence and looks at the media circus that broke out around the trial, placing much of the blame for what happened on the judge who presided over the proceedings.

Years after fleeing the country, Polanski continues to be a controversial figure, and the film seems to be bringing much of that controversy back into the open: HBO even changed the ending of the film after the Los Angeles County Superior Court issued a stern rebuttal to one of the charges made against it in the movie. It seems like there's no doubt this film will have people talking.

To check out a trailer and a short clip from the film, just