The Tenant

"Apartment for rent: Quiet building. Furnished. 2 rooms. Previous tenant committed suicide."

1976 2h 6m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 1,270

ThrillerMysteryDrama

Synopsis

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

“Apartment for rent: Quiet building. Furnished. 2 rooms. Previous tenant committed suicide.”

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Cast

Roman Polanski
Trelkovsky
Isabelle Adjani
Stella
Melvyn Douglas
Monsieur Zy
Jo Van Fleet
Madame Dioz
Bernard Fresson
Scope
Shelley Winters
Concierge
Lila Kedrova
Madame Gaderian
Claude Dauphin
Husband at accident

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski
Languages: English, French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

50 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roman Polanski, shot by Sven Nykvist. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Philippe Sarde. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Françoise Bonnot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Roman Polanski and Isabelle Adjani and Melvyn Douglas carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Apartment for rent: Quiet building. Furnished. 2 rooms. Previous tenant committed suicide.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0074811 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roman Polanski directs. Sven Nykvist behind the camera. Philippe Sarde scores. Françoise Bonnot cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in English, French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

150 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, French.
3Directed by Roman Polanski, shot by Sven Nykvist. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Philippe Sarde. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Françoise Bonnot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Roman Polanski and Isabelle Adjani and Melvyn Douglas carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Apartment for rent: Quiet building. Furnished. 2 rooms. Previous tenant committed suicide.".
8IMDB entry: tt0074811 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 28 themes, including "suicide", "paris, france", "identity", "psychopath".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sven Nykvist
Original score: Philippe Sarde
Editing: Françoise Bonnot
Production design: Pierre Guffroy
Costume design: Jacques Schmidt
Makeup / hair: Didier Lavergne
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $5,100,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Tenant (1976)

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Roman Polanski

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-11-26
★ 7/10
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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