Polanski film begins series

A skinny Polish peasant plays the fiddle and rocks a fat old man to sleep. The fat man slouches in a rocking chair, he has a single medal pinned to his torn and tattered suit. He orders the peasant about, and the peasant cheerfully complies, until he is chained to a goat. "The Fat and the Lean" was among a collection of films by Roman Polanski, Academy Award-winning director of "The Pianist," shown by the Underground Film Series.\nThe series began its fall season Saturday by showing a collection of Polanski's early short films. City Lights, the long-running IU film series which spawned UFS in 2004 showed Polanski's first feature, "Knife in the Water," Friday. \nPolanski was chosen to kick off the Underground Film Series this year because he is a recognizable name with some background in experimental film, said Mark Benedetti, a Ph.D. student in Communication and Culture who runs the underground film series. \n"Roman Polanski is a mainstream filmmaker who nonetheless has a strong basis in experimental form, a basis people are not often familiar with. Screening his early shorts gives an interesting perspective on Polanski's body of work," Benedetti said.\nPolanski's film career includes directing some of Hollywood's most memorable films, such as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby." Polanski began his career with experimentation, actively participating in the counterculture films of the 1960s and 70s, like his own "The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me but Your Teeth are in My Neck," and Paul Morrissey's "Andy Warhol's Dracula."\nAccording to imdb.com, tragedy and controversy marked Polanski's personal life. As a child in Poland, he escaped the Nazis to wander the Polish countryside. He found comfort in the cinema, spending most of his time in theaters where his mind could escape the treacheries of Polish life during World War II. He was later reunited with his father, who survived the concentration camps in Auschwitz (his mother did not). By that time, his interest in film was unshakable. He was accepted to the prestigious Polish State Film School in 1957, where he made many of his shorts. \nPolanski's dark view of existence comes through in his early films as he seamlessly melts humorous characters into tragic situations. This is apparent in his short "Two Men and a Wardrobe," about two vagabonds who carry a wardrobe around town. Another film, "When Angels Fall," shows Polanski's ability to turn an absurd setting into fodder for emotional exploration, as that film shows an old stone-faced woman who oversees a men's restroom.\nBloomington resident Phil Parli-Horne said he thought the films looked amateurish. \n"Although I enjoyed some of the shorts," he said, "some of Polanski's technical limitations were too apparent in his work."\nCommunication and Culture student Adele Marrs joined her friends to watch the shorts. \n"I liked the cinematography and music of the films, but since I'm not a Polanski fan, I can't really comment on anything in depth," she said.\nThe Department of Communication and Culture sponsors both City Lights and the Underground Film Series. Next Friday, City Lights will show two comedies by American silent film director Harold Lloyd: "Hot Water" and "Safety Last." On Saturday, the Underground Film Series will show two short documentaries by Chicago filmmaker Tom Palazzolo, and Craig Baldwin's 1995 documentary "Sonic Outlaws" about copyright infringement. \nCity Lights showings are at 7 p.m. Fridays in the Radio-Television Center 251, and the Underground Film Series' showings are 7 p.m. Saturdays in the same room.