LARRY GOPNIK (Man Out Of Sync
With His Times i.e. A Fish Out Of Water)

When the truth is found to be lies

and all the joy within you dies

don't you want somebody to love
don't you need somebody to love
wouldn't you love somebody to love
you better find somebody to love

Jefferson Airplane,1967

This film is a comedy, a black one and probably one of the best black comedies. Lawrence Gopnik the protagonist (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a responsible physics professor living in a Mid-Western suburb with his wife Judith and two teenagers, a boy and a girl, (He is a mensch, a decent responsible person with admirable characteristics as the saying goes in Yiddish. It may also mean he is somewhat feckless too.)

Pretty routine so far? Right. Well, leave it to the Coen Brothers to make it interesting. First there is an introductory old world sequence concerning the presence of evil in the world in the form of a dybbuk the malevolent spirit of a dead person which enters and controls a living body until exorcised.

Then we are brought up to the Sixties America and the Gopnik family. The Sixties were a watershed decade of change and the old values and beliefs were under attack by the fact of the baby boom, the pill and other post WWII facts like the Cold War, prosperity relative to the pre WWII era, rising drug use, the draft and the Viet Nam War to name a few plus the average age of the population was declining. Our music, books, films and culture reflected that.

The Gopnik family is reasonably well off living in a Levittown like suburb in a new house with a driveway, a family car and green lawn. The next door neighbor is a right wing gun nut who is slyly trying to encroach on Larry’s property so he can build a garage for his boat. Things go downhill from there.

First his wayward, pot smoking, teenage son Danny (Aaron Wolff) is listening to the above Jefferson Airplane song with a Sony Walkman through an earpiece. He is discovered by his Hebrew teacher and his Walkman with a twenty dollar bill tucked into the leather case is confiscated. The twenty dollars was owed to the local tough kid who sells marijuana.

Danny was listening to the Find Somebody To Love by the Jefferson Airplane. "When the truth is found to be lies, and all the joy within you dies, don't you want somebody to love" is the theme of the picture in an odd sort of way.

First Larry as a professor and religious man is seeking answers to life’s dilemmas. One of which is his wife’s (Sari Lennick)announcement that she doesn’t love him anymore and is going to marry Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed), a wealthy, sly usurper if there ever was one. The film is salted with Jewish jokes from beginning to end. It is about the uncertainties of life and that there are things that are unknowable including questions about God and our own destiny which have to be taken on faith not reason. The youth driven culture is also less accepting of the answers supplied by government leaders, religious leaders and their elders as in the past.

Larry being a professor of physics in his secular life knows that that there are mysteries that are not understood because he teaches the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle relating to quantum Mechanics and the paradox of proving whether a cat in a box is alive or dead also related to Quantum Mechanics but he also believes that everyday life is a rational experience.

In his religious life he follows tradition and relies on his Rabbi’s to furnish the answers as to what to do to save his marriage and why his wife is leaving in the first place. Sy a retired, older man who spends his days playing golf and talking in platitudes like “No one is playing the blame game here Larry” in answer to Larry’s questions as to why his wife is leaving him.

Sy also says as, he slickly smooths his way into destroying Larry’s family life,” these things happen, we make adjustments and go on.” Larry is dumbfounded as to the fact no one has the answer as to how to cure his problems in a positive way for him. At this point he is living in a motel room with his gonif (thief, scoundrel, rascal,) brother and financially sinking.

Super imposed on all this is the problem of his children, Danny and Sarah’s (Jessica McManus) constant rivalry and bickering and his loser brothers(Richard Kind) life style which includes no wife, no children ,no job, a penchant for abstract, irrational codes he keeps in a notebook, illegal gambling and pederasty.

Sarah is stealing money from Larry’s wallet to save up for a nose job, Danny is stealing from Sarah to support his marijuana habit and finally a bill collector is calling him about money owed for music records he knows nothing about.

In school, his candidacy for tenure is jeopardized by anonymous letters about sexual misbehavior on his part. We find out later in the film they are being written by Sy and are based on his wife false imaginings. Larry is tempted by the comely, brunette in the adjacent property who likes to sunbath in the nude and smoke marijuana. However his yearning s remain just that and are never consummated.

Larry is taken for granted by everyone even though he probably the best educated but not the most streetwise person in the film.

In the end we see life’s calamities strike randomly. Sy is killed in a car accident while at the same time Larry has a different car accident. His brother is arrested on pederasty charges and Larry has to pay for the legal defense. To do this he has to compromise his values by accepting a bribe from a Korean student for a passing grade in his Physics class. This act is a crushing blow to his self identity and esteem already under attack by the other changes around him.

On the day of his Bar Mitzvah ,when Danny is welcomed into religious manhood by the Senior Rabbi who returns his missing Walkman with the cryptic words from Jefferson Airplane’s Find Somebody to Love “When the truth is found to be lies and all the joy within you dies... airplane.”

The Rabbi, whose own values and teaching are challenged by the societal changes around him, obviously approves of the song’s message and sends the boy on his way with this guide to life and its apparent random uncertainties.

This is just before the climax of the film which also confirms the message that life is a process and random events cannot be plotted on a Bell shaped curve so enjoy what you can while you can.

Labels: A Serious Man; Coen Bros.

Samantha Geimer

The facts of the Polanski case are well known. Briefly in 1977, Polankski, 43 at the time, had sexual relations with a 13 year old girl during a “photo shoot’ for the “French Edition of Vogue."

Afterward the girl told her mother who complained to the police and Polanski was arrested and charged with: 1. furnishing a controlled substance to a minor, 2. committing a lewd or lascivious act on a minor under the age of 14, 3. unlawful sexual intercourse, 3. Rape by use of drugs, 4. Perversion (oral copulation and sodomy.)

The girl, Samantha Geimer, now 44 and married with four children, long ago made a civil settlement with Polanski and doesn’t think Polanski should be punished any further (This may be true because Polanski abandoned the beginnings of what promised to be a successful and lucrative career in U.S. films). Polanski wants the charges against him dismissed along with the additional charges of contempt and flight to avoid prosecution while under the jurisdiction of the court alleging misconduct by the Judge and the prosecutor. The prosecution has now had him arrested in Switzerland for return to the U.S. to face the charges pending for 32 years.

In 1977 Polanski ‘s attorney, Douglas Dalton, entered into a plea agreement to which Polanski pled guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse. Judge Laurence Rittenband was to decide on the sentence and leniency was to be recommended by Prosecutor Roger Gunson.

HBO made a documentary , “Roman Polanski: Wanted And Desired” directed by Marina Zenovich which was highly critical of the Judge and sympathetic to Polanski. In the movie another prosecutor from the District Attorney’s Office, Frank Wells, says he spoke privately with the Judge about the nature of the sentence and Rittenband decided to send Polanski to pre- sentencing diagnostic testing for 90 days at Chino State Prison. Polanski was released back to the court in 42 days with the sentencing report recommending probation.

Polansk, who was receiving celebrity treatment by the court, thought he would only serve the 42 days and then receive some sort of probation. However public opinion as expressed in the media was demanding more severe punishment in the form of a long jail sentence. Rittenband allegedly was conflicted by the proposition if he imposed a sweetheart sentence he would expose himself to public criticism. He was an elected official. Confused and conflicted Polanski fled to Europe and has since resided in France.

Polanski, 76, is married with two children and a successful European career in films and has earned the respect of the film community. He won an Oscar in the U.S. and many accolades from the European and the World film community. He has been charged with no further crimes since this incident of a serious nature.

If he voluntarily returned and didn’t seek to with draw his previous plea, more than likely he would receive probation, a fine and allowed to return to France. He also probably would be free to work in the U.S. again. What he really wants. Everyone would look good. The County could close a vexing case. Polanski could work in the U.S.

So What To Do?

First of all this was a sleeping dog until the HBO allegations of misconduct between Asst. D.A. Wells and Judge Rittenband. Now Wells contends his remarks were misinterpreted by the Director. However they are on film for the entire world to see and hear. The director says there was no misinterpretation. Wells may have embellished his words with Rittenband if he actually spoke to Rittenband in private on the subject while the matter was going on. He may have spoken to him after Polanski had fled and mixed up in the timing in his memory .

Judge Rittenband was an experienced judge and well thought of by the attorneys who brought celebrity cases before him and those who brought non celebrity cases as well. Since his courtroom was in the Santa Monica Branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court many cases involving celebrities were heard there and Judge Rittenband was experienced in the resolution of these types of cases. Celebrities, as is well known in the legal community get favorable special treatment from juries and judges 90 percent of the time.

It is hard to believe that Judge Rittenband conferred privately with another member of the prosecutor’s office regarding sentencing in a pending case. It is conduct that could result in censure by the California Judicial Council with penalties including the loss of his judicial office. It is easier to believe Wells may have been in his office on another matter and chatted about the subject after Polanski had fled. This is not good but not as bad of what is advanced in the HBO film.

Does Los Angeles Really Want This 76 Year Old Exile Back?

No, but Polanski’s lawyers were forcing the issue in the media and by seeking a dismissal without the personal appearance of Polanski. The Court contends it is not going to make any rulings until Polanski returns and submits to the jurisdiction of the court.

So Polanski got a pass on extradition all these years even though he traveled to many jurisdictions which have extradition treaties with the U.S. One of them being Switzerland where he owns a chalet. Now he has stirred a hornets nest.

What Should Polanski Do?

Polanski should do what he should have done many years before. Returned and not challenged the authority of the court and point out his exemplary life since he fled. Samantha Geimer has turned out to be a normal mom, not a drug addict, prostitute , or broken woman. All the equitable facts seem to be in his favor.

Geimer says she won’t testify against him and the victim in such a case can’t be compelled to do so. However there are the contempt and flight issues that have to be dealt with and they are not dependent on Geimer’s testimony.

In reality the Polanski case is an embarrassment to the County and the Court. He lives in France and is not a threat to the citizens of Los Angeles County or indeed to anyone anywhere including France. The Judge handling the case has already said he will not rule on the case unless Polanski comes back and submits to the jurisdiction of the court. One who is in contempt of court cannot petition the court for redress, in this case dismissal of the charges against him, with out first curing the contempt. Judge Rittenband died many years ago and is not here to defend himself.

What If Polanski Decides To Fight?

Once again the County is confronted with a celebrity who also has the means to defend himself and has sympathetic support from many sources. The County may come out of this spending millions in taxpayer dollars on a stale case which no one wants to see resurrected. Polanski was making motions that the Court was not going to rule on until he came back. The County District Attorney should have ignored him as they have done for the last 32 years and let the case die a natural death and gone on to more important things. Now the D.A. has brought the matter to a boil. Is this another blunder by the L.A. D.A. like the infamous MacMillan prosecution, the infamous O.J,. prosecution, the infamous Bruce Lisker case? Time will tell.

Labels: Roman Polanski