Although Roman Polanski was granted bail last week and was expected to be released from jail before now, a delay in transferring the $4.5 million bail money meant that he didn’t leave prison until yesterday. He was then taken to an undisclosed location, before being transferred to his Swiss chalet today. The Chinatown director will now be electronically monitored and banned from leaving the house.
Polanski was arrested on Sept. 26th after flying into Switzerland for the Zurich Film Festival, and held on an international arrest warrant from the US, who want him extradited to America to face the statutory rape conviction he fled from in 1978. The charges stem from his having sex with a 13-year-old girl after plying her with drugs and alcohol at the home of Jack Nicholson (who wasn’t present at the time). Polanski initially plead guilty, but fled to France before sentencing.
Although Swiss authorities will rule on whether he should be extradited within weeks, Polanski may well appeal, dragging things out for months. This is despite the fact that few people think he has much chance of stopping himself being sent to the States, especially now that many of his powerful supporters have backed away from him after being reminded of the details of the crime he was was charged with.
Whatever you may think of him, Polanski has led an almost unbelievable life, going from his youth in the Warsaw ghetto to the heights of Hollywood. However his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered by Charlie Manson’s gang in 1966, he got arrested for having sex with a minor a few years later, and then fled to Europe. Since then he’s had a career resurgence, eventually winning the Best Director Oscar for The Pianist (but couldn’t attend the ceremony because of being a fugitive), but has now spent two months in a Swiss prison and awaits a decision on his extradition. It’s a story that wouldn’t be believable if he put it in one of his movies, but it’s all true.