The Tenant 4K UHD - Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Shelley Winters

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Le locataire")

USA / France 1976

Trelkovsky, freshly arrived in Paris, is in desperate need of a place to live. After inquiring at a large apartment complex run by the brooding Monsieur Zy, he’s offered the room of Simone Choule, a resident who recently attempted suicide by throwing herself out of the window. Undeterred by this macabre event, Trelkovsky is happy to move in. Shortly thereafter, he meets Stella, Simone's friend, and does his best to comfort and befriend her. Quickly integrating into Stella’s bohemian social scene, Trelkovsky hopes that his life is finally turning a corner; that is, until his new neighbors begin acting strangely, making wild accusations against him, and displaying increasingly sinister and violent behaviors. As the weeks go on, Trelkovsky begins to suspect that something is very wrong in the stuffy old building and that Simone’s fatal plunge might not have been her own doing…

From maverick director Roman Polanski (Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby) comes one of the most unusual and unsettling studio thrillers of the 1970s: THE TENANT. Adapted from Roland Topor’s cult novel, Polanski casts himself in the lead, offering a uniquely demented and outrageously funny performance, and is supported by Melvyn Douglas (The Changeling), Shelly Winters (Night of the Hunter, Lolita), and Isabelle Adjani (Possession). Featuring cinematography by two-time Oscar winner Sven Nykvist (Cries and Whispers) along with an original score by acclaimed composer Philippe Sarde (La Grande Bouffe), Vinegar Syndrome is thrilled to present the 4K UHD debut of THE TENANT, newly and exclusively restored in 4K from its original camera negative and featuring a wide array of new and archival extras including an expanded interview with Polanski himself.

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Director Roman Polanski casts himself in the lead of the psychological thriller The Tenant. Trelkovsky (Polanski) rents an apartment in a spooky old residential building, where his neighbors -- mostly old recluses -- eye him with suspicious contempt. Upon discovering that the apartment's previous tenant, a beautiful young woman, jumped from the window in a suicide attempt, Trelkovsky begins obsessing over the dead woman. Growing increasingly paranoid, Trelkovsky convinces himself that his neighbors plan to kill him. He even comes to the conclusion that Stella (Isabel Adjani), the woman he has fallen in love with, is in on the "plot." Ultimately, Polanski assumes the identity of the suicide victim -- and inherits her self-destructive urges. Some critics found the movie tedious and overdone; others compared it to Polanski's early breakthrough, Repulsion. The film was based on Le Locataire Chimerique, a novel by Roland Topor.

***

An apartment with an unhappy past sets the stage for filmmaker Roman Polanski's riveting psychological suspense thriller, The Tenant. Polanski stars as Trelkovsky, a quiet, timid file clerk increasingly overshadowed with dread and fear after he moves into his new apartment. Adding to his paranoia are the building's other occupants, who do nothing to alleviate his growing obsession with the untimely, tragic fate of the apartment's previous tenant. Is Trelkovsky's dread truly justified – or is it simply the result of his seemingly disintegrating mental state? A brilliant international cast – Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bernard Fresson and Shelley Winters – and Polanski's own penchant for delivering unprecedented suspense (Repulsion, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown) make The Tenant a haunting, riveting film classic!

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Theatrical Release: May 24th, 1976 (Cannes Film Festival)

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Review: Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Vinegar Syndrome - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Runtime	2:05:45.329
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,731,345,822 bytes Feature: 37,126,990,656 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 98,259,379,334 bytes Feature: 97,376,765,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 96.00 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Bitrate 4K Ultra HD:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1066 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1066 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio French 1069 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1069 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -27dB
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Vinegar Syndrome 1.85:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 98,259,379,334 bytes Feature: 97,376,765,952 bytes Video Bitrate: 96.00 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video Edition Details: • Commentary with film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson • Paranoid in Paris (22:38) - an interview with co-writer/director/actor Roman Polanski • Waiting for The Tenant (16:29) - an interview with actor André Penvern • Room to Let (22:24) - author and film historian Stephen Thrower on The Tenant • The Invisible Performer (15:26) - an interview with assistant cameraman François Catonné • Keeping Continuity (5:05) - an interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot • Audio Interview with co-writer Roland Topor by journalist Frédéric Levy (6:10) • Audio Interview with co-writer Gérard Brach by journalist Frédéric Levy (4:34) • A Visit to the Locations of The Tenant (11:02) • Trailer (1:01) • Visual Essay by Samm Deighan (20:20) Reversible sleeve artwork 4K Ultra HD Release Date: November 26th, 2024 Black 4K Ultra HD Case Chapters 7 / 7

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Vinegar Syndrome 4K UHD (October 2024): Vinegar Syndrome have transferred Roman Polanski's The Tenant to 4K UHD. It is cited as being "restored in 4K from its original camera negative". We compared the 2003 Paramount DVD to the 2020, out-of-print, Shout! Factory Blu-ray HERE. The Vinegar Syndrome 4K UHD is a 2-disc package with one 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range and a Region A Blu-ray with the film and special features. The 4K UHD transfer has one of the highest bitrates we have ever seen. It is rich with fine grain textures, a bump in primary colors and the overall presentation is sharper and beautifully consistent. This looks far more film like than in 1080P. All good.

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 74 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages recently: Gummo, Demon Pond, Happiness, Cheeky (software uniformly simulated HDR), Produced By Val Lewton , The Long Good Friday, The Ladykillers (software uniformly simulated HDR), Torso (software uniformly simulated HDR), All of Us Strangers, Last Year at Marienbad (NO HDR applied to disc), Peril & Distress (And Soon the Darkness / Sudden Terror) (NO HDR applied to disc), The Case of the Bloody Iris (software uniformly simulated HDR), Reptilicus (software uniformly simulated HDR), Risky Business (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Conversation (software uniformly simulated HDR), Perfect Days, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (software uniformly simulated HDR), Le samouraï (software uniformly simulated HDR), Castle of Blood (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pat Garret and Billy the Kid (HDR), Fist of Legend (HDR), American Gigolo (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Long Wait (no HDR,) Bound (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Valiant Ones (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mute Witness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Narc (software uniformly simulated HDR), Peeping Tom (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Terrors House of Horrors (software uniformly simulated HDR), High Noon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Picnic at Hanging Rock (Criterion) (software uniformly simulated HDR), I Am Cuba (no HDR), The Demoniacs (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Nude Vampire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Nostalghia (no HDR), Werckmeister Harmonies (no HDR), Goin' South (software uniformly simulated HDR), La Haine (software uniformly simulated HDR,) All Ladies Do It (software uniformly simulated HDR), Old Henry (software uniformly simulated HDR), To Die For (software uniformly simulated HDR), Snapshot (software uniformly simulated HDR), Phase IV (software uniformly simulated HDR), Burial Ground (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dark Water (software uniformly simulated HDR), Fear and Desire (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (no HDR), Paths of Glory (software uniformly simulated HDR), Southern Comfort (software uniformly simulated HDR).

On their 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Vinegar Syndrome offer DTS-HD Master mono tracks (24-bit) in both English and French language options. The Tenant has few aggressive moments that come through with modest depth. The haunting score was by Philippe Sarde (Lancelot Du Lac, The Widow Courderc, The Clockmaker of St. Paul, Madame Rosa, The Tenant, Max and the Junkman, Tess, La Grande Bouffe, Quest For Fire.) Sarde's pieces include Cour D'Immeuble, Apparitions, Solitude, Trelkovsky, L'Appel Du Verre, En Souvenir De Madame Choule, Métempsychose, Conspiration and Le Locataire (theme). The audio is authentically flat with minor depth in the lossless transfer. Vinegar Syndrome offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE 4K UHD and Region 'A' Blu-ray discs.

The 4K UHD disc as no extras. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray offers most of the supplements from the 2020 Shout! Factory package starting with the audio commentary by film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson sharing details from the Looma crane for the opening shot (also used in Antonioni's The Passenger), to discussing The Tenant being the quickest film Polanski ever shot (8 months.) They share details of Sven Nykvist's cinematography, spotting composer Philippe Sarde in a scene, how this adaptation is pretty faithful to the book, that, for The Tenant, Polanski shot his own trailer and significantly more referencing many of the director's other films and sharing interesting stories. It's obvious both love the film and their passion for it comes through in another excellent commentary from the pair. Repeated is the 1/2 hour interview with Polanski entitled Apartment To Let, plus a 1/4 hour interview with assistant cameraman François Catonné called 'The Invisible Performer'. Keeping Continuity is a short interview with script supervisor Sylvette Baudrot (the latter two in French with English subtitles.) A Visit To The Locations Of The Tenant spends time with David Gregory exploring Parisian streets etc. used in The Tenant lasting over 10-minutes. I really enjoyed the 20-minute audio essay by Samm Deighan where she talks about themes of the film involving what it means to be... human. It was very insightful. We get French (with English subtitles) audio interviews - the first is an excerpt from an interview between writer and artist Roland Topar, author of the novel on which The Tenant was based, and journalist Frédéric Levy. The interview was recorded on a Dictaphone in less than ideal circumstances for audio as it was originally intended for transcription for a written piece in the French magazine Lumière around 1980. Topor died in 1997. The second one is an excerpt from an interview between screenwriter Gérard Brach and journalist Frédéric Levy for a written piece in the French genre magazine Starfix in 1986. Brach and Polanski collaborated on nine screenplays for features Polanski directed. In this extract, he discusses his working relationship with Polanski. Brach died in 2006. Lastly, is a theatrical trailer. What appears to be new for this release are Waiting for The Tenant - a 16-minute interview with actor André Penvern who played the Cafe waiter in The Tenant. He's had 150 other roles in TV and film including The French Connection II, The Day of the Jackal, La Vie En Rose etc. etc. We also get Room to Let - 23-minutes with film historian Stephen Thrower (author of Flowers of Perversion, Volume 2: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco) on The Tenant. He talks about Polanski's filmography, commercial successes, the top level actors he was able to get to work with him, how The Tenant was initially a Universal project back in 1969 with Jack Clayton directing.. and much more. Stephen is always worth listening to.

Roman Polanski's The Tenant is the last installment in the director's "Apartment Trilogy", following Repulsion (1965) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968.) All have themes involving paranoia. This may echo back to his youth as a Polish Jew in WW2. Polanski's father was transferred to the Nazi concentration camp Mauthausen, and his mother was taken to Auschwitz. There is also the 1969 Manson family's Tate–LaBianca murders which included his wife Sharon Tate. There are other Kafkaesque themes in The Tenant including meekness, displacement, confusion, sexual frustration etc. Part of the reason that the film is universally lauded is the acting of Polanski himself as Trelkovsky. He is also an exceptional visual director and can craft elements of a brilliant psychological horror where the Venn diagram of reality and the supernatural overlapp. There is a highly effective international supporting cast in The Tenant with Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, Jo Van Fleet, Bernard Fresson and Shelley Winters. The Philippe Sarde score is haunting throughout. What The Tenant is essentially building toward is "loss of Identity". It's many fans favorite Polanski films and it remains totally rewatchable decades later. The Vinegar Syndrome 4K UHD package gets our highest recommendation and 'physical media of the year' ballots will include representation of this title. A 'must own'.