A young American woman (Sydne Rome) traveling through Italy finds herself in a strange Mediterranean villa where nothing seems right.
The film opens with a rape attempt -- very odd for any comedy, even more odd coming from Polanski, given his reputation now. Of course, he also has rapes in his other films... hmm...
Does this film have excessive nudity? Sydne Rome spends a fair amount of this film topless, bottomless or both. And then she is attacked by a tiger from Africa. Yes, a tiger from Africa. (The scene immediately called Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" to mind.)
The dreaded Marlboro cigarettes show up that appear in so many of Polanski's films. If I ever meet him, that will be the first thing I ask. And then the film breaks the fourth wall... making the absurdity even more absurd.
When producer Robert Evans was trying to coax Roman Polanski to direct Chinatown (1974), he found Polanski thoroughly absorbed with this film, to the extent that he had bought a 50% share in it. Evans eventually lured Polanski by saying that whatever "What" made in its opening week, he would pay him as his salary for directing "Chinatown". Polanski readily agreed to this, expecting "What" to do well as he considered it the best thing he had done up to that point. Unluckily for Polanski, "What" only grossed $64 on its first week.
The film opens with a rape attempt -- very odd for any comedy, even more odd coming from Polanski, given his reputation now. Of course, he also has rapes in his other films... hmm...
Does this film have excessive nudity? Sydne Rome spends a fair amount of this film topless, bottomless or both. And then she is attacked by a tiger from Africa. Yes, a tiger from Africa. (The scene immediately called Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" to mind.)
The dreaded Marlboro cigarettes show up that appear in so many of Polanski's films. If I ever meet him, that will be the first thing I ask. And then the film breaks the fourth wall... making the absurdity even more absurd.
When producer Robert Evans was trying to coax Roman Polanski to direct Chinatown (1974), he found Polanski thoroughly absorbed with this film, to the extent that he had bought a 50% share in it. Evans eventually lured Polanski by saying that whatever "What" made in its opening week, he would pay him as his salary for directing "Chinatown". Polanski readily agreed to this, expecting "What" to do well as he considered it the best thing he had done up to that point. Unluckily for Polanski, "What" only grossed $64 on its first week.