SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

michaeltrivedi Now I don't know where to begin on this movie. All the reviews were exceptional, except Roger Ebert's. When I started watching this movie, I was literally entranced. Nothing could take my eyes off the screen, and I wanted to know what would happen to our main character, what this particular portion of his life would tell me. What portion of his life are we given the chance to see, and what morals and understanding of the human condition will I gain. The Tenant is a great movie. The ending caught me by surprise, and I was a little disappointed. But I would definitely recommend this picture of for a late night viewing.8 STARS!! Though it probably deserves more.

CinemaClown An intricately plotted & skilfully layered study of urban paranoia & mental disintegration, the third & final entry in Roman Polanski's Apartment Trilogy is a highly ambiguous & utterly mystifying psychological thriller that utilises all the elements prevalent in the previous entries of this unofficial trilogy but may also polarise its viewers due to its drowsy pace & lack of transparency.The Tenant (also known as Le Locataire) tells the story of a quiet, timid & inconspicuous man who moves into a Parisian apartment after its previous occupant commits suicide but soon finds himself being unreasonably reprimanded by his landlord & neighbours and begins suspecting that they are all plotting a scheme to transform him into the last tenant so that he too will follow her fate.Directed by Roman Polanski, The Tenant finds the notable filmmaker carrying the entire film on his shoulders not just from behind the camera but also from the front as he plays the lead character here & delivers a deftly-measured performance. The mental instability of the new tenant is hinted numerous times throughout the story plus his eventual descent into madness is expertly illustrated.Cinematography makes sure that the protagonist is always the focal point of camera, resulting in him being present in every sequence. Almost all the unfolding events are shown from his perspective, which in turn explains the surreal imagery that, just like his mental state, only gets more brooding & disturbing as plot progresses while the pale, colourless Parisian streets exemplify how he views the world around him.Editing is methodically carried out, making sure that the film stays intriguing despite its perplexing structure, but the pace is really sluggish at times, especially in the first half. The story does come full circle over the course of its runtime but still leaves much to ponder about by concluding on an ambiguous note. The supporting cast doesn't have enough material to base their renditions upon but they still do a fine job in their given roles.On an overall scale, The Tenant is competently crafted & masterly composed plus there is a lot to admire about Polanski's attention to details but it is also tedious & overdone, not to mention that its slow-burn narration, enigmatic arrangement & lethargic pace turns it into one of those movies that viewers either embrace tightly or reject outright. Covering all the themes that were addressed in both Repulsion & Rosemary's Baby, in addition to a few more, The Tenant is divisive but it's also stimulating in its own wicked ways. Multiple viewings advised.

SnoopyStyle Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) is a meek bureaucrat in Paris. He rents an apartment whose previous tenant Egyptologist Simone Choule jumped out the window. She goes to the hospital to find Stella (Isabelle Adjani) with her friend Simone completely bandaged. His neighbor complains about his noisy party. There are strange things happening and he's getting paranoid about the other people in the building.There is a nice sense of impending doom. The whole movie is a series of slightly off situations. It feels Kafkaesque. Roman Polanski is not a good enough actor to bring out that intense paranoia or that disturbed frustration. The movie does ramble around and it needs a more compelling lead to take charge. It goes off in some maddening avenues. I actually don't like the dueling point of views between the real world and his perception. It would be better to stay only with his surreal visions until the final scenes.

Dalbert Pringle "WTF!?" - And, I'll say it again - "WTF!!??" 1976's "The Tenant" was one of those screwy films that had me asking myself, over and over again - "When is this damn movie going to get interesting?" (And, it never did get even close to being interesting - So, I guess, that answered my question very clearly) When it comes to the likes of psychological thrillers (which "The Tenant" was supposed to be) - They couldn't possibly get anymore drab and dull than this total mealy-mouthed snore-fest.If you ask me - I think that after director Roman Polanski struck a huge success with 1974's "Chinatown", he was so bloody arrogant about his film-making abilities that he believed his audience would instantly like anything he churned out and, as a result, he produced this total turd to test the blind loyalty of his adoring fans.And, finally - On top of Polanski being a less-than-interesting actor, he certainly couldn't be taken seriously in drag. In fact, he was so utterly terrible in wig, eyeliner and heels, that he wasn't even worth laughing at.