Decades have passed since the Polish/French director
Roman Polanski fled the United States, but as 2009s abortive extradition attempt made clear, there is endless political mileage in pursuing someone who in Conservative American reactionary parlance- is a kiddy-fiddling, European, Commie. Never-the-less, Polanski ploughs on creating a great deal of good work, some of which even brushes the moments of genius exhibited in Chinatown or Repulsion. Polanski is currently in post-production
Carnage- based on the award winning stage-play
God of Carnage- and will soon be looking for a new project, and this week he has been linked with a dramatic adaptation of the true crime story printed in a
2008 edition of The New Yorker by American journalist
David Grann, simply entitled
True Crime. Granns book details a remarkable Polish murder case in which an investigation into the 2000 death of
Dariusz Janiszewski was closed after six months of no clues and then subsequently reopened by Jacek Wroblewski, who discovered remarkable similarities between the crime and a book titled
'Amok' by Krystian Bala. After investigation guided by the novel, Bala was convicted of conspiracy to Wroblewskis murder. The rights to the book have been picked up by Sony and the adaptation will be produced by
Brett Ratner through Focus Features, and a screenplay has already been drafted by
Jeremy Brock, who won plaudits for his script for The Last King Of Scotland and most recently drafted The Eagle. No word, official or unofficial, has yet been made on the extent of Polanskis interest, but even a man of his intransigence may foresee a lack of sensitivity in leading a project entitled True Crime. Carnage has yet to receive a release date, but it will be released by Sony Pictures Classics.