On the Periphery of the Screen:Paratextual Perspectives on Roman Polanski’s J’accuse

Sammanfattning

This study examines how knowledge of an auteur’s personal controversy influence audienceinterpretations of film, through analysis of Roman Polanski’s J’accuse (2019) and itsreception. By complicating the role of the auteur and the perceived authority they hold overtheir work through contemporary ideas of reception, J’accuse is used as an example of howauthorship and audience knowledge interact in readings of the film. This study argues thatprior knowledge of Polanski’s biography encourages viewers to interpret narrative choices aspersonal commentary rather than storytelling. This argument is supported through filmanalysis, reception analysis, and existing research on meaning-making.