An absurd, erotic, and delirious comedy by Polanski that revives the freshness of the 1970s and the spirit of the freest and most playful cinema.
By Jorge Alonso Curiel
HoyLunes – Dear reader: If you want to enjoy a different kind of film, as surprising as it is original, as funny as it is puzzling, as absurd and surreal as it is full of eroticism—and one that will brighten your day—you must turn to “What?” (¿Qué?), released in 1972, the seventh—and little-known—film by the controversial director Roman Polanski (France, 1933), one of the leading figures of contemporary cinema, who had as much fun as a child while shooting this feature film. It draws inspiration from the screwball comedies of golden-age Hollywood, the antics of the Marx Brothers, and the theater of the absurd.
This project, as personal as it was daring, and so different from the rest of his work, occurred to the director of “Rosemary’s Baby” after the critical and public failure of his previous film, a risky adaptation of “Macbeth· shot in the United Kingdom that audiences failed to grasp. To shake off the sorrow and the bad taste left behind, he traveled to Italy to shoot this outrageous and witty comedy inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, written in 1865 by Lewis Carroll, which he infused with countless humorous and delirious moments that leave audiences bursting with laughter in their seats.
Delirious Plot
Everything that happens in its 115 minutes seems drawn from one of the characters’ dreams, but it is not—or so it seems. The story follows Nancy, an attractive, innocent, and restless young American woman with golden curls and large, shining eyes as blue as the sea, played by Sydne Rome, who is hitchhiking across Europe that summer. At one point, while traveling along the Italian coast, she escapes an attempted rape by three men in the car she was riding in, flees, and takes refuge in an aristocratic and decadent mansion. There she encounters eccentric yet amusing characters: Marcello Mastroianni plays a shameless, scoundrel pimp in one of his most accomplished but least remembered comedy performances; Hugh Griffith appears as the patriarch and owner of the mansion; and even Polanski himself takes on one of the comic supporting roles. The young woman lives a true adventure in this story as imaginative as it is hilarious, in this carefree romp of unstoppable madness.
Produced by Carlo Ponti, who offered his own mansion on the marvelous Amalfi Coast as the main setting for almost all of the action in order to cut costs, the film also carries a sensual and provocative erotic charge throughout its entire runtime, impossible to overlook, including several full nude scenes of the protagonist—astonishing for the time—that surely drove many viewers of that era to the theater with no other intention than to see them. An eroticism not alien to the filmmaker, already evident in his first feature “Knife in the Water” (1962, Poland), and later explored with complete freedom in “Bitter Moon” (1992) and “Venus in Fur” (2013), both starring his wife Emmanuelle Seigner. For this reason, in Spain, “What?” was censored under Francoism, only to be shown years later, in the early years of democracy, with the boom of so-called “cine del destape” (sexploitation films).
With a screenplay signed by Gérard Brach and Polanski himself (and which could have been written by Enrique Jardiel Poncela or Miguel Mihura), the film premiered in the United States in December 1972 with little success, while in Europe it was better received—triumphing in countries such as Italy and France, where audiences appreciated this singular experiment, this genuinely auteur film.
Sydne Rome, Erotic Icon Full of Charm
So unusual and peculiar was this project that it became a challenge for the actors, who often had no clear idea of what they were performing, yet emerged triumphant, delivering excellent performances. Sydne Rome (Ohio, 1951), an Italian-American actress who built her entire career in Europe, embodies with freshness, candor, fragility, and naturalness a charming and sensitive character who appears almost naked throughout the film.
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Also known for “The Puma Man” and “That Most Important Thing: Love”, the beautiful actress became an erotic icon in the 1970s and 80s and appeared on the covers of magazines such as “Playboy”, “Interviú”, and “Cinema”. She also gained wide popularity among European television audiences through an aerobics program that achieved high ratings every week in countries like France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, based on Jane Fonda’s American version. Yet her fame did not
stem solely from her professional career, but also from her love life, which filled tabloid covers: relationships with photographer Emilio Lari, with none other than David Bowie—whom she described as “a very funny man”—and even with singer Julio Iglesias. In 1988, she married eminent doctor Roberto Bernabei, a member of the anti-COVID expert committee and personal physician to Pope Francis, with whom she had two children, now making her a grandmother, and with whom she happily lives in Rome today.
The film is also surprising for its unusual place in Polanski’s filmography. A filmmaker known for drama and psychological terror, tragedy and dark humor, and creator of claustrophobic and oppressive atmospheres, astonishes with this light and sparkling diversion, where the creative freedom of one of the most influential directors of recent decades shines through. Yet it must also be noted that the film contains certain scenes now considered politically incorrect, objectionable, and potentially offensive to today’s sensibilities, but which must be understood as a reflection of another era.
For all these reasons, dear reader, dear viewer, if you have not yet seen “What?“, do not hesitate to seek out this marvelous cult film, whose brief, curious, and strange title—both at the time of its release and today—serves as the gateway to a peculiar and delightful story, a joke filled with wild and even psychedelic fun. It deserves its place in this territory where forgotten films are rescued, but which never cease to shine in the wardrobe archive.
Technical Sheet:
Title: “What?” (¿Qué?)
Director: Roman Polanski
Production: Italy–France–West Germany
Cast: Sydne Rome, Marcello Mastroianni, Guido Alberti, Hugh Griffith, Gianfranco Piacentini, Mario Bussolino, Carlo Delle Piane, Roman Polanski
Screenplay: Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. Inspired by “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll
Cinematography: Marcello Gatti and Giuseppe Ruzzollini
Music: Claudio Gizzi
Runtime: 115 minutes
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