What? - Roman Polanski

What? is a curious novelisation of by Roman Polanski's 1972 film What?, but then What? is a curious film. Preceding Chinatown, it was poorly received on its release and for years remained largely forgotten. Its reputation hasn't been enhanced over the years, not least because of the accusations and charges laid against the filmmaker arising from this period that is not helped by the dubious taste of some of this film's content and subject matter. That said, What? is not as bad as its reputation suggests, but I suppose that's a matter of taste and opinion. Some might think it hasn't aged well, but I think it falls in well enough with the free-form self-analytical style of European filmmaking exemplified in Fellini's films from this period (Juliet of the Spirits, Roma).

If it's a self-reflection of the filmmaker's own personal obsessions - although there is no reason we are led to believe it is - it's hard not to see more than a whiff of misogyny throughout the movie. The opening scene introduces Nancy (Sydne Rome), a young American woman hitchhiking in Europe who is subjected to an ugly and uncomfortable attempted rape after accepting a lift from a car containing three lecherous Italian men. She has her T-shirt ripped off and spends a fair amount of the earlier part of the film wandering around naked or semi-naked.

Escaping from the men, she seeks refuge in a large seafront Italian villa, but doesn't seem to be any safer there than she was in the car, as the house populated with odd and eccentric characters, mostly men (including Polanski himself as Mosquito). She tries to befriend some of them, but it's a strange set-up and she struggles to keep up with the surreal activities that go on there. She gets closest to Alex "a neurotic ex-pimp" played by Marcello Mastroianni, who seduces her, humiliates her and beats her down into a submissive role in sex games. That's one interpretation anyway, but 'interpretation' is hard to come by in this novelisation of the movie, credited to the director Roman Polanski, the movie co-written with Gerard Brach.

It's hard to see Nancy having any real agency of her own in the movie, but you could argue that that is the point. And in a way, that is the claim made by Polanski through his protagonist in the closing scene of the film where Nancy breaks the third wall and tells a distraught Alex on her escape from the villa that it's necessary as a step to end the move, because "we're in a movie, aren't we?". You can consider that a cop-out that really hardly justifies or even excuses the random absurdity that takes place in the villa with a cast of misfits, but - while it indulges exploitation without seeming to have any political agenda in the way of Pasolini's Salò (1975), What? does indeed have a 'fun' (other descriptions are available) Fellini-esque quality about it.

If you are looking for clues or a little more depth or insight into the motivations of the characters that might shed some light on the intentions or character of the film, you won't find them in the novelisation. It's less a novelisation than a narrative description of each scene in the film. The dialogue may be presented with adverb qualifications, but more in a superficial screenplay fashion "exclaims in surprise", "asks anxiously" that doesn't give away any underlying or hidden intent. Considering the nature of What? as a piece of self-referencing movie-making, I would think the novelisation would have limited appeal as a standalone read, but it's a good companion piece to anyone interested in this curious movie.

Reading notes: I read a second-hand first-print paperback copy of What? by Roman Polanski ("From the original screenplay by Gerard Brach and Roman Polanski."), published in 1973 by Lorrimer Publishing. Obviously published to coincide with the release of the film - Lorrimer being based in Dean Street in London - I doubt that there are any other editions of the book published. There are 15 black-and-white stills from the film at the back of the book.