DON'T BE FOOLED
DONT BE FOOLED GUYS. THIS IS NOT A GREAT FILM NOT EVEN A GOOD ONE.
THOSE WHO LIKE THIS FILM HAVE VERY LOW STANDARDS. HERE ARE SOME OF THE
OBVIOUS SHORTCOMINGS. TERRIBLE ACTING (INCLUDING SHELLY WINTERS WHO WAS NEVER ANY GOOD), HORRIBLE EDITING, BUT MOST OF ALL THE TRANSFORMATION FROM SANE TO INSANE FOR THE MAIN CHARACTER DOES NOT PLAY WELL AT ALL AND IS NOT CONVINCING.THIS IS A VERY MODEST AND STANDARD STORY MAUFACTURED IN A MEAT MARKET. FOR THIS POLANSKI WAS CONSIDERED A GENIUS.IF YOU DONT AGREE WITH THIS REVIEW JUST WATCH ALL HIS FILMS AFTER THIS ONE - THEY ONLY GET WORSE.

Not Sure if It's a Suspense or a Spoof of One, but It Succeeds at Neither.
Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach, the screenwriting team behind Polanski's 1965 apartment house horror film "Repulsion", had less success in adapting Roland Topor's novel "Le locataire chimérique" for the screen. It's difficult to say if "The Tenant" is trying to be a suspense or an absurdist parody of a suspense, but it hardly matters, as the film is neither scary nor funny. I can say with certainty is that it is too long. It feels like the story has been forcibly stretched. Ironically, the premise is essentially the same as in "Repulsion": A tenant descends into schizophrenic madness amid odd neighbors and eerie production design, alone in his apartment.

A Parisian bachelor named Mr. Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) takes a dingy 2-room apartment in an old building, whose crotchety concierge (Shelley Winters) explains, "The previous tenant threw herself out of the window." His visits that former tenant, Simone, in the hospital, where he meets her friend Stella (Isabelle Adjani). But Trelkovsky, surrounded by Simone's belongings, can't get her suicide out of his mind. He sees people standing for hours in the toilet opposite his apartment. He is exasperated by the accusations of the building owner and the intrigues of his neighbors. Even Stella's kindness can't dispel his mounting paranoia.

The only good thing I can say about "The Tenant" is that Polanski's Trelkovsky seems authentically unassuming up to a point: He's genuinely pleased to find an apartment, embarrassed by his annoying co-workers, and really trying to be a nice guy. But nothing is interesting beyond that. His hallucinations and obsessions are more comic than frightening, but not enough to be entertaining, and his suffering inspires no empathy. To be clear, all dialogue is in English, which substitutes for French, presumably to make the film more commercial. The Paramount 2003 DVD includes a theatrical trailer (1 min). Subtitles are available in English. Dubbing available in French.

I think I'm pregnant!
The Tenant is without doubt, Polanski's best film ever...in my opinion! I love the slow burning paranoia and depth of madness that the main character spirals into.
Was this madness already in him or was he driven to madness by those nieghbours!
I think it is the poetry of madness.
Roman Polanski does brilliant acting, I actually think he was born for the part.
When he transforms completly into Simone you believe it totally. That classic line that he/she says as she looks into the mirror, "I think I am pregnant!" is so funny and so sad that it stays in your mind forever. Yes Roman Polanski is pregnant, with the madness of the manson murder of his pregnant wife years earlier. I feel that the Tenant is his alienation working its way onto screen and poked into our own minds eye.

Would have been decent, except for the ending
This movie has some creepy aspects to it and the sound combined with the low-lighting is excellent, but the ending is terrible. It threw the paranoia/suspense into the toilet by making the story "come full circle".
The movie IS slow, so it requires some patience, but if you've seen other Polanski movies, then this should be no surprise. There are some unexplained parts, one of the main ones being the tooth, but rather than letting it be irritating just run with it.
My favorite part were the people standing in the bathroom window, especially when he goes to investigate and looks out that same window!

I suggest watching it if you have nothing better to do and don't have too high of expectations.

Artsy to a fault
There are two types of people that don't like this movie: Those that don't understand it (I pity those) and those like me that think the movie was just a little too strange for their liking. I understand the theme of paranoia ingrained in the movie, I understand that he was so nervous about people accepting him, that his mind shattered and he dressed up as the woman that used to live there. You see the contrast between him and "Real" men in the movie. But at the same time, the ending was too much, especially with him screaming at seeing "Himself" at the end, it just was too out there. And the subtle hints of his paranoia, really hid any terror behind this film. I enjoy a strange and slow flick, I loved the ninth gate. This just wasn't my thing.