What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams)

What? (Diary of Forbidden Dreams) (1973)

  • 29% of critics liked it
    (7 reviews)

  • 54% of users liked it
    (495 ratings)

One of Roman Polanski's lesser-known films, Diary of Forbidden Dreams (also known as What?) stars Sydne Rome as an attractive young hitchhiker who, as the film opens, accepts a ride from three men in a car, who later attempt to rape her. She escapes their clutches and makes her way to a mansion… More

R,
Directed By
Written By
Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach
Genres
Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
In Theaters
Oct 3, 1973 Wide

Critic Reviews

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    The girl, the villa and the performances are beautiful enough to bridge those sequences when the film, like its heroine, seems searching for explanations that will never be found.

  • , Time Out

    All suitably throwaway, it's held together by our own curiosity and Polanski's obvious delight in observing such strange goings-on in rich summer villas.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    I wonder how much Carlo Ponti gave Roman Polanski to make Diary of Forbidden Dreams. Ten cents would have been excessive.

  • Jamie McLeish, Film4

    A terrible self-indulgent piece of misogynist trash from an otherwise great director.

  • , TV Guide's Movie Guide

    This haphazard fantasy is of interest chiefly to devotees of Roman Polanski and, even more so, of Gerard Brach, his longtime screenwriting collaborator.

Read all 7 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • AJ V


    The copy of this I rented from the library was pretty messed up, but from what I saw, this was a good movie. An interesting comedy from Polanski.

  • Greg S


    Escaping from an attempted rape, an American ingenue (Sidney Rome) hitchhiking through Italy loses her clothes and finds a villa populated with eccentric characters, including a lecherous ex-pimp (Marcello Mastroianni). An absurdist sex comedy that's plenty absurd, mildly sexy,… More

  • Pierluigi P


    Some sympathetic (in all its weirdness) moments can't save this messy alice in wonderland all'italiana, or a la polaski more exactly. I know the charm is supposed to be on its absurdist situations, but I just didn't find it funny, rather incredibly boring and… More

  • Eric B


    If you wonder why a film Roman Polanski directed during his prime is so forgotten, you obviously haven't seen "What?" Alternately known as "Diary of Forbidden Dreams" (ugh), this voyeuristic romp seems descended from Terry Southern's "Candy" and… More

  • Dimitris S


    So what if it's an unusual assault to moral attitudes?Perhaps it is a whole lot of a terrible sketch.Polanski definitely has a writer's block and yet,I thoroughly enjoyed the crazy ride.Sometimes,a couple of films despite their idiosyncrasy,give you a certain flash of… More

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