Repulsion (1965)

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  February 11, 2012

  paulkoh110

  This was made in 1965 and is still pretty impressive. The directing style is fantastic! Catherine Denevue's schizophrenia mixed in with her deep sexual impulses makes this film original and a gem.

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  February 8, 2012

  5oclockcoffee

  Extremely disturbing dive into madness. For sure, the best acting by Catherine Deneuve.

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  January 2, 2012

  c0up

  'Repulsion'. A masterpiece in the psychological thriller genre, tackling sexuality, desire and fear. Catherine Denevue is a sensual, fragile delight, and Polanski has captured a special type of darkness in her, and through his exquisite camera work.
  
  Carol is slowly deteriorating... read more into madness, and the apartment moving right alongside her, with the rotting rabbit, sprouting potatoes, cracks and peeling plaster. The wall of hands reaching to touch her, the exaggerated, alarmingly loud cracks that appear in front of her eyes further accentuate the fear that she projects onto her surroundings.
  
  The use of sound, or lack thereof, is another stand out of 'Repulsion'. The dripping of water and ticking of the clock are loud and prominent throughout, but this is juxtaposed well in scenes where Carol is seemingly another, darker person, and silence is the only thing that can be heard. It creates an eerie sensation, and one that is definitely not what you'd expect from a score during these heightened situations.
  
  You sympathise with Denevue, but the realisation that as much as the advances of men and sex repulse her, there is a side to her that is drawn to it at the same time to some extent, complicates and confuses. The last, panning shot across the room, zooming in on a terrified, younger Carol in that family photo only hints at what possibly initiated the descent initially.

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  November 13, 2011

  fb619846742

  A chilling, haunting exercise in the violent, paranoid dark side of the feminine world, particularly one blonde beauty (Catherine Deneuve) who goes through a total emotional collapse when her sister (Yvonne Ledoux) leaves her alone at her apartment for the weekend. With this film... read more, Roman Polanski has etched his way into my Top 3 favorite directors of all-time. His ability to craft films concerning genocide (the under-seen "The Pianist"), the horror of pregnancy (the unforgettable "Rosemary's Baby"), and a classic noir thriller (the fabulous "Chinatown") remain unmatched. The only director I might have ahead of him is Stanley Kubrick. that's about it. This film in particular is so perfect, thanks to its tenacity in tackling the double-standards some women have (dressing up nice in order to get cat calls in order to stroke their ego, but being "repulsed" when these "pigs" give them what they want to hear). Deneuve plays her character with a certain detachment that is equally maddening as it is arresting, and the result is one of the most unique cold-blooded villians in the history of film. Polanski's patient, controlled, claustrophobic film-style makes this film all the more terrifying, and the result is one of the best horror films ever made.

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  October 25, 2011

  fb1664868775

  Hands coming out of the walls, dead body in the bathtub and the best "man behind you in the mirror" shot ever put on film.

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  April 12, 2011

  mumby1988

  Whatever else may be true about Roman Polanski, there can be no denying that he makes a damn good thriller. With Repulsion, his first English-language feature, he established many of the techniques and motifs which came to define his career, particularly his unique ability to unn... read moreerve an audience while flattering their intelligence. More than 45 years later, it remains one of the most unsettling films of the 1960s, and one of Polanski's best early works.
  
  Repulsion is the first instalment of what would become Polanski's 'Apartment Trilogy', the others being Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant. On top of their common setting, all three films are built around the idea of architecture being able to express, harbour or reflect a given horror. Repulsion is the most straightforward of the trilogy in this respect, insofar as the architecture of the apartment changes and decays along with the mental state of our heroine: plaster cracks and falls off the wall, and the skinned rabbit lies slowly rotting in the living room.
  
  Repulsion owes a big debt to two previous entries in the canon of psychological thrillers. Like Black Narcissus, it deals openly with the issue of sexual repression, and how the introduction of overtly sexual, male forces into a pure and female environment can lead to some form of madness. Carol Ledoux is like a warring hybrid of Sisters Clodagh and Ruth: on the surface she is like the former, pure and disinterested, but her vivid fantasies or nightmares hint towards deeper, murkier desires or fears. And like Psycho, the main character with whom the audience identifies happens to be insane - although quite how insane is left for us to judge.
  
  Like Alfred Hitchcock, Polanski is not content for us to sit back and discuss Carol's madness as if it were entirely academic. Instead he put us through the mill constantly throughout, pulling us headlong further and further into her madness so that by the end we feel like we are lucky to be alive. But unlike a lot of Hitchcock's work, there is no moment of relief, no tidy pay-off that makes us "come out giggling". By the end of Repulsion you feel like you have lived in that apartment and experienced everything that Carol has, and your only response is to sit, near-catatonic with fear, and marvel at what has been created.
  
  The film is anchored by the terrific central performance of Catherine Deneuve, who was only 22 when filming began. Deneuve has the most amazing eyes, which convey the slightest shifts in her mental state. Her right eye follows the opening credits as they dart across the screen in close-up, and there is a recurring shot of one eye hidden in darkness, showing what horror lies beneath such glacial beauty. Deneuve manages to portray a character who is aloof, aimless and very shy while making her constantly intriguing. The men who fall for her may be initially attracted to her physically, but their continued interaction is (seemingly) motivated by an equal desire to understand and study her.
  
  Repulsion is primarily an examination of androphobia, or the fear of men. The cause of Carol's affliction is never entirely established; although the photographs imply she was molested as a child, it is not clear whether the man in the photograph is her father, her uncle or a total stranger. The film raises the question of the motivation behind Carol's exact responses to men, particularly in the case of the murders. Were they simply extreme reactions, the end result of concentrated exposure to her fear? Or is there a more aggressive element of Carol which wants vengeance, and therefore actively pursued these killings?
  
  In the end, however, the exact reason for Carol's mental state is rather secondary. The film is less about the 'twist' contained in the final photograph than about convincingly depicting an individual's descent into madness and paranoia. Polanski succeeds in this by surreally physicalizing the fears of our protagonist, projecting her fears onto her surroundings so that the apartment becomes Carol's own private haunted house.
  
  Repulsion is filled with nightmarish imagery which even out of context has the ability to send shivers down one's spine. Certain moments are played initially for shock value - for instance, the man first appearing in the mirror or the hands bursting through the wall to grope her. But these are accompanied by more subtle touches in the cinematography which point to the film's Freudian undercurrents. The central corridor of the apartment is permanently in shadow, and every time she enters it she is immediately confronted by her fear - whether it's the hands coming out of the walls or finding Ian Hendry shaving in the bathroom.
  
  But what makes such imagery truly disturbing, rather than simply creepy, is the ambiguous response of the central character. Deneuve never shrieks or screams, maintaining some form of dignified façade even as she grows more and more deranged. When she first imagines a man breaking into the flat and forcing himself on her, she is naturally repulsed by it. But the more it happens, the more we entertain the possibility that it is less of a nightmare than a dark fantasy - that in the midst of being terrified she accepts it - or perhaps, in a warped way, she enjoys it.
  
  Because the central character is so conflicted, she gradually ceases to be a reliable narrator. But by the time that has happened, we have grown to trust and empathise with her so much that there can be no escape. The level of claustrophobia Polanski creates is astonishing, and the incidental score by jazz drummer Chico Hamilton keeps things at fever pitch. Occasionally the score drifts a little too close to the work of Bernard Hermann with the constant cymbals resounding, but considering the film's relationship with Psycho such indulgences are kind of appropriate.
  
  This marriage of character conflict and intense music to create unbearable claustrophobia is brilliantly demonstrated in the murder of John Fraser's character. The scene begins with no score and the camera on Deneuve's face as she bashes Fraser's head in, out of shot, with a candlestick. We are not seeing the actual perspective of the killer, but we are seeing her mind-set, which seems calm and considered. Then, after he is dead, the reality of what she has done hits her and the score kicks in to complete the effect. We are still looking at her rather than through her, but we still feel what she feels - and that is really smart filmmaking.
  
  Repulsion could also be construed as the forerunner of Hard Candy and Teeth in its treatment of men as sexual predators. Its male characters are all defined by a desire for satisfaction in the hands of the opposite sex - whether out of love, in the case of John Fraser, or something more cold-hearted as practised by the young men in the bar. The film is a cautionary tale, advising men to think twice if they think they can dominate women just because they appear more vulnerable. Carol's actions in this respect are an extreme and irrational expression of women's desire to be independent, of both men and gender expectations (for instance, cooking and working in a beauty parlour).
  
  Repulsion is an excellent psychological thriller which bewitches, excites and terrifies in equal measure. It isn't quite a masterpiece, being slightly too slow in its opening minutes and with a score with is occasionally over-cranked. But this is more than made up for by the central performances, Polanski's masterful direction and the sheer amount of tension which both parties have managed to ring out of such a simple premise. A watershed moment for Polanski and a real must-see.

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  March 23, 2011

  mjgildea

  Um, wow! I can't decide if Repulsion a masterpiece of sneakiness or creepiness. Roman Polanski's buildup to the final 45 minutes of madness is so subtle and almost unassuming (despite the fact that its staring you right in the eye the entire time) that it hits you like a cinder b... read morelock out of a 10th storey window. For as annoying as Catherine Deneuve started out, she was amazing and went toe to toe with the story as things got more nuts. Polanski's direction was astonishing and his use of sound and ambient noise makes me want to freak out. Repulsion is definitely one for my kick in the ass list. I don't know if I saw this movie when I was in the right mood or what, but I really should've seen this sooner...

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  February 22, 2011

  axadntpron

  One woman's descent into unbridled madness is expertly crafted.

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• 
  
  January 17, 2011

  lewiskendell

  Repulsion is a 1965 Polanski psychological horror/thriller (emphasis on the psychological) about a woman's descent into madness. Carol's (Catherine Deneuve) fear of men (the cause of which is hinted at but never explained) combined with her incredibly intense sexual repression, s... read morepirals into outright madness over a course of several days, as she's left largely alone in her apartment. A cascade of mental collapses, hallucinations, violence, and death follow.
  
  This is a movie that takes a bit to keep going, and the first half primarily focuses on establishing Carol's character. We slowly come to realize that something is clearly wrong with Deneuve's character. Then, in the latter half of the movie, things greatly accelerate as Carol's sister leaves her alone for a few days for a holiday with an older man, and Carol's grip on reality rapidly deteriorates. The very walls of her apartment seem to be cracking and leaking, she leaves rotting food all over the place, and she repeatedly has delusions of being attacked and forced to have sex by a sinister man.
  
  Repulsion is creepy, disturbing, and even downright shocking, on occasion. I was bored somewhat by the slower initial half, but in retrospect, it's necessary for the movie to accomplish its highly effective latter portion. It's a nice introduction to Catherine Deneuve (who's startlingly beautiful, even as such a disturbed character), and it has an ending that's almost as haunting and memorable as another Roman Polanski favorite, Chinatown. Not a bad movie to be compared to, in my opinion.

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  December 6, 2010

  ajv2688

  This is probably Polanski's most bizarre and surreal movie ever. It's very interesting, but sometimes kind of boring and slow and long. Otherwise, it's pretty good.

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• Catherine Deneuve as Carol Ledoux
• Ian Hendry as Michael
• John Fraser as Colin
• Patrick Wymark as Landlord
• Yvonne Furneaux as Helen Ledoux
• Renee Houston as Miss Balch
• Helen Fraser as Bridget
• Valerie Taylor as Mme. Denise
• James Villiers as John

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

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  Black Swan (96%)
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  Persona (97%)
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  Psycho (94%)
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  The Brood (25%)

• • Colin: Well, next time you forget, maybe you'll let me know.
• • Helen Ledoux: Why did you throw Michael's things away?
  • Carol Ledoux: I don't like them there.

• What was the first English speaking movie directed by Roman Polanski?  Answer »
• Which director links the movies "Rosemary's Baby", "Repulsion", "The Ninth Gate", "Oliver Twist" and "Chinatown"?  Answer »
• In Roman Polanski's 1965 horror film "Repulsion", Carole, played by Catherine Deneuve is repulsed by what?  Answer »
• Which of the following movies is NOT set mostly in a hotel?  Answer »

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