- For the grindcore band see Repulsion (band)
Repulsion is a film made in 1965 directed by Roman Polański. It is Polanski's first English language film, and was filmed in Britain.
Cast includes Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux, and a cameo appearance by Roman Polański himself.
Plot summary
: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The virgin Belgian Carol (a 21 year old Deneuve), repelled by and at the same time attracted to the idea of sex due to her repressed feelings, is a timid and fragile young woman living in London with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux). When Helen leaves on a holiday to Italy with her married boyfriend, Carol is left alone. Isolated at work too, she shuts herself home, and becomes a slave of her own paranoid fears, unable to tell fantasy from reality, and starts hallucinating. She first violently kills a suitor using a candlestick, and later the landlord who makes a pass at her. When her sister returns home, she finds Carol under her bed, catatonic, just a shell of her former self. The camera receives a family portrait that probably hides a clue of the true origin of her "repulsion": to whom is the young Carol staring?
The weird shadows and dark corners of Carol's house are reflected at the spectator from unusual angles. The current state of the house is strange and alien to both Carol and us. Hands protruding from walls, everyday objects transmogrified into objects of horror are everyone's nightmare.
One of the most well known images is that of the rabbit, which was prepared for dinner but never cooked. The rabbit sits in the corner of the room throughout the film with a razor blade also on the plate. As the film progresses the rabbit begins to rot and first maggots, then flies feed on the carcass. The deteriorating state of the rabbit parallels that of our protagonist.
Cultural impact
Repulsion would be as horrid and disturbing, and considered a classic even if it were completely silent. One of the most impressive films of Polański's "apartment trilogy" (the other two being Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant), dubbed "paranoia horrors", the stylish Repulsion is a psychological thriller masterpiece, thanks in part to the stirring performance of Catherine Deneuve who dominates the screen during most of the running time. The film in a way tries to justify that the most terrible horrors lie within us. With Rosemary's Baby following, Polanski seems to underline this point of view.
Related movies:
Awards:
1965 Berlin International Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize, Silver Berlin Bear
External links
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