Repulsion

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Biography

Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological horror film directed by Roman Polanski , based on a scenario by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was filmed in United Kingdom|Britain , as such being his second film made outside Poland . The cast includes Catherine Deneuve , Ian Hendry , John Fraser (actor)|John Fraser and Yvonne Furneaux . Polanski himself makes a cameo as a spoon player among a trio of street busker s.

Plot

Carol Ledoux ( Catherine Deneuve ) is a young Belgium|Belgian Manicure|manicurist who lives in Kensington , London , with her sister Helen ( Yvonne Furneaux ). Carol seems shy and interacts with men awkwardly. When Helen leaves on a holiday to Italy with her married boyfriend, Michael ( Ian Hendry ), Carol appears distracted at work, refuses to leave her apartment, leaves a raw, skinned rabbit out to rot, and sees hallucinations, first of the walls cracking, then hands reaching out to grab and attack her, and repeated nightmares or hallucinations of a man breaking into her bedroom and Rape|raping her.

When Colin ( John Fraser (actor)|John Fraser ), a would-be suitor whom she has rejected, breaks into the flat, she bludgeons him to death with a candlestick and dumps the body into the overflowing bath. Later, the landlord ( Patrick Wymark ) arrives for the late rent. Carol pays him and at first just sits on the sofa, staring into space, as he remarks on the state of the apartment and gives her water to drink. But when he tries to force himself on her, she slashes him to death with a straight razor .

When Helen and Michael return, they discover the dead bodies. Michael runs for help, instructing Helen to stay in her room where Helen, nearly catatonic herself, finds Carol hidden under the bed. Carol appears Catatonia|catatonic . Neighbors arrive and seem curious, concerned and genuine but do nothing until Michael returns and carries Carol out. A family photograph on the mantel shows Carol as a child looking with fear toward a male figure at the other side of the photograph.

Cast

Catherine Deneuve as Carole Ledoux

Yvonne Furneaux as Hélène/Helen Ledoux

Ian Hendry as Michael

John Fraser (actor)|John Fraser as Colin

Patrick Wymark as Landlord

Renée Houston as Miss Balch

Valerie Taylor (actress)|Valerie Taylor as Madame Denise

James Villiers as John

Helen Fraser as Bridget

Hugh Futcher as Reggie

Monica Merlin as Mrs. Rendlesham

Imogen Graham as Manicurist

Mike Pratt (actor)|Mike Pratt as Workman

Imagery

Repulsion is the first of Polanski's "apartment trilogy" (the other two being '' Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Tenant ( Le Locataire , 1976).

The film is shot in black and white , increasingly adopting the perspective of its protagonist. The dream sequences are particularly intense.

Awards and Reception

At the 15th Berlin International Film Festival in 1965, Repulsion won both the FIPRESCI Prize and the Jury Grand Prix|Silver Berlin Bear-Extraordinary Jury Prize . The film paved the way for Polanski's entry into the cinemas of Western Europe and drew attention to Catherine Deneuve with her performance.

Repulsion is widely considered a classic of the psychological thriller genre. On the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film currently holds a 100% rating among critics and 86% among the audience. On the Metacritic website, it holds a 91/100 rating based on reviews by 7 critics, and a 8.1/10 rating by the audience. The film is available on DVD as part of the Criterion Collection . Film critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times stated in a review of the film "An absolute knockout of a movie in the psychological horror line has been accomplished by Roman Polanski in his first English-language film." Jim Emerson included Repulsion to a list of "101/102 Movies You Must See".

Similar works

'' Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby (1968), by Roman Polanski

The Tenant - (Le Locataire) (1976), by Roman Polanski

Pi (film)|p (1998), by Darren Aronofsky , alludes to the film, and Aronofsky's Black Swan (film)|Black Swan (2010) certainly contains thematic allusions to it.

May (film)|May (2002), by Lucky McKee , was heavily influenced by the film, and has a similar motif of the protagonist's apartment mirroring her mental state.

Scissors (film)|Scissors (1991), by Frank De Felitta and starring Sharon Stone as a paranoid woman trapped in a mysterious apartment.

Music videos for The Cardigans ' "Hanging Around" and Metric (band)|Metric 's "Monster Hospital" were directly inspired by the film.

Copyright Citations

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