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- For the grindcore band, see Repulsion (band)
| Repulsion |
original film poster |
| Directed by |
Roman Polański |
| Written by |
Roman Polański &
Gerard Brach (original screenplay),
David Stone (adaptation) |
| Starring |
Catherine Deneuve,
Ian Hendry,
John Fraser |
| Music by |
Chico Hamilton |
| Cinematography |
Gilbert Taylor |
| Distributed by |
Compton Films |
| Release date(s) |
January 1965 (UK) |
| Running time |
104 min |
| Language |
English |
| IMDb profile |
Repulsion is a film made in 1965 directed by Roman Polański. It is Polański'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.
[edit] Plot summary
The virgin Belgian Carol (a 20-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 (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": at whom is the young Carol staring?
The weird shadows and dark corners of Carol's house are reflected at the viewer from unusual angles. The current state of the house is strange and nightmarish to both Carol and the audience. Hands protrude from walls and everyday objects transform into objects of horror.
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 while first maggots and then flies feed on the carcass. The deteriorating state of the rabbit parallels that of our protagonist.
Repulsion is the first of Polański's "apartment trilogy" (the other two being Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant). The stylish Repulsion is widely considered a psychological thriller masterpiece, thanks in part to the stirring performance of Catherine Deneuve. As in The Tenant and Rosemary's Baby, the film's horrors are not external threats, but rather the horrors that lie within the minds of the protagonists.
[edit] Similar films
- Rosemary's Baby (1968), by Roman Polański.
- π (1998), by Darren Aronofsky, includes spoofs.
[edit] Awards
- 1965: Berlin International Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize, Silver Berlin Bear.
[edit] External links
| Films of Roman Polański |
| Rower • Uśmiech zębiczny • Rozbijemy zabawę • Morderstwo • Dwaj ludzie z szafą • Lampa • Gdy spadają anioly • Gros et le maigre, Le • Ssaki • Nóż w wodzie • Les Plus belles escroqueries du monde • Repulsion • Cul-de-Sac • The Fearless Vampire Killers • Rosemary's Baby • Macbeth • What? • Chinatown • The Tenant • Tess • Pirates • Frantic • Bitter Moon • Death and the Maiden • The Ninth Gate • The Pianist • Oliver Twist |
