Review of Repulsion (1965) by Kkl10 A — 05 Apr 2014

Repulsion (1965) - 8,5.

Carol Ledoux (played by Catherine Deneuve) is a beautiful young woman living in a rented apartment in London with her sister Helen, she works as manicure in a beauty salon. Carol sometimes displays very bizarre behavior, she occasionally disconnects from reality around her and has a very shy and laconic way of socializing with others, especially men for whom she seems to nurture physical repulsiveness or sexual repression. These are some of the faint symptoms of her mental disorder that will get worse once Helen goes with her boyfriend for a trip to Italy leaving Carol alone in London for a few days. During this period Carol's mental state will progressively deteriorate until the point when she completely looses her lucidity. The schizophrenic nature of her mental disorder, hallucinations, madness and, possibly, repressed traumas will take over her mind and perception of the world culminating in some tragic and horrendous events in her own apartment. The movie depicts her mental breakdown from her own perspective putting the viewer in the same distorted reality Carol perceives and lives in.

Psychological Horror/Thriller film from Roman Polanski, potentially unsettling and scary for those who see it for the first time, competent at a technical level, beautiful cinematography, very good acting and directing. This movie explores the psychological background of murder, just like Hitchcock's Psycho, but Repulsion is much more direct and intense, it takes the perspective of the wicked itself and the traditional roles of oppressor and victim have an interesting twist here. It managed to lightly scare me 1 or 2 times first time I saw it but what I really appreciate in this movie is the claustrophobic and schizophrenic experience created by the cinematic style. Singular cinematic experience, great film!