Review of Repulsion (1965) by Carlos R — 07 Jan 2011

Roman Polanski crafts a very unique psychological thriller in his first go-around with an English language film. The film explores the paranoia of the character of Carol Ledoux, a manicurist at a beauty parlor. Carol is fragile and innocent, carrying with her dark memories of her past that enable her to engage with males. This begins to eat her up from the inside out in the span of a week, in which she delves into a state of solitary that leads her into an exploration of her inner-most demons.

This film was perfect timing for me. After having recently watched Black Swan, the genre of films involving the psyche of females has a new found interest in me from a filmmaker and storytelling point of view. Roman Polanski really pulls out some amazing shots on such a cheap budget, many effects that still hold up better than many of the CG effects in today's Hollywood 'wanna-be film' movies. There's a real passion within Polanski's direction, including a peep-hole shot that required the prop man to build a gigantic door just to get what Polanski envisioned (sounds like something ole Hitch would pull, eh?).

This is another film where there is a vision and a point to every scene. There are metaphors, intentional or not, that spring out from the mise en scene and the acting. Catherine Deneuve does an amazing job of transforming from innocence into the madness she partakes in the final act of the film. I'm positive Roman Polanski hired her for her eyes, because the way she acts through her eye movement alone is enough to win her an Oscar in today's lower standards of acting.

Overall, the film is quite tense throughout and has some unbelievable spots that a filmmaker and a casual movie-goer can both appreciate. The film delves into themes of feminism, abjection, schizophrenia, depression and any other seedy theme you can shake a stick at. Enjoyable as a film and appreciative as a work of art.