Review of Repulsion (1965) by Joanna R — 28 May 2008

Stunningly metaphoric. Passivly terrorizing. If you inscribe yourself in the freudian tradition, this movie is a real treat. Denial, regression, projection, it is all there, though Polanski called it intuition (of course).

Young Deneuve is caving a dramatic anxiety about men and sexuality. Her mental dualism is projected on the appartment she has trapped herself in, where she remains splintered between her weaker and weaker ego and a noisy id (or "object" or "other"). Her mind is split, between church and raw meat, beauty and repulsion... And the inner struggle exteriorizes as she has to deal with resurfacing issues from the past. Everything is in the childhood and if Zizek hasn't written anything about this movie I will be surprised.

And yes. According to film history, this is the first movie to include the sound of a female orgasm.