I have only just recently gotten familiar with Roman Polanski's "Repulsion", after purchasing the "must own" criterion DVD. I first viewed the film a little over a month ago, and have just re-watched it again to re familiarize myself with its world. What Polanski does so well with this film as well as any of his other effective thrillers/horrors is how he's able to catch the audience off balance. We are not sure what we are looking at until it is too late.
Knowing very little about the film going into it, I was sincerely puzzled as to where it was going, the first act of violence truly took me by surprise. However the thing that is really terrifying in this film aren't murders, but the world inhabited by Carol (Catherine Deneuve). Carol is the main character in the film, and is mostly through her eyes we see it, however not much is told about her.
Carol is introduced at the beginning of the film as a pretty blonde manicurist. She is mostly very timid and shy towards the people around her, which includes her co-workers, her boss, and even the man in her life Colin. Carol lives with her sister, who is having an affair with a married man. Carol is upset when she finds his things in their bathroom. Her sister although sympathetic tells her to mind her own business.
Throughout all this, we sense something is a little off about Carol though. She walks through streets as if in a daze, and she seems to zone out in a sort of day dream from time to time. She forgets her date with Colin, leaving the poor fellow waiting for her for over an hour. She also seems very disturbed at the sound of her sister having sex with her lover in the other room next to her.
Polanski keeps things wonderfully ambiguous for us, only hinting at what Carol's real character is about to unleash.
Things start to unravel rather quickly when the sister goes away on a trip with her lover, leaving Carol alone in the apartment. All through the first act, Carol seems petrified to have her sister leave, and we as the audience through what we have observed seem to have a sixth sense that she would not be safe alone.
For people who have yet to see "Repulsion" I will not reveal the hidden depths of Carol's character, I would like you to be as shocked as I was at my first viewing. This was the first of what many people peg to be Polanski's "apartment films" or "apartment trilogy" (the other two on the list are "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Tenant") Polanski seems to revel in the claustrophobic terror of a small place. Carol seems to build herself her own prison in her apartment, where the outside world is kept at a distance. The apartment itself becomes an extravagant set piece as it becomes more and more distorted and grotesque through Carol's eyes. The effects themselves become even more impressive as Polanski states in a documentary about the film, that their budget was so small, they couldn't afford extra special effects. Much of what we see is brought to life by collaboration with cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, as well as an excellent sound design.
There is still a fascinating mystery about "Repulsion", and that's the true character of the film's heroine Carol, played wonderfully by Catherine Deneuve. Deneuve wasn't a big international star yet, and it's a credit to her performance and Polanski's direction that keep us interested in someone we barely know, yet spend a whole film with.
Much is said about the final shot of the film which depicts a close up of a family portrait. Some might argue it would explain everything, others would say it explains nothing. What I think is another device Polanski uses to keep the audience on the outside. In the documentary Polanski says not to ask him to explain his movie, I believe he says this because we wants us to fill in the blanks ourselves. The film offers us everything we need to know, we just have to look closer, and that's the handprint of a great director.
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