Repulsion 1965 by Roman Polanski

Fig 1

Repulsion is a horror film that follows the life of a young Belgian manicurist and her gradual descent into madness. What makes this film fascinating to watch is the fact that the audience is introduced to this appearingly shy and socially awkward young woman and over the duration of the film director Roman Polanski gradually unravels the reason behind her acting in this manner. The beauty of this film is that as it carries us along we see how Carole's every reaction makes sense. (Kermode 2010) Polanskis use of onscreen character development is a main factor of its success, taking us from the first scenes of this young beautiful woman walking along the street to the very disturbing last images of her mentally unstable in a cationic state.The set is used very well to assist in the telling of the narrative. Polanski uses the set almost as a canvas to visually depict the protagonists thoughts. The set also acts as a visual representation of her mental health as through the progression of the film the house appears to deteriorate and disfigure (in her mind) which is simultaneously happening to her mind state as she is being engulfed with her obsessive detest for men.- bizarre hallucinations and jolts; the "assault" scene played out to the amplified ticking clock; the sudden, giant cracks she imagines on switching on a light they always creep me out with a thoroughness that run-of-the-mill horror movies never achieve. There can't be many other films which so plausibly show an entire, warped world created from a single point of view.(Bradshaw 2013)

Fig 2Lastly the implications of the film give it a cliff-hanger ending and leave the audience not knowing for certain what caused the protagonist Carol to generate these feelings of detest in the first place. The final scene where the shot zooms into an old family photo with her as a little girl is used to insinuate that the problems stemmed from her childhood experiences. The use of shadow on the image highlights her to show its significance to the audience and darkens everyone else including the man she is glaring at who appears to be her dad. One can safely assume that the man she is staring at could have abused her sexually as a child routing to her discomfort around men but of course this is just a guess and part of the mystery Polanski has left the audience with. But the final, poignant revelation is in an old family photograph, which shows the two sisters when they were children, that is picked up by the camera at the end.This subtlety is characteristic of the structure and realization throughout. Mr. Polanski builds a towering drama with a skillful mesh of incidental stimuli.(Crowther 1965)

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Fig 4 Bibliography

Jennie Kermode 2010 Available at: http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/repulsion-film-review-by-jennie-kermode

Peter Bradshaw 2013 Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review

Bosley Crowther 1965 Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1739E471BC4C53DFB667838E679EDE

Fig 1 Available at: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/wp-content/uploads/repulsion.jpg

Fig 2 Available at: http://classicfilms-kallim.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/day-13-31-days-of-horror-repulsion-1965.html

Fig 3 Available at: http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2044-one-scene-repulsion

Fig 4 Available at: http://stradeperdute.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/n65.jpg