rEPULSION

A rOmAN POLANSkI FILm

An abso lu te knockout o f a mov ie in the psycho log ica l hor ro r l i ne has been accompl ished by Roman Po lansk i in h is f i r s t Eng l i sh -language f i lm. I t i s the Br i t i sh -made, French-p layed Repu ls ion and i t opened here Saturday .

Prepare yourse l f to be demol ished when you go to see i t—and go you must , because i t ’ s one o f those f i lms everybody w i l l soon be buzz ing about . I t ’ s the Dav id and L isa—only be t te r—of th is newspaper s t r i ke . To miss i t wou ld be worse than miss ing Psycho, i f you ’ve a tas te fo r th is sor t o f th ing .

For i t i s more than jus t a ta le o f mount ing hor ro rs tha t moves i t s hero ine—a beaut i fu l , sex- repressed French g i r l l i v ing in London—from a s ta te o f menta l woe in to a s tage o f d i ther ing madness and then to the dark ex t remi ty o f murder ing a b race o f fe l lows who happen in to the lone ly apar tment in wh ich she i s h idden.

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I t i s a lso a haunt ing adumbra t ion o f a smal l bu t p ie rc ing human t ragedy , and i t i s a lmos t a per fec t spec imen o f a very spec ia l c inema-sound techn ique .

Mr . Po lansk i , you ’ l l remember , i s the young d i rec to r who made the Po l i sh f i lm Kn i fe in the Water . In tha t one , he p roved h is ab i l i t y to penet ra te and expose the a l ien and angry impu lses o f the subconsc ious mind . Here he goes even fu r ther in to the dank and murky chambers o f the b ra in to d iscover the h ideous demons tha t somet imes take possess ion there .

The bra in o f wh ich the demons take possess ion in th is p rogress ive ly more hor rendous f i lm is tha t o f a young man icur is t , p layed by Cather ine Deneuve, the s l im g i r l whose rad ian t b lond beauty i s c ruc ia l , fo r the we i rd and ag i ta t ing mys te ry here i s why a g i r l o f such fasc ina t ing beauty shou ld be as hos t i le as she i s toward men.

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Creep ing ly , Mr . Po lansk i exposes th is mys te ry by showing us f i r s t the to r tu red na tu re o f h is hero ine—how she ho lds o f f an a rdent young su i to r , how she f ie rce ly resents and ha tes the lus t fu l lover o f her o lder s is te r w i th whom she shares a London f la t ; and then he con t inues the exposure w i th a de ta i led and gruesome account o f the c rumbl ing o f her m ind wh i le she i s s tay ing in the apar tment a lone and how she murders , f i r s t , her innocent su i to r and then the lecherous land lo rd when they unwi t t ing ly invade the fe t id p lace .

But the f ina l , po ignant reve la t ion i s in an o ld fami ly pho tograph, wh ich shows the two s is te rs when they were ch i ld ren , tha t i s p icked up by the camera a t the end .

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Th is sub t le ty i s charac te r i s t i c o f the s t ruc tu re and rea l i za t ion th roughout . Mr . Po lansk i bu i lds a tower ing d rama w i th a sk i l l fu l mesh o f inc iden ta l s t imu l i . The d ressed carcass o f a rabb i t on a p la t te r becomes a mons t rous symbo l as the p ic tu re goes a long . Smal l c racks in the wa l l s o f the apar tment f low in to c runch ing ind ica to rs o f the hero ine ’s c rumbl ing mind .

D is to r t ions in the rooms o f the apar tment tac i t l y revea l her menta l s ta te . Phantom arms tha t punch th rough the wa l l s and se ize her v isua l i ze her n igh tmare insan i ty .

And w i th sound, too , Mr . Po lansk i weaves a fabr ic o f t remendous e f fec ts .

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Miss Deneuve is s imp ly sp lend id in the cen t ra l ro le—secre t i ve in nurs ing her obsess ion , and s ta rk ly sad in her insan i ty . Yvonne Furneaux , who p layed the mis t ress o f the hero in La Do lce V i ta , a lso does a sp lend id job as the sub t l y con ten t ious o lder s is te r , and Ian Hendry i s p roper ly c rude as the la t te r ’ s lover . Pa t r i ck Wymark p lays the land lo rd vu lgar ly , and John Fraser i s sugary as the su i to r who is rewarded w i th a c lou t on the head. Wi th in the mae ls t rom o f v io lence and hor ro r in th is f i lm, Mr . Po lansk i has ach ieved a haunt ing concept o f the pa in and pa thos o f the menta l l y deranged. He has de l i ve red undoubted ly one o f the bes t f i lms o f the year .

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W e l l , n e x t t i m e yo u f o r g e t , m a y b e yo u ’ l l l e t m e k n o W.

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