Film Review: Repulsion

Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965) is a chilling film bound to purloin your comfort frequently, and it is about an androphobic woman who gradually loses her mind inside of her own apartment. Carole (Catherine Deneuve) is a beautiful young lady who is a sufferer of androphobia, filling her mind with anxiety around men, and a dreadful fear about sex. While watching Repulsion, you will experience the overwhelming discomfort that caves in on Carole's apartment, and the uneasy madness that escalates dangerously and intensely. The cold and lifeless stare of Carole expresses how lost she is in her own world, even from the start of the film, and in her unknown past also where the childhood photo of her staring off into space is shown. What is unknown about the photo is whether it has a bigger meaning to it or not, a lot of people think it hints at a dark past of sexual abuse by an older male which explains her androphobia. Others believe it suggests she is mentally ill and has always had that dark glare of emptiness. Either way, Polanski has put it there purposely for people to see not to make sense of the film and put the audience's minds at ease, instead to play with their heads and cause some frustration about the mystery of Carole's past. Something you're bound to feel for sure though, is an unearthly discomfort throughout the film and you will likely take it with you after the movie is over. 

Figure. 1. Repulsion movie poster.

Polanski choosing to make the film in black and white over the option of colour is understandable, as it creates a darker and more vague atmosphere for the viewers to endure, as well as reflecting Carole's concealed and secretive personality. Not only the colour, but the cinematography alone is strongly effective in the way that it sets a mood that is capable of sharing the discomfort among the audience. The different approaches to shots and the visual set taken by Polianski, were done purposely for the important reason of hinting at things and suggesting ideas, instead of fully giving them away or completely hiding them from the viewers. Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor said "Although working with the meticulous Kubrick was a trial by fire, 'making Repulsion [1965] nearly drove us mad.'" (Taylor, 2006) It is no surprise that intense attention was paid towards capturing detail and brief moments of importance, if those who helped create it had this kind of experience in the process of making the film. Not a lot is given to the audience verbally, which actually makes things more interesting as it allows those who are watching to develop concern for Carole overtime as they pick up on things, just in the same way as if a friend or relative would eventually pick up on things. For one example, the element of time passing is shown. When Carole is constantly inside her apartment, you don't really see a transition between day and night and you also see Carole wake up on the floor multiple times, without telling how many hours or days have passed when seeing her in these scenes. In one part of the film, a lady at work mentions  to Carole how she hasn't shown up there for three days, which finally shares how long she has been in her apartment experiencing this delirium. This is a confusing and strange realisation as what is seen on screen doesn't seem like that much time, resulting in a personal cause for concern towards Carole. Moving on, in an early on scene a dead rabbit is left on the kitchen top in the apartment once dinner plans change. Strangely enough Carole does not throw it away even when it starts to rot and flies swarm all over it, despite her certain awareness of it being there. Considering she seems to be commonly disgusted by germs and is an extremely hygienic person, this is worryingly odd for her. The rabbit's transition of rotting gives away the fact about time passing in the film, and when finding this out it gives a shocking reality check to the viewer, almost as if to make them believe they are personally going a bit crazy or mentally lost for not realising this at first while watching. Rabbit's also traditionally represent sentiment, fertility and desire, linking to the areas of issue underlying in Carole's character. A final note on the symbolism of the rabbit is that visually it represents a fetus, possibly making suggestions about birth control and abortion linking to the discovery of birth control pills around the time this film was made. Also, the fact that the rabbit was discussed and planned to be for Carole and her sister Helen's (Yvonne Furneaux) dinner, and is suddenly and effortlessly decided to be left on the side by her sister, as makes plans to go out for dinner with her boyfriend, while she completely lets go of her responsibility for the rabbit may just be boldly implying abortion.

Even little shots used in the film are excitingly interesting as they are suggestive of more than what is seen. The camera positioned looking through the peephole is highlighting the idea of being watched and pervertedness, something which Carole seems to despise when she locks herself in the apartment for multiple days at a time. In reflections of furniture and metal ornaments, you can see Carole's face as she is positioned near them. What is interesting is her distorted appearance on the curved shiny surfaces, because it discreetly warns about her crooked mental state and the way that it is slipping or melting away. These shots are clever as they appear minuscule and unimportant, but they're rather symbolic of the film's themes. "Polanski creates an ominous feel by positioning the camera at ground level recording Carole's movements in a static, wide-angle, deep focus shot. As she disappears from the room and re-enters,  the room remains constant, always there, always watching." (Fraley, 2013) It isn't difficult to figure out the basic layout of the apartment, so when it begins to change and darken with Carole's hallucinogenic paranoia later in the movie, the audience get to experience the nightmarish atmosphere, as they also know Carole's apartment as if they were to know the layout of their own. It is clever how Polanski causes a joint effort of sharing the fear between Carole and also the audience. Another way he does this is by creating a claustrophobic mood, as if he doesn't just want the people watching to feel like they are spectating, he wants them to feel unwillingly involved and pull them into this space of horror. "When Polanski was asked why he loved filming inside closed-up spaces, he said he wanted the viewers to feel the fourth wall right behind their backs." (Jean, 2011) He succeeds in doing this, and it is present from early on, as well as towards the end when Carole's hallucinations have drastically escalated. The compact rooms and tight spaces increase in size hugely at this point, in the same scenes where the flesh-like walls are penetrated by male arms that aggressively and inappropriately grope Carole in her own home as she walks down her hallway. The cracks throughout the whole film is something she seems drawn to and concerned about, and the fear that throughout the film her own home is gradually cracking and opening for the predatory men of the outside world to enter really comes to life here and reaches its terrifying climax.

Figure. 2. Repulsion film still.

Linking back to earlier about the photograph, and how a lot of people interpret the young Carole's stare as a sign of past sexual abuse, there is an interesting scene in the film that is probably the most suggestive of this idea throughout the whole of Repulsion. When her genuinely caring and also eager admirer Colin (John Fraser) comes to house and romantically forces his way in all because he is worried about Carole and her well-being, a spontaneous outburst and switch in character is displayed by Carole. When he enters the apartment, he tries to speak with her while she pushes him away and rejects his offers or requests like usual. An elderly woman, who is one of Carole's neighbors stands outside by her door while staring into the visible hallway observing Colin and Carole's discussion. The immediate moment that Colin closes the door on this woman probably just for general privacy, Carole suddenly goes berserk and beats him repeatedly to death with a blunt object violently. It's clear that she did this in fear and defense, although Colin didn't appear violent or aggressive towards her in any way, he just preferred the neighbor not to eavesdrop. Is it just a wild coincidence that she went into what appeared to be an extreme survival mode, as soon as the door closed and the spectator's view was cut off from Carole and Colin alone in the room? Perhaps Carole did indeed have some kind of fearful past experience where doors were closed and shut off the outside world, leaving her alone inside with a man while out of everyone else's sight. It's likely that this familiar action triggered her emotion and thoughts massively which caused her to "fight back" towards Colin. Later on in the movie, the perverted Landlord attempts to forcefully rape Carole in her apartment and so she slashes him multiple times, killing him. Yes, this is a reasonable response. Regardless, she responded to him to same way that she responded to Colin, who's actions and intentions were completely different, whether she was aware or not. If Carole was simply crazy and murderous then why did she not kill these men straight away? More importantly, why would she lock her apartment door and hide from men in the first place? It's more than obvious that she committed these murders to protect herself, but the fact that she killed Colin without hesitating as soon as he closed the door indicates very strongly that something tragic happened to her in the past, and it clearly still haunts her. 

Illustration List.

Figure. 1. LoftCinema, Repulsion movie poster. https://loftcinema.org/film/repulsion/ 

(Accessed 13/12/17)

Figure. 2. TheFilmExperience, Repulsion film still. http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2015/10/30/hmwybs-repulsion-1965.html (Accessed 13/12/17)

Bibliography.

Fraley J. (2013) http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=18863 (Accessed 01/12/17)

Jean. (2011) http://polanski-oddmanout.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/repulsion.html?m=1 (Accessed 01/12/17)

Taylor G. (2006) https://theasc.com/magazine/feb06/taylor/page3.html