Repulsion

Plot synopsis:
Carol Ledoux (Catherine Deneuve), a Belgian manicurist, lives in Kensington, London, with her older sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux). Carol practically sleepwalks through her days, and interacts awkwardly with men. A would-be suitor, Colin (John Fraser), is flummoxed by her behaviour and she rebuffs his advances, disgusted by them.
She hides her head in her pillow against her sister's cries of sexual pleasure with her lover, Michael (Ian Hendry). When Helen leaves on a holiday to Italy with Michael, Carol appears even more distracted at work, gets sent home, stays in the apartment, leaves a raw, skinned rabbit out to rot, and begins to hallucinate, first seeing the walls cracking, a man breaking in and molesting her, then hands reaching out to grab and attack her. Colin breaks into her apartment when she refuses to acknowledge his adoration and he apologizes for his transgression. When he says he wants to "be with [her] all the time," she bludgeons him to death with a candlestick, dumps the body into the overflowing bathtub, and nails the broken door shut.
Later, the imperious landlord (Patrick Wymark) breaks in, looking for the late rent payment. Carol pays him and sits on the sofa, staring into space. He remarks on the decaying state of the apartment, and attempts to ingratiate himself by bringing her a glass of water as he leers at her in her nightgown. When he first propositions her, then sexually assaults her, she gets away. But he comes at her again and she slashes him to death with a straight razor.
When Helen and Michael return, they discover the dead bodies. Michael runs for help. Helen, distraught, finds Carol hiding under the bed in a catatonic state. Neighbors arrive – curious, concerned and shocked. Michael returns and carries Carol out, staring creepily at her wide-open eye, face and body. A family photograph on the floor shows Carol as a girl, turned towards an adult male figure in the photograph with a look of loathing.

Tags: psychological, murder, cult, violence, horror, atmospheric, insanity, psychedelic, claustrophobic

Review:
Extremely shocking if you consider the time it was filmed!Carole, a beautiful, young, unusually shy, fragile, foreigner, works in a beauty salon and lives with her older sister Helene in London.
When Helene leaves for a trip with her lover, Carole isolates herself in her sister's apartment and surrenders to her morbid fantasies that lead her down a path of hallucinations all the way to murder.Polanski uses "the world outside" in a clever way, to give us the whole parameter that helps bring about Carole's downfall.
Polanski's expert use of sound, sets, camera angles and framing all play a great role in creating the horror atmosphere.Deneuve is Fantastic!
It is clear from early on in the film that the lead character, Carol, played brilliantly by an extremely young-looking Catherine Deneuve, is not exactly normal.
The movie is seen almost entirely from her point of view, using techniques borrowed by later directors such as Darren Aronofsky for his movie, "Pi", which gives the entire movie a claustrophobic feeling that enhances the impact of Carol's hallucinations.There are no doubt people who would like to explicate this film as an exploration of sexual repression or the like, and perhaps they are indeed hitting the mark in doing so, but this film works brilliantly as pure cinema, with no metaphoric subtext needed.Overall Rating: 4 stars (out of 4), or 9 (out of 10).
The most frightening thing about Repulsion, Roman Polanski's first film in English (and filmed in England) is that everything that can terrify the audience is within the lead character's mind.
Polanski piles on the atmosphere like fudge on a sundae- we literally get thrust inside of her mind as she goes into this down-ward spiral.It would be one thing if the film was a great success just because of Polanski's tricks with adding true fear into the audience, but Deneuve is a big factor in this too.
Roman Polanski's direction, beautiful black and white photography and effective use of sound really helps the film.
The surreal plot follows a remote young hairstylist (Catherine Deneuve) who doesn't say much, and finds herself in perpetual fear of the opposite sex (solidified in the presence of an inexplicable stranger who 'rapes' her in the middle of the night); her paranoia and insecurity only worsens when her sister takes a vacation with her lover, and things quite literally begin to fall apart.What's unfortunate about "Repulsion" is that Polanski doesn't stick the knife in far enough...a few years later, he would do a superior study of patriarchal politics (with demonic overtones) in "Rosemary's Baby," and even later still, an impressive meditation on claustrophobic madness with "The Tenant".
Very few classic horror films have ever managed to disturb me like they did to the people who saw them in theaters, but this one actually had some good and original scares.Overall, I'm glad I saw it and I would recommend.
REPULSION (1965) **1/2 Early Roman Polanski f*ck -with-your-head-fest about a beautiful woman's (an ethereally haunting Catherine Deneuve) downward spiral into madness with some bold ideasabout what goes on in the human mind and its ramifications.
Carol's (Catherine Deneuve) fear of men (the cause of which is hinted at but never explained) combined with her incredibly intense sexual repression, spirals into outright madness over a course of several days, as she's left largely alone in her apartment.
It's a nice introduction to Catherine Deneuve (who's startlingly beautiful, even as such a disturbed character), and it has an ending that's almost as haunting and memorable as another Roman Polanski favorite, Chinatown.
In Repulsion last scene give us some clues of the story.A close up of an old family photo.Maybe as a guilt.Carol is fearful of men and repulsed by sex.She is very close with her sister.Her trauma grows when her sibling Helen leaves her alone in their apartment.A young   and grown up woman would choose a man and maybe she will enjoy a healthy sex life.But a woman also can choose living without sex ,she can focus in other activities.For this reason we can't call her repressive or neurotic.Freud thought that sex was primordial for men & women.I don't know what concept the Film Director had on the complexity of female sexuality.But he was right in casting Catherine Deneuve as the mentally fickle Carol.
Deneuve reputation as  A cold sensual blond,was an intelligent choice.A woman that attractive breaks all stereotypes.When a woman is repulsed by sexual encounters is because she suffers from Androphobia.But the problem of our female protagonist is more complex.Her hallucinations and paranoia increases and the most tragic thing is that Carol is invisible to the world around her;Helen,the absent sister,got no idea of what's happening to her.The gifted Filmmaker,Roman Polanski is a forgotten Artist in the United States.This year a mediocre movie director won an Oscar instead of Robert Altman.George Lucas received A Lifetime achievement award BUT in Hollywood they are afraid of reward a fascinating and complex Director.If we ask a young generation of moviegoers who is Roman Polanskiwill they know the answer?
Notice: The extreme roving close up.The sudden silence.A  rape scene and the ticking of a clock.An empty room as Carol wanders out of it,out of sight,and then back.The ringing telephone.The shelf of broken toys;and of course The dead Rabbit!!!.Catherine Deneuve ia one of the most beautiful woman that has ever graced the silver screen.
This one "Repulsion" (1965) often considered as the first part of a trilogy (with "Rosemary's Baby" 1968 and "the Tenant" 1976) dealing with the horrors of dwelling flats finds itself half-way between realism (the rabbit that's rotting) and fantastic (the crack on the wall is a sign of Carole's madness).
Concerning this detail, Polanski must have been influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's masterpiece "the Fall of the House of Usher."Repulsion" is Polanski's first opus to flirt with fantastic and this eclectic film-maker has already the remarkable gift to favor a slow but sure rise of anxiety marked out by several significant events: Hélène and her lover who go on holiday leaving Carole alone in the flat, Carole's dismissal from her job, the young man in love with her and who would like to see her again, the untidy flat.
I can also see why he should have been the ONLY director considered to helm the equally terrifying, paranoid and claustrophobic ROSEMARY'S BABY.First of all, leave it to him to construct the most twisted cinematic dichotomy ever: having French sex goddess Catherine Deneuve, one of the film world's most beautiful actresses ever, playing a woman completely allergic to the touch of any man.
The horny, chauvinistic attitudes that ruled the day during this decade keep any of the male characters who have direct interaction with Carol from realizing that she's more than just a "woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Michael sees signs but doesn't acknowledge it, and the one man who cares for her, Colin (John Fraser), just chalks it up to what he thinks is some attractive 'bird' playing hard-to-get.
The clues are in the beginning and the ending of the film, and the fact that it leaves you speculating about her back story long after the last frame has faded is a testament again to the skillful writing.Although the closest I have ever seen to a horror heroine like Carol would be Angela Bettis's stunning performance in Lucky McKee's cult hit MAY, Deneuve's Carol Ledoux is still a unique creation in the realm of the psychological thriller.
Yes, at times it is just way too slow but for my money that was a necessary evil as, a) Carole's mental collapse is slow and b) the slow pace helps add to the tension of the film.And the tense atmosphere is the main thing here  others have said the film is scary like a horror movie, I disagree; I think it is just consistently unnerving and slightly disturbing in its subject matter.
Polanski seems to know what he wants us to see and understand and he does very well to mix that with the need for tension and a creepy atmosphere.Denevue is very good in the lead role and manages to convey a lot with looks and body language  even her eye in the opening credits shows a terrible lot of fear.
The men in the cast are all pretty good  some of them are nice guys but most of them are pretty realistic in terms of being a little leering and add some validity to Carole's fear.Overall this is a very effective film with a creepy atmosphere that builds to things that genuinely unnerved me a little bit.
I saw it with my father a few years ago, both of us being people who pride ourselves on being open to all kinds of movies and giving even the most hopeless film a chance, both of us not knowing whether it was good or bad, or even popular.
It's down to the sheer brilliance of Roman Polanski's direction and star Catherine Deneuve's powerful central performance that the film proves riveting throughout, even when there's (seemingly) very little happening on screen.The movie starts off like a typical '60s kitchen sink drama, with sulky Belgian beautician Carol (Deneuve) struggling to focus at work and trying to ignore the advances of interested males.
Eventually, Helen and Michael return home where they find a scene of unimaginable horror, with Carol catatonic in the bedroom.While not a particularly pleasant viewing experience, Repulsion has to be admired as a work of art, as an intense character study, and as a master-class in movie making, every frame, every sound, every image carefully considered.
Carol's misery and loneliness is contrasted by the cheerful laughing coming from a nearby school and the lively music from a trio of street entertainers, and Polanski heightens the feeling of unease with twisty-turning camera-work and excellent use of light and shade, turning an ordinary apartment into a claustrophobic prison.
She can't accept the continuous presence of her sister's boyfriend in the apartment which she and her sister shares.Due to this inherent mental state coupled with hearing about the distress caused to her friends by the men in their lives, she gradually slips into paranoia and then utter madness which coincides with her sister going out on vacation leaving Carol all alone.Repulsion's themes like its protagonist Carol are complex.
Polanski uses small but beautiful scenes to imply major things about Carol, eg: After coming back from work Carol sees some young nuns playing together from her apartment window and she watches them with an innocent fascination on her face.
I couldn't help but get reminded of 'Belle de Jour', the Bunuel film where she plays Séverine, another young woman going through mental distress.'Repulsion' is an artistic horror film and it is one of Polanski's best.
Repulsion (1965) is a psychological thriller by Roman Polanski.It tells a story of a sexually repressed young Belgian woman called Carole Ledoux (Catherine Deneuve).She works as a manicurist and lives with her sister Héléne, played by Yvonne Furneaux.Her sister has a married lover called Michael (Ian Hendry) that brings out Carole's dislike of men.A young man called Colin (John Fraser) wants Carole but she doesn't want him near her.Michael takes Helen abroad for a holiday and Carole is left alone in the flat.She hallucinates and falls slowly into madness.Repulsion is known as a movie that depicts the female orgasm for the first time, with the sound only, though.It was a mighty controversial film back then, and in a way it still is.Catherine Deneuve is excellent in the lead.She has a reputation as one of the finest actresses of French cinema.You can totally understand that.Those sequences where her character hallucinates a man raping her, made with no sound, are highly impressing.This movie works on so many levels..
Catherine Deneuve gives a terrifying performance completely lacking in vanity as Carole, an unhinged woman whose feverish mental state begins to take physical form when she stays alone in her apartment over one long weekend.
Some of the special effects, like the cracking walls and the ghoulish hands emerging from them to clutch at Carole, venture into cheesy ghost-story territory, or they would be cheesy if Polanski didn't use them so well.A jangling and unsettling film.Grade: A.
However, when Carol meets her sister's boyfriend her merely idiosyncratic behavior turns paranoid and she starts to experience violent hallucinations.The part of Roman Polanski's trilogy of apartment building tenants is a good film and very good for a second film.
By chance, I happened to come across Polanski and crew, and the beautiful Catherine Deneuve,shooting a scene for what turned out to be the film: "Repulsion".
The central character's psychological weaknesses thusly becomes the film's most successful elements, as she goes on to possess the qualities of a lost child, wandering around this tiny London flat, screaming in metaphysical anguish as out-stretched arms break through the walls in a mocking reminder of the horrors of physical embrace.It's a bleak film, without question, taking the idea of mental breakdown and turning it into a dizzying expressionist thriller, but even then, there are the usual stabs at disarming black comedy; something that you can see in most of the director's work from this, to Cul-de-sac (1966), to the more obvious Dance of the Vampires (1967).
Roman Polanski masterpiece "Repulsion" (1965) tells the story of a young woman called Carol (a stunning performance by Catherine Deneuve), who has been raped and maltreaten some time ago.
Great work done by director Roman Polanski, who has created together with the "Fearless Vampire Killers" and "Rosemary´s Baby" one of the best films of his career!!!Definitely next to Alfred Hitchcock´s "Psycho" (1960) and Robert Aldrich´s "What ever happened to Baby Jane" (1962) one of the most excellent noir thrillers of the 1960s..!.
Roman Polanski is a class apart and no one understands and films mental trauma like him.SUPERB.
Knowing that the name Polanski was important in the horror genre but not able to remember for what films, I gave Repulsion a try.
It seems a little bit as if Catherine Deneuve as this beautiful young woman trapped in a horrific state sort of precedes Mia Farrow's role in "Rosemary's Baby" (although this one induces much more fear).So just watch "Repulsion" and you'll see what a horror movie can really be.
He was once truly exceptional, and 1965's Repulsion is one of the best examples of his work.Carole Ledoux (Catherine Deneuve) is a Belgian manicurist living in London with her sister.
Director Roman Polanski, in a delicious homage to Alfred Hitchcock, concocted a genuinely creepy thriller about a beautiful, repressed young woman (played to perfection by the elegant Catherine Deneuve, in one of her first films)who has been left alone in her apartment for a weekend while her sister is away.
There are still shocks to be had while watching REPULSION, but the most deadly facet of the movie is its snail's pace.The best images in the film are those that Polanski stole from Hitchcock or Cocteau.
It's terrifying the number of comments on this film that take Carol's problems to be sexual repression, and her nightmares to be "fantasies"-- does she look like she enjoys being raped every single night?
Watch a Half-Wit Go Completely Mad. While Polanski's direction is first rate, and there are plenty of memorable moments throughout this film, the problem of having a central character without any empathetic moments makes everything fall somewhat flat.
Maybe I've seen too many Hollywood productions from XX & XXI centuries and therefore couldn't feel the atmosphere of a black&white film, but the point is, I love horror/mystery movies and I've watched MANY better ones.
Conveying the problems of a schizophrenic is not an easy task,but Catherine Deneuve makes a better job of it than one would have thought possible-making Carol a sympathetic character and making us feel for her.All the supporting cast are consistently excellent,the production is the best and Roman Polanski makes a piece of work that is on a level with Alfred Hitchcock and the other great directors of our time.
REPULSION is a psychological horror film about a young woman who is going through her own fears in her dark apartment, rejects her sexuality and gradually loses all contact with reality.
When Helen leaves on a holiday to Italy with her lover, otherwise a married man, Carol stays in their apartment and begins to hallucinate...Mr. Polanski reveals to us a deranged mind, or rather the dark side of the human subconscious, in this film.
With great direction by Roman Polanski and a knockout performance by Ms. Deneuve (who really lets herself have a meltdown,) this is one horror film that is worth watching and even after it's over, you're still reeling from it..
Shot on a modest budget, filmed in black-n-white and addressing the themes of repressed sexuality, past trauma & mental illness, this psychological horror is still amongst his better works.Set in London, Repulsion tells the story of Carol; a young woman who shares an apartment with her older sister, works as a manicurist at a beauty salon, sleepwalks through her days and feels extremely awkward around men.
Things are set in motion when her sister decides to go on a vacation with her boyfriend, leaving Carol alone in the apartment where demons of her past begin to haunt her.Co-written & directed by Roman Polanski, Repulsion is a multi-layered character study that follows a mentally ill woman undergoing a nervous breakdown when left on her own and the effects a past trauma can have on present life, as evident in the scenes where we see Carol feeling disgusted by the sexual attention she receives from men.
**SPOILERS** Roman Polanski's first English speaking movie set the stage for future films that he directed over the next 10 to 15 years like "Rosemary's Baby" in 1968 and "The Tenant" in 1976 about alienation and fear in the big city and the horrors that goes along with it.
Beginning Roman Polanski's trilogy of apartment thrillers, Repulsion is a moody descent into the mad mind of protagonist Carole, played with absent perfection by Catherine Deneuve.