Film Review - Repulsion (1965)

Repulsion is a British horror film that was directed by Roman Polanski in 1965. The screenplay was based work by Gerard Brach and Polanski. The film follows the story of Carol Ledoux who lives in London with her older sister, Helen. Carol declines the advances of male attention and when she is left alone in the apartment she shares with Helen, she begins to hallucinate and when one of the men who is interested in her, Colin, breaks into her apartment to beg for her heart, she beats him to death with a candlestick. Later, the landlord breaks in looking for payment, he then sexually assaults her and she ends up slashing him with a razor. Later when Helen returns she finds the dead bodies and Carol hiding under the bed in a catatonic state. The film ends on a close up of a picture of Carol as as young girl with a look of hatred on her face, turned towards a male figure in the photo which can be seen in figure 1.

Figure 1. Repulsion (1965)

The way that the scenes are filmed fills the audience with tension through keeping the next actions of the characters a surprise. "The nightmare she creates for herself is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen in the cinema: the way scenes will end with 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." The mise-en-scene works to build up a nightmare that is Carols every-day. The film works so well to show an entire, hellish world from one perspective. The many hands reaching out and grabbing blindly toward Carol, reflect her feelings towards how men believe that they own her body which can be seen in figure 2.

Figure 2. Repulsion (1965)

The choice to end the film giving an insight into why Carol loses her mind and why she perceives men the way she does works really well as it allows the audience to view the film that they just watched in a whole new light. "Rather than making a mad person scary, the film terrifies by giving an audience a sense of what it’s like to lose sanity." (Newman,2007) The men who are casually shown on the streets of London are portrayed as something likened to hungry animals as they watch the passing woman as if they are prey, this can be seen in figure 3.

                                                                    Figure 3. Repulsion (1965)

The camera is used throughout the film to portray Carols emotions and feelings. When she is walking down the streets the camera uses long shots to follow her progress. The story is explained and revealed through the camera and without it the film would not hold its horror aspects. "The director has cast a light upon the inner darkness in the twisted corners of a human mind, but instead of exposing an enlightening truth, he casts more shadows – shadows that persist long after the theater curtain has dropped and the lights have gone up." The lighting along with the camera builds up dark and dangerous atmospheres that linger like the past and its consequences and effects on the human mind.


Bibliography:

Bradshaw,P. (2013) 'Repulsion Review' At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Newman,K. (2001) 'Repulsion Review' At: http://www.empireonline.com/movies/repulsion/review/ (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Biodrowski,S. (2009) 'Repulsion (1965) - Horror Film Review' At: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2009/07/repulsion-1965-horror-film-review/ (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Illustrations:

Figure 1. Repulsion [Film Still] At: https://mattystanfield.com/2015/10/21/the-cracks-that-cant-be-mended-or-polanskis-repulsion/ (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Figure 2. Repulsion [Film Still] At: https://4thact.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/repulsion/ (Accessed 16/01/2017)

Figure 3. Repulsion [Film Still] At: http://happyotter666.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/repulsion-1965.html (Accessed 16/01/2017)