Repulsion 1965

Fig 1: Movie Poster

This dark film directed by Roman Polanski allows the audience into the mind of a alienated woman suffering from what starts out as shyness and suppression that progresses into extreme androphobia (the fear of interaction with men) to the point where she has violent hallucinations, living nightmares and murders two men that desire her. Putting the film into context, it was during the ‘Swinging Sixties’, contraception had not long been about and it was less frowned upon to have sex before marriage and still there was the pressure of society to be in a relationship at a young age and at this time women still didn’t have equal rights or the freedom to pursue any career they wanted most women were secretaries or housewives. 

The beginning starts with a major close up of an eye (see fig 2), “There is a saying, 'Eyes are the windows to the soul.' It means, mostly, people can see through someone else by eye contact in seven seconds.” (Liyuan, 1962), the camera stays on the eye for quite some time to give the audience little insight into what emotions you can find in the eye, immediately she doesn’t stare back at the audience the eye wanders about immediately suggesting shyness and self isolation. We figure out more about her mental state as throughout the film repeatedly her glassy stares dominate, this conveys she’s never really in our world or at this time period caught up with the Swinging Sixties. Camera work is key to this portrayal of the film, we first see one of her glances then the camera switches to her point of view just staring at a crack in the ground, the camera focuses on it - this suggests connotations of falling in a crack, the ground swallowing you up, alone in darkness and immediately it’s irrational fears which later on progress from subconscious thoughts to vivid hallucinations and living inside her own nightmares. 

Fig 2: Carol's eye

“Mr. Polanski, you'll remember, is the young director who made the Polish film Knife in the Water. In that one, he proved his ability to penetrate and expose the alien and angry impulses of the subconscious mind. Here he goes even further into the dank and murky chambers of the brain to discover the hideous demons that sometimes take possession there.” (Crowther, 2016) in French beautician Carol’s case the ‘hideous demon’ is man and their perversion, the way they glance at her walking down the street, their desire for her and her suppressed desire she feels back masked by repulsion it is this contradiction that starts her mental deterioration like when a young suitor kisses her, she allows him to kiss her because of this desire but her repulsion makes her run to the bathroom and cleanse her mouth and avoid him. She lives in a flat with her sexually active housewife sister and her partner which she secretly loathes, and has the joy of listening to them make love every night - no wonder she’s put off by the idea. The sister and partner go on holiday to Italy and unaware of her sister’s mental state Carol is left neglected. This suggests in the sixties mental illness went unnoticed. Left in this apartment with rent to pay urgently which her mental state gets in the way of her doing resulting in the land lord paying a visit where perversion strikes again he attempts to have sex with Carol and makes a deal that she won’t have to pay rent in return for sexual favours again reflecting the title - Repulsion. 

Fig 3: Crack in the wall

Sent home from work for not being in the right mental state and alone in the apartment is the last place she needs to be, alone with her demons to run amok with her. When she touched a light switch the wall cracked (see fig 3), the rooms get larger than they actually are - although it’s not actually the rooms its her mind, she’s cracking from all her overthinking, she’s isolated and all the extra space would make her feel more alone, vulnerable and even more like an outsider. The rabbit that’s left to rot is another representation of her disintegrating mind, as she walks down the hallway hands reach out to grope and molest her (see fig 4), at night a random stranger emerges from her bed sheets and rapes her however he is fully clothed when doing so - this reflects her inexperience and uncertainty which again can mess with your mind depending how you feel about the unknown. Knowing how it feels to be foreign Carol, understanding her mind set when the young suitor and her landlord enter her apartment without consent we permit Carol to kill them, Polanksi set up the landlord scene so that the audience senses potential danger, he triggers our suspicions and have no choice but to think like Carol. The film ends with another glare from Carol but this time she’s a child in a photograph, the cause of her illness isn’t explained but there are endless possibilities to explain why she is the way she is rather than it being one specific thing.

Fig 4: Hands reaching for Carol

Repulsion’s entertainment value isn’t high compared to others however it has meaning and at the time this would be a successful thriller/horror, however for all viewers it is disturbing, “. Even though by this time it was possible to film in colour, Polanski still chose black and white - maybe to reflect how dark her world is or ironically how nothing is simply black and white for her? Considering it’s Polanski’s first English film it is great, “There can't be many other films which so plausibly show an entire, warped world created from a single point of view.” (Bradshaw, 2013).

Bibliography:

Bradshaw, P. (2013) ‘Repulsion – review’ In: The Guardian [online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Brainy Quote, 2016. (2001) Peng Liyuan quotes. At: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/pengliyuan642039.html (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Crowther, B. (2016) Movie review - - REPULSION [online] At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF1739E471BC4C53DFB667838E679EDE (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Illustration List:

Figure 1: Movie Poster. Wikipedia. (2015) [Poster] Wikimedia Foundation. [online] At: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Repulsion_(1965_film_poster).jpg (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Figure 2: Carol's Eye. Powers, B. (2013) ‘The gaze of Desire’ as seen in Psycho and repulsion [Image]. At: http://powerspapers.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/gaze-of-desire-as-seen-in-psycho-and.html (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Figure 3: Crack in the Wall. The Film Spectrum. (2013) Repulsion (1965) [Online]. At: http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=18863 (Accessed on 26 November 2016)

Figure 4: Hands reaching for Carol. Graphic journey Blog. (2016) At: http://mikedempsey.typepad.com/graphic_journey_blog/2013/05/ (Accessed on 26 November 2016)