Space and Environment: Secret Lairs Film Review

Repulsion, 1965

Figure 1: Repulsion

Roman Polanski's 'Repulsion' 1965 is a psychological thriller. The first of Polanski's films with English as the spoken language, the story follows a mysterious young woman, Carol, and her slow decent into madness. A foreigner living in London, Carol as portrayed by actress Catherine Deneuve, is a quiet young woman who shies away from the attention of men, and seems distant and spacey from the beginning of the film. She lives with her sister, who is her opposite, inviting her married lover to stay night after night. Carol is left alone in the apartment when her sister and her lover travel abroad and here the real trouble begins. She becomes a recluse, trapped in the apartment which seems to be both cracking and growing around her. Her world becomes distorted and nightmarish representing her growing madness.

Every aspect of the mise-en-scene, sound and editing is designed to put the audience inside the head of the protagonist. The build up of tension and uncomfortable score invites the audience to feel her madness with her. Polanski employs a host of wonderfully integrated visual and aural effects to suggest the inner torment Deneuve suffers. (Andrew, 2006) Both the outside world and the apartment show the cracks building in her psyche, appearing suddenly and growing in size. Throughout the film both the diegetic and non-diegetic

sound reflect Carol's psychosis. Eery noises and drawn out moments of almost silence build a tense and unpleasant atmosphere holding audiences on the edge of their seats. Unlike many other horrors, at the peaks of violence in a scene, there is complete silence. This suggests Carol detachment from her actions due to her crumpling mental state. During the film Carol removes a plate from the fridge, containing a cooked rabbit. Slowly this meat starts to decay and rot in front of the audience's eyes. This is another representation of the protagonists mental collapse. The changing apartment is designed to create a warped sense of perspective, like in Carol's head. Many of the shots used in the film are from the point of view of Carol, placing the audience inside her mind. While the space begins as a typical cramped London flat, as her disturbance grows, so does the apartment until she is completely dwarfed by high ceilings and long corridors. This space also seems to come to life and attack Carol. In one scene, arms sprout from the walls, groping at her as a representation of her fear of sexuality and men. As early as the title sequence, the audience is put inside Carol's head, beginning with the extreme close-up shot of her eye. Rather than making a mad person scary, the film terrifies by giving an audience a sense of what its like to lose sanity. (Newman, 2007)

Figure 2: Repulsion

Figure 3: Repulsion

One of the most disturbing aspects of the film, is the repetitive rape fantasy. Although Carol is clearly frightened by the thought of sex, she is also intrigued by. There is no doubt that the assault is made up within her own head, which presents the question of why it is repeated. This scene occurs after she imagines the barricaded door, leading to her sister's room, is pushed open. Before her sister left, Carol lay in bed listening to her and her lover. This suggests that the combination of the opening door and rape nightmare stem from both her fear and longing to experience the world as her sister does. 'Repulsion' is a film that could only come about in the '60s, and really, every element of the film is so utterly perfect for its instant in the zeitgeist, at the very heart of the explosion of continental cosmopolitanism and right at the cusp of the sexual revolution. (Brayton, 2011)

Figure 4: Repulsion

Considered to be perhaps the best psychological thrillers of it's time and the greatest of Polanski's achievements, 'Repulsion' is unforgettable. The world created is frighteningly immersive in that it creates a sense of madness and mental discomfort in the audience. Polanski and his longtime co-screenwriter Gerard Brach drop us at the beginning of a psychological meltdown, which they then follow relentlessly, refusing to allow the audience a moment of respite from the addled perspective of the mentally crumbling heroine. (Kendrick, 2009)

Illustration List
Figure 1. Repulsion 1965 Film Poster At: http://meansheets.com/tag/repulsion-poster/ Figure 2. Still from Repulsion 1965 At: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/repulsion.htm Figure 3. Still from Repulsion 1965 At: http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay/LIFES_WORK_THE_FILMS_OF_ROMAN_POLANSKI__Chapter_5_REPULSION_The_Dark_S Figure 4. Still from Repulsion 1965 At: http://tinribs27.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/filling-the-gaps-2repulsion-1965/

Bibliography
Andrew, G Movie review from Time Out film guide 2006 At: http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/76606/repulsion.html Newman, K Repulsion Review 2007 At: http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp? FID=134914 Brayton, T Female Problems 2011 At: http://antagonie.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/female-problems.html Kendrick, J Repulsion Review 2009 At: http://www.qnetwork.com/index.php?page=review&id=2252