Repulsion (1965)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Roman Polanski (original screenplay) &
Gérard Brach (original screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 October 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Horror | Drama

Tagline:

From the Award-Winning "Knife In the Water"

Plot:

Left alone when her sister goes on vacation, a sexually repressed young beauty goes insane with surreal fantasies of seduction and rape.

Plot Keywords:

Hallucination | Rape | Seduction | Telephone | Banjo

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Carole
Ian Hendry	...	Michael
John Fraser	...	Colin
Yvonne Furneaux	...	Helen
Patrick Wymark	...	Landlord
Renee Houston	...	Miss Balch
Valerie Taylor	...	Madame Denise
James Villiers	...	John
Helen Fraser	...	Bridget
Hugh Futcher	...	Reggie
Monica Merlin	...	Mrs. Rendlesham
Imogen Graham	...	Manicurist
Mike Pratt	...	Workman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Maxwell Craig	...	Workman (uncredited)
Roman Polanski	...	Spoon Player (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits
Roman Polanski		(original screenplay) &
Gérard Brach		(original screenplay)
David Stone		(adaptation and additional dialogue by)

Produced by
Gene Gutowski	....	producer
Robert Sterne	....	associate producer
Sam Waynberg	....	associate producer
Michael Klinger	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Tony Tenser	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Chico Hamilton		(music composed by)

Cinematography by
Gilbert Taylor		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Alastair McIntyre

Art Direction by
Seamus Flannery

Makeup Department
Gladys Leakey	....	hairdresser
Tom Smith	....	make-up

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ted Sturgis	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Alf Pegley	....	props
Frank Willson	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Stephen Dalby	....	sound supervisor
Leslie Hammond	....	sound mixer
Gerry Humphreys	....	sound recordist
Tom Priestley	....	sound editor
Lionel Strutt	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alan Hall	....	camera operator
Laurie Turner	....	stills
Stanley A. Long	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Karen Heward	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Chico Hamilton	....	music conducted by
Gábor Szabó	....	music orchestrator (as Gabor Szabo)

Other crew
Terry Glinwood	....	production controller
Michael Klinger	....	presenter
Tony Tenser	....	presenter
Dee Vaughan	....	continuity
Maurice Binder	....	title designer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Compton Films (presented by)
• Tekli British Productions (as Tekli-Film Productions Ltd.)

Distributors

• Compton Films (1965) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) Worldwide Acquisitions Group (2009) (worldwide) (all media)
• Royal Films International (1965) (USA) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Cinemagia (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Entertainment Programs Inc. (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Lii-Filmi (1965) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures Television Distribution (????) (USA) (TV) (a Sony Pictures Entertainment company)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Film Classics Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Global Media Distributors (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Globo Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Studio Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Dimensions (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Finland:(Banned) (1965) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1993) (uncut) | Finland:K-18 (1965) (cut) | UK:15 (2004) | Hungary:16 | Iceland:16 | UK:15 (theatrical re-release) | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 (video rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1984) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Earl's Court, London, England, UK

Company:

Compton Films

Trivia:

Roman Polanski's first English-language film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position between shots of the telephone and the envelope when Carole picks up the rabbit and goes to answer the phone.

Quotes:

Hélène Ledoux: Why did you throw Michael's things away?
Carole Ledoux: They don't belong there.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Rather too slow but well worth the look for a visually great film with a plot that is more interesting than it appears

Carole Ledoux is a young French woman living in a London flat with her sister, Helene. After initially clashing with her over her boyfriend staying in the flat, Carole is relieved when he takes Helene away for the week to Europe. However, her already nervy disposition becomes increasingly worse as she stays in the flat by herself – seeing the walls crumble around her and the constant threat from groping, violating men as her sanity quickly falls apart.

Shown as the ongoing season of Polanski films currently being shown on the occasionally wonderful channel BBC4, this attracted me even though I am far from being Polanski's biggest fan – suffice to say his name is not an attraction for me. However I decided to give this a go simply because I had never seen it before and didn't know anything about it. After about an hour I must say that I partly agreed with those on this site who just say it was dull – partly anyway. The film is slow and it will appear to be totally plotless to those who are unable (or unwilling) to actually apply their brain to the material. To me the plot built an interesting picture of a woman suffering from childhood experiences and this was done without forcing it down our throats. 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. The deal clincher for me is Polanski's direction, which uses the slow script to good effect and, to me, prevented it's slow pace being as boring as some viewers mistook it to be. He fills the screen with small detail which made me uncomfortable for reasons that I wasn't sure of – what I was being shown just made me shift uneasily ever so slightly. From this we visually see Carole fall to pieces by being shown her sanity (or lack of it) through her eyes; the film is stronger for scenes that we are not sure are real or not and these range from the creeping to the sudden – with all in between having equal if differing impact. The direction made the plot work for me because in terms of words very little can be taken from the film – it is all implied in what the camera allows us to see. 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. She looks like she is really feeling the sort of emotions that the visuals suggest that her character is feeling and I really thought her performance and Polanski's direction matched each other spot on. Furneaux is good in a smaller role as well as throwing in a little in-joke in the shape of a reference to La Dolce Vita. 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. The plot is interesting as it reveals Carole's past through implication and visual detail, however it is Polanski's direction that makes this worth seeing. He builds the plot with the movement of the camera rather than the script and his framing of shots and clever visual effects all paint a convincing representation of Carole's neuroses.