Repulsion (1965)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

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

Colour:

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:

This film, along with Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Le locataire (1976), forms a loose trilogy by Roman Polanski about the horrors of apartment/city dwelling.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During the scene right before the boyfriend is murdered, the old woman's dog can be seen panting, with its tongue hanging out - yet we hear barking.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Commune (2009/I)

The best film I've seen in a long time

This film, the first Polanski made in English, works so well, and for so many different reasons, that I felt like I had to watch it again as soon as it ended.

From the first moments of the movie, Polanski sets up the key conflict, cutting between shots of Catherine Denuve's gorgeous face and of the things she is seeing, all of which are almost frighteningly ugly by comparison. After fifteen minutes of this, it becomes clear why Denuve's Carol is unable to cope with anything in the world around her, and why she is so dependent on her sister and her attractive female co-worker, who provide the film's only beauty other than Denuve. When her sister leaves her alone, her surroundings decay further into ugliness, sending her deeper into her madness. I loved the way that despite Carol's growing insanity, Polanski keeps going back to closeups of her face, which remains beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that no one can seem to notice that she is clearly very deranged.

The only question the film left me with is this: How could Carol possibly survived for an entire lifetime up till the point where the film began?