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Recently, I viewed Roman Polanski's feature-film debut, "Knife in the Water," and found it to be a well-done effort that would foreshadow his later, better works. "Repulsion" came 3 years later, and while a fine film on a purely technical level, its psycho-mindf*ck ambitions are shredded to pulp by the time the film reaches its close, leaving the viewer cold and unfulfilled. While containing some incisive, veiled sentiments on how the male and female gender perceive each other, from aggression and fear, to promiscuity and perversion, "Repulsion" ultimately becomes overshadowed by artistic pretension and symbolism.
The surreal plot follows a remote young hairstylist (Catherine Deneuve) who doesn't say much, and finds herself in perpetual fear of the opposite sex (solidified in the presence of an inexplicable stranger who 'rapes' her in the middle of the night); her paranoia and insecurity only worsens when her sister takes a vacation with her lover, and things quite literally begin to fall apart.
What's unfortunate about "Repulsion" is that Polanski doesn't stick the knife in far enough...a few years later, he would do a superior study of patriarchal politics (with demonic overtones) in "Rosemary's Baby," and even later still, an impressive meditation on claustrophobic madness with "The Tenant". Both of these films combine the best elements of "Repulsion" into more satisfying wholes that one would be better off seeking them out instead.
score 5/10
Jonny_Numb 18 June 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1396805/ |
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30-11-2019 08:33:51
