Repulsion, directed by Roman Polanski in 1965, was released
around the time of sexual liberation for young woman in the swinging 60s. For
many this was a joyous time of leaving repression behind, but what this film
explores is the life of a woman stuck in the past. Both her own past, and the
past society was waving goodbye to.
The film itself for the most part is directed and presented
naturalistically- one of its most sinister vice’s being the use of sound, or
rather, it’s lack off. The silence in the protagonists flat, when she is left
alone by her sister, creates a new pernicious form of suspense. The pure
nothingness of both the soundscape, and the shots of day-to-day items in the
flat make the viewer worry as to what is provoking her to go so mad. The sounds
that are used, the ticking, wall cracking, dripping of a faucet and jazz music
as she walks down the street, all have a repetitive nature, which is almost
Artaudian. Each has an air of sinister poignancy, leading you to question other
aspects of the film by extension. The
night-time scenes, in which she imagines graphic scenes of rape about men she
has come across or seen on the street, are accompanied by a thought provoking
ticking. In itself a normal sound, but the inappropriateness of it’s context
leads the viewers to wonder about what else might be going on behind seemingly
normal sounds and situations, both in the film and in reality.
The sound is not the
only aspect of the film that appears to have hidden intent. The lack of emotion
or remorse behind Carol (played by Catherine Deneuve) is also a worrying tell
about the possibility of psychotic nature in seemingly lovable women. One
review saying “Catherine Deneuve's glassy
stare of anxiety dominates the movie” (Bradshaw, 2013)- Carol cannot
express her emotions in a normal way forcing her to unleash them in a harmful
manner.
Further metaphors
reveal what is hidden if deeper in Carol’s psyche, her unavoidable humanistic
desire for sex. For instance towards the end of the film, Carol tragically
prepares herself for her night-time rapists by applying red lipstick- an age
old metaphor for sexual desire. Carol also appears to “play housewife”-
attempting to iron the vest top of the man she loathes the most, her sisters
boyfriend. A feeble attempt to preserve the male energy in the flat. Carol
begins to imagine arms grabbing her through the walls, surely implying a truth
behind her nightmares. (fig 1) The
Huffington Post aptly puts - “Carol's
dementia creates perplexing hallucinations: sexual acts with a greasy man whom
she simultaneously loathes and lusts after; greedy hands poking through walls
and kneading her soft flesh; and the moving and cracking of walls. Left alone,
she is able to act out what she is so afraid of: the dark sludge of desire.”
The reasoning behind her madness is the biggest point of
discussion to come out of the film. It
is clear Carol has a distinct issue letting go of her childhood, keeping hold
of a child’s toy and looking longingly at the children’s playground. She even
responds “yes” out of her window when the nuns ask the children “Have you had a
nice day?”. Many people think this, along with an unnatural fear of human
contact, may stem from sexual abuse as a child. The most logical explanation
for this being from her father, especially as in the family photo referred to
at numerous times in the film (fig 2),
young Carol appears to be looking worriedly at who we can only assume is her
father.
Bibliography
Bradshaw, P (2013) The
Guardian At: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/03/repulsion-review
Morgan, K (2009) Huffington
Post At:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-morgan/roman-polanski-understand_b_301292.html
Image List
(fig 1) Still from
Repulsion At: http://armchairc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-top-10-roman-polanski-films.html
(fig 2) Still from
Repulsion At:
http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2044-one-scene-repulsion
Hi Livi,
ReplyDeleteIt certainly sounds as though you got into this film! :)
Once again, a very thorough review... what would be useful for your reader, is if you could put the more 'technical' terms into context - for example, you say the sounds 'all have a repetitive nature, which is almost Artaudian'; who is this Artaud and what is his significance?
Don't forget to reference your quotes within the text too - you have missed the one by Kim Morgan :)
Keep up the good work!