Repulsion was the first Polanski's ffilm in English. At the core of his work there is often the "image of the anesthetized woman, the beautiful, inarticulate, and possibly even murderous somnambulate."
Deneuve plays Carol, a nervous young manicurist who shares an apartment with her sexually active sister. At first Carol goes about her days in the salon; walking outside, where she unsuccessfully avoids the leering glances and advances of men. She exhibits a pathological shyness and repression that slowly spiral into madness.. 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 diseased atmosphere of Carol's womb is meticulously created with Polanski's use of camera angles, sound effects and images of clutter. It is particularly this mastery with camera angles and the treatment of sound that were inspiring for us since in the film, too, there is a gradual identification audience - Carol, through a crafted use of camera.
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