I’ve been meaning to remedy my ignorance when it comes to the work of Roman Polanski. For some reason, I’ve never really gotten past his ‘hits’ and explored any of his earlier works like Knife in the Water or The Tenant. Thanks to the Criterion Collection’s recent blu ray release of ‘Repulsion’, Polanski is, in my eyes, no longer simply the old cop guy from Rush Hour 3.

I’m not even sure what Polanski is ‘known for’. Wait…let me ammend that. I do know what he’s known for. I’m not sure what Polanski is known for in regards to the themes and stylistic choices prevalant in his film work. I have read about such things, but I haven’t seen enough of his films to formulate my own opinion on what makes a Polanski film a Polanski film. However, I’m not a complete idiot. I have seen Rosemary’s Baby and it’s pretty clear that Repulsion is culled from the same brand of suspense driven surrealism. For starters, they even both have female leads! (An observation I made completely on my own, independent of any online research.) In Repulsion, the majestic Catherine Deneuve plays Carol; a quiet and repressed young beauty salon assistant that seems unusually shy and clearly has some issues with intimacy. Her constant day dreaming results in a number of unhappy snooty clients and simply makes her look like a total flake. When Carol’s sister decides to head out of town with her boyfriend, she’s left alone; a helpless French girl in London dealing with her building anxieties as the walls literally start to crack and cave in around her.

Going in to this film with practically zero knowledge of the film, I found myself a little thrown by the seemingly complex but ultimately straight forward story. It’s strange because so much of the film is presented as this dark, surreal fever dream which left me searching for something deeper within the plot. I was questioning what was real and what was a hallucination. What is wrong with Carol? Is her aversion to men a clue? Polanski’s slow burn approach both builds suspense and slightly frustrates as Deneuve’s character seems to be acting like an apathetic, inconsistently emotional and abnormally timid flake (twice I’ve used flake now. nice.) for no apparent reason. The kind of person you just feel like shaking by the shoulders and yelling ‘Speak the f*ck up and get over yourself!’. There always seems to be something supernatural lurking around the corner, but Polanski is much more interested in psychosis over the paranormal. Everything in this film seems to be ‘cracking up’ in one way or another. I think it’s fair to say that David Lynch’s Eraserhead may have been directly inspired by this film as they share some similar themes and imagery — specifically the dead rabbit on the platter.

In the end, some might find Repulsion’s conclusion almost disappointingly ordinary. However, a second viewing without a need to try and figure it all out would probably benefit a film like this. It’s a great example of how our perception of a story can change simply based on whether or not we go into the film with the expectations of a subjective or objective experience. In this case, I am excited for a more informed re-watch. Summarizing the technical qualities of these Criterion blu ray releases has become somewhat redundant. Let’s face it; they’re putting out some of the best looking BD discs to date. Not only are their choice eclectic, but their resistance to noodle around with digital noise reduction and edge enhancing techniques has given us some organic, film-like presentations that are the best representations of the original 35mm prints. In the case of Repulsion, Gilbert Taylor’s black and white photography is given the treatment it deserves and is further proof that a 40+ year old colourless film does truly benefit from the HD treatment. — Jay C.

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