[NOTE: In PM, I gave Junior a list of films I was looking to rematch, ranked by how much I enjoyed them the first time. Repulsion was at the bottom of that list, and Junior knew that when he selected it. I am trying to follow Rule #6, but I also need to make my case here, especially since it is an unpopular, minority opinion.]
Repulsion In a film known for its striking imagery, the one above is the one I found to be the most clever. Polanski frames it so it looks like the landlord is placing his hand on Carol's leg. As he puts the rent into his bag, it looks like he's depositing it right between her thighs. A very clever moment and one I don't see mentioned among the more well-known imagery of Repulsion. Everyone talks about the eyes and the arms and that rotting rabbit, but none of that did anything for me. For most of the film I thought Polanski went with the most visually basic representations of Carol's mental breakdown.
I like Catherine Deneuve in this. It was really smart to cast the most beautiful woman on the planet in this role since the male gaze plays a major part. Even still, there's the impression (confirmed by the final image) that Carol has been in need of help for a very long time. She didn't just go crazy over the weekend. This was the weekend where all the stars lined up to push her over the edge.
I know that I'm in the wrong here, but I don't get how a film as over-simplified and ham-fisted as this can make a Top 100. Take the arms, which is an image I've seen more effectively used in La Belle et la Bęte before (Cocteau makes them fantastical and haunting) and Day of the Dead after. (Romero's use is shocking in its speed.) Typical of my reaction to this film, I felt like Polanski was going for complexity but I couldn't get past how tritely he presented the horror. Moments like these don't linger. Just as they're starting, he moves on. Only the loud stinger music lingers. (This cue where it sounds like someone dropped a box of cymbals always gets criticized when it occurs in a less artsy horror film. Why does Polanski get excused?) The building cracks, and the film moves on. (It's her mind that's really cracking. You get it?) From the moment that cooked rabbit comes out of the fridge, you know it's there to rot. No way anybody's going to eat that.