Great Filmby FrankBooth

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November 11, 2009: Great movie. Catherine Denueve was great.

This review was written about the DVD edition.

I Also Recommend: American Psycho.

mea culpaby Anonymous

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September 04, 2009: As a schizophrenic in recovery, I believe I can attest to the legitimacy of this movie: that it is as accurate a portrayal as one can find on screen of this terrifying illness. I rank it with Catcher in the Rye, Tell Tale Heart, The Raven (and most other stuff by Poe), Jacob's Ladder, The Ugly, and Pink Floyd as all too perfect a capturing of the disease. What sets Repulsion apart is that it is stripped of the romantic qualities that can distract a lot of people. You are left strictly with the horror. No existential ideas are infused. It isn't a theme around which a larger story revolves. The plot is not a typical building up of character to a climax and then a falling action. Instead, you have what might well be more like a documentary (albeit a brief one). Carol encounters men who confirm her worst fears, and many people with any mental illness often get involved with the kind of person they absolutely do not need. (Which makes you wonder if folks such as myself bring out the dark side in people who pass for "normal.") While she is not capable of forming relationships, she is more sensitive to her need for people than her fragmented mind can handle. What I think is best of all that most may not notice is how a small, accidental incident can send the mind reeling against all efforts to stop it. We may not know Carol's exact reaction when she sees the customer ranting about men. Perhaps she thinks the woman is speaking directly to her, or perhaps not. Either way, the fact the words and voice tone speak so immediately to the fear she harbors each minute of the day, it might as well have been directed at Carol. At one point, Carol looks at a reflection of herself in the flower vase, and I feel that implicit in this is that she is drawn by her fragmentation deeper into that self that is broken apart (though that is a working hypothesis of mine I cannot prove). Many of the shots of walls and objects are not insignificant -as I can attest to focusing and reflecting on some of the exact same things that most folks may find totally irrelevant to the film. While most viewers may want to know the cause of Carol's illness, it is quasi-hinted at, and that is all you need to know. I have my own feelings about what gave her this affliction, but that is not really the main importance. All that really matters is the moment she is in, and how to get out of it. As I watch this, it isn't too much of a horror flick as it might be for others. If anyone wants to know the most important thing to pay attention to, it is the silence, especially during her hallucinations. The average person thinks that seeing something jump out at you is the scary part, when it is not. Rather, it is the power that it has over you that is the true torment. It is much like something in you has evaporated and gone silent, and you don't feel that absence until the hallucination happens. I manage to learn about myself with each viewing, and that is why I feel I can say this is truly a masterpiece -where what is depicted as fiction is all too factual.

This review was written about the DVD edition.