Not as terrifying as expected (read: as advertised) all told. Save for Catherine Deneuve's more-than-effective take, as one Carole Ledoux, on the paralyzing of the mind. Polanski's tone, cast upon Deneuve, of religion vs. lost innocence and abandonment of redemption is heavy-lifting at times. In the face of her sister/roommate's adulterous comings-and-goings, Carole's tormented, severe prude-ism becomes and is in utter control of her life; that is to say, her every action manifests itself in terms of the view she holds of her sister's life-choices. When her sister chooses to leave on holiday with an older married man, Carole becomes unhinged mentally.
One could look upon Polanski's Repulsion as an indictment on the male species, or as the catch-22 of society, in it's entirety, has become. Carole's "boyfriend" is failing to reach her, her job falls apart, and it's apparent she's long grown weary of random advances from men she meets in the course of her daily life. What may come off a snobbish or elitism to these people is sadly an ever-tightening, already claustrophobic, mind which is steadily grinding into madness. Relationships be damned? Who knows. Carole seemed to never of had a chance....
A mix of randomness and plenty of symbolism fills out Repulsion's world very nicely.
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