Repulsion
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Synopsis
Roman Polanski followed up his international breakthrough Knife in the Water with this controversial, chilling tale of psychosis. Catherine Deneuve is Carol, a fragile, frigid young beauty cracking up in her London flat when left alone by her vacationing sister. She is soon haunted by specters real and imagined, and her insanity grows to a violent, hysterical pitch. Thanks to its disturbing detail and Polanski’s adeptness at turning claustrophobic space into an emotional minefield, Repulsion is a surreal, mind-bending odyssey into personal horror, and it remains one of cinema’s most shocking psychological thrillers.
Picture 7/10
The Criterion Collection (finally) releases Roman Polanski’s Repulsion on DVD, presenting the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on this dual-layer disc, enhancing the image for widescreen televisions.
There is/was another Region 0 DVD release for the film available for us in North America, which was a spectacularly awful DVD, easily one of the worst ones I have come across. It presented the film in full screen and looked as if the source of the transfer was possibly a videocassette, and possibly a PAL to NTSC conversion on top of that. It looked awful and even contained those fuzzy horizontal lines you would get on well used video cassettes. It was easily one of the most bizarre transfers I had ever seen and was far worse than how it looked on television where I originally saw the film.
Criterion’s DVD is leaps and bounds better than that awful disaster. Not only is the film now widescreen but the transfer comes from the 35mm negative and does it ever look great! I will admit I did cheat somewhat in that I watched the Blu-ray first before the DVD (I usually watch the DVD) and while the flaws in the transfer were more apparent to me because of this I can still say it’s a very strong transfer.
The print is in fantastic shape and this aspect of the transfer is the same between the DVD and Blu-ray. There’s a minimal amount of damage with an occasional mark here and there throughout but damage is a little heavier than what I guess I’ve become accustomed to with Criterion’s recent black and white transfers. There are a few sequences, specifically when the camera is moving quickly oddly enough, where the damage can get a little heavier.
It is an incredibly sharp transfer as well, presenting a fantastic amount of detail. Grain is even present, though this does actually also lend to one of the more troubling aspects of the transfer. While the grain looks fairly natural there are times where it gets a little heavier. This isn’t troubling in and of itself but the grain then looks quite unnatural and more like digital noise. Artifacts can also be noticeable in some of the backgrounds as well.
Contrast is excellent, with strong whites and blacks and distinct gray levels in between, perfectly working for the film’s use of blacks and shadows.
There are some obvious digital artifacts present but despite this it is a very strong DVD transfer and a sharp improvement over the previous DVD, which is still one of the worst looking things I’ve ever seen.
Audio 6/10
Criterion presents a Dolby Digital 1.0 mono soundtrack. The sound design to the film is very dynamic, going from quiet and subtle to loud and evident in a heartbeat and this track handles that rather well. The track is clean and is free of any damage but it can get a little edgy, most obvious in the actors’ voices making it come off a bit less natural. Some louder sound effects also get a tad harsh. There is an obvious difference between the track found on here and the track found on the Blu-ray, which actually sounds cleaner and more free of distortion, and also sounds to have been mixed a little differently. As it stands for the DVD’s audio presentation it’s adequate if unspectacular.
Extras 8/10
Both the Criterion DVD and Blu-ray come with the same small collection of supplements.
Thankfully making it over is the audio commentary by director Roman Polanski and actress Catherine Deneuve that was originally recorded in 1994 for Criterion’s laserdisc release of the film, which I feared would never see the light of day again in region 1 (my understanding is that it appears on a region 2 Anchor Bay DVD.)
It is an excellent track and I’m glad to have finally heard it. Similar to most of Criterion’s laserdisc commentaries the two participants are recorded separately and then edited together. This is unfortunate but this technique does tend to keep the track moving. As far as I can figure Polanski is actually viewing the film while recording the track (possibly Criterion’s laserdisc transfer since he mentions how the film looks on television) and Deneuve isn’t, where her comments come off as not scene-specific and almost as if they are snippets pulled from a longer audio interview. Polanski does have the bulk of the track with Deneuve popping up every so often. Polanski is absolutely wonderful and he gives one of the better director tracks I’ve come across (admittedly I’ve actually never listened to a track by him before.) He offers plenty of technical information and loves to explain how he managed to get certain effects and shots in the film, noting that they would probably have been easier to accomplish today, and even getting very elaborate on how he accomplished a shot through a peep hole. He of course also offers plenty on the getting the production off the ground having to go to a soft porn production company to get the financing, gets into casting the film and working with Deneuve, has nothing but praise for Gilbert Taylor’s photography, and explains his use of sound in the film. He also explains some of his choices, such as the slow pacing at the beginning (solely so he could get a big jump when the first jolt occurs on screen) and also isn’t afraid to admit he’s unsure about certain things in the film (he doesn’t have a real reason for the cracks that appear.) And he also offers up some things that appeared in the original script but were abandoned in the actual film such as another death. The best aspect, though, is when Polanski gets critical of the film even calling it his “shoddiest” work. He isn’t afraid to point out certain shots he’s not happy with, and explains that there are some things he would do different today. He even complains about the film’s pacing which he does find a little on the slow side.
Deneuve as I mentioned doesn’t get much time on the track but her comments are also valuable and interesting. She concentrates a lot on her character and what she is going through during the film, and also gets into the more physical aspects of her part. She has some amusing anecdotes and touches on some of the harder parts of the shoot, such as her one nude scene. She offers a few criticisms (she doesn’t like how the “Charlie Chaplin” sequence plays out but Criterion quickly edits in Polanski with an explanation for why the scene is the way it is) but overall seems very proud of the film and having worked with Polanski.
As a whole it’s a wonderful track, one of the better ones I’ve come across lately and I’m glad Criterion chose to port it over from the laserdisc and not record a new one.
The next supplement is are a couple of trailers for the film. I suspect the first one is the American trailer while the second is the British trailer. They’re generally the same at heart, presenting a horror/thriller, but the first/American trailer throws in some critic blurbs at the tail end of it.
A British Horror Film is a 24-minute documentary produced by Blue Underground in 2003 and I believe was intended for the region 2 Anchor Bay DVD (though I could be wrong.) It feels a little rushed but is a great companion to the commentary track featuring interviews by Polanski, producer Gene Gutowski, Compton Films producer Tony Tenser, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, and art designer Seamus Flannery. It does cover a lot of material that does appear in the commentary track (there’s more on that peep hole shot) but expands on certain aspects. There’s more about the troubles getting financing and the film going over budget. It’s also nice to get some alternate views from other members of the production, which presents alternate takes on how it went (some found it smooth, others not.) There’s also more detail on some of the effects that appear in the film and Taylor explains how the film was a real learning experience for him. But one of the more amusing parts in the documentary comes when the participants admitted they had no idea how single women would live, which in turn called for scouting trips to various apartments so they could recreate the same thing in the film. It does feel brief but paired with the commentary the two really do cover the production quite thoroughly.
The last feature is Grand écran, which is a 21-minute episode for the French television program of the same name, which first aired on October 24th of 1964. With minimal narration is works more as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the camera just sitting there catching Polanski at work on Repulsion and getting interviews with Polanski and the film’s French stars Catherine Deneuve and Yvonne Furneaux. Thankfully it’s not a fluff piece and is really a fascinating piece at its best when it just lingers there as Polanski directs. There’s also a few moments between Deneuve and Polanski as they talk (in French) about scenes they’re about to shoot and also cover Deneuve’s character. It’s a great archival piece and am pleased Criterion managed to round it up.
The included booklet is a little flimsy but contains an excellent analytical essay on the film by Bill Horrigan.
It is a slim number of supplements but they’re altogether quite satisfying with very little fat.
Closing
The DVD comes with a high recommendation. Despite some of the flaws in the transfer it’s still a top-notch one, infinitely better than the previous DVD we in North America were stuck with (in actuality the transfer on here could have been mediocre and still a far cry better than that DVD) and the supplements were absolutely wonderful. A solid, lean release from Criterion.
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