Watching Catherine Denevue (Repulsion, 1965)

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Roman Polanski considered his first English-speaking movie, Repulsion (1965), “the shabbiest” of all his films. Judging by its lack of complexity, I would have to agree. But still, I think it’s a breakthrough in performance for Catherine Denevue. A psychological thriller, Repulsion tells the story of a young girl who is isolated from society and turns mad in return, leaving two dead men behind.

After watching her in Les parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) I’ve come to appreciate Denevue’s performance in Repulsion even more. Only a year after her performance as the jolly and naive Genevieve in Les parapluies de Cherbourg, Denevue has no difficulty playing the role of erratic Carol with her ever vacant gaze. Living with her sister alone, Carol has halucinations of being raped and fears sexual abuse. Blessed with good looks and young age, one wonders why Carol is having such diffuculty maintaining her sanity. But then again, the beautiful is the damned and there is enormous emphasis on Carol’s uncommon beauty and serenity. The movie opens with a scene showing an old woman lying down, getting a facial at the beauty parlor Carol works at. She looks still as dead, while Carol’s holding her hand; her head bowed as if she’s mourning. Bound to a monotonous life, where even beauty comes ready-made, Carol cannot satisfy her urges as a young woman and becomes just a pretty face.

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Carol’s love and hate relationship with men, further obstruct a chance for sanity. At home, she’s besieged by the presence of her sister’s boyfriend, who spends the night at their place, makes dinner plans not including Carol and moves his stuff into the house. On the street, she’s just an object of affection, stalked by men looking for a lay. When Carol finally starts losing her mind and stabs her potential boyfriend, the audience is at crossroads. Here is this cold killer who acts on impulse and kills someone just because she’s too fragile to handle the demands of real life. But she is also this innocent, beautiful girl child who has been abruptly left alone, who does not know how to properly take care of herself, who is as helpless as the rabit that’s been prepared for the stew but left on the countertop. And in the end, she rots just like the rabbit.

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Denevue’s talent lies in her success to protect her real self from the character she plays. At only 21 years of age, Denevue managed to convincingly portray Carol, who almost never smiles and often maintains the same, static, shy look. After Repulsion, Denevue gained an international reputation as the “ice queen” and presented a sexuality that’s in stark contrast to that of Bridgette Bardot, who at the time had alredy become a legend.