The Crisis of Modernity in the Narrative of "Repulsion" by Roman Polanski

Abstract

Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965) is one of the most interesting films in the director’s filmography due to the significance of the topics addressed ­­—the alienation of the individual in modern societies, fundamentally— and the audiovisual style used to express them. The reference bibliography in Polanski’s studies coincides in pointing out that the filmmaker’s work is representative of the crisis of modernity that is debated in philosophical thought, particularly in France, in the mid-20th century. There are, however, few analyses that explore the connection between that question and Polanski’s narrative language. This article studies the way in which the director uses in Repulsion the five fundamental components of cinematographic syntax —image, editing, narration, sound, and mise-en-scène— to express some key ideas for the crisis of modernity, such as the opposition between individual freedom and life in society, objectivism against subjectivism, and order against chaos