- Film Review
- Reviewed By Tom Hutchinson
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5 out of 5
Director Roman Polanski takes us on a deeply disturbing, hallucinatory trip into Catherine Deneuve's mental breakdown in this British psychological thriller, his first film in English. As Swinging London parties in the background, repressed Belgian manicurist Deneuve unsheathes her claws with deadly results. There are shades of Buñuel, Cocteau and Val Lewton, but Polanski puts his personal stamp on the violent visuals (the killing of a boyfriend and landlord) and the terrifying soundtrack (the buzzing of flies, a slashing knife). Filmed in star and black and white by Dr Strangelove's Gilbert Taylor, the final panning shot revealing a photograph of Deneuve as a young girl, even then withdrawn and apart, is a truly cathartic moment.
Plot Summary
A sexually repressed Belgian woman is disturbed by her sister's affair with a married man. When she is left alone in their flat for a weekend, she begins to experience a series of strange hallucinations that drives her to the brink of madness, resulting in murder. Roman Polanski's psychological thriller, starring Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser and Patrick Wymark.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Carol Ledoux
- Catherine Deneuve
- Michael
- Ian Hendry
- Colin
- John Fraser
- Landlord
- Patrick Wymark
- Helen Ledoux
- Yvonne Furneaux
- Miss Balch
- Renee Houston
- Bridget
- Helen Fraser
- Madame Denise
- Valerie Taylor
- John
- James Villiers
- Reggie
- Hugh Futcher
- Spoons player
- Roman Polanski
Crew
- Director
- Roman Polanski
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