OK - this is a cool movie. Roman Polanski directed Catherine Deneuve in this one in 1965. She plays a Belgian manicurist in London who really has a man problem. She doesn't hate them, really; she is repulsed by them. If a man touches her hand or tries to kiss her she scrubs herself and appears to vomit in her mouth. The remainder of the time she is near catatonic, and withdraws into herself more and more as the story develops.
Her breaking point comes when her sister, with whom she lives, goes away for a two week vacation with her (married) lover. Carol (Catherine D's character) does not want her sister to go, and for good reason. Alone in the apartment she soon stops going to work, she begins to carry rotting meat around in her purse, and she hallucinates pretty much constantly. And then things really go downhill.
Most reviews I read described Catherine D's character as "frigid". Maybe that is how RP wrote the character, but the word frigid doesn't begin to describe Carol's problems. Frigid is just too simple here. This is labeled a psychological thriller, but it is old school. I would call it creepy rather than scary, although I was tense a couple of times.
Everyone knows Catherine Deneuve can act, right? If you're uncertain, watch this one for starters. Also, I have a q. In the end, when the sister's honey carries Carol out, check out his face. Am I imagining it, or does he look excited / turned on at that moment?
Yet again I have a hard time reconciling RP's work with his personal actions. This movie was made pre-arrest.
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