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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

 http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/polanski.htm

UK 1965

Carol, a young girl living in Sixties' London, is repelled, yet fascinated, by men. Her radiant beauty attracts the opposite sex, but she shrinks from their advances. Her days are spent in an intensely feminine atmosphere: working in a beauty salon, and clinging to her sister Helen for love.
 
But, as she incarcerates herself in her sinister, shadowy flat, men begin to invade her dreams night and day, mixing her terror with delight as bizarre hallucinations take hold of her mind. The walls start to crack, literally, before the eyes. Finally, racked and depraved through her delirium, she is left with only one instinct towards the men who invade her life - that of a killer...

***

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.

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 1965, Berlin Film Festival

Reviews       More Reviews       DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Koch Vision (Cinema Sirens) OOP - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC vs. Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to  Gregory Meshman for all the non-Criterion DVD Screen Captures!

DVD Box Covers

 

 

Coming to the UK from Criterion in May 2023:

Distribution

Koch Vision Home Entertainment

Region 0  - NTSC

Anchor Bay
Region 2 - PAL
Criterion
Region 1 - NTSC
Criterion
Region 'A' -
Blu-ray
Runtime 1:42:08 1:40:03 (4% PAL speedup) 1:45:04 1:45:16.643
Video

1.33:1 Cropped
Average Bitrate: 5.57 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.65
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.65
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,983,336,789 bytes

Feature: 30,681,366,528 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.55 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Koch

 

Bitrate:

 

Anchor 

Bay

 

Bitrate:

 

Criterion DVD

 

Bitrate:

 

Criterion Blu-ray

 

Audio English Dolby Digital 2.0 English Dolby Digital 2.0
English Dolby Digital 5.1
English DTS
English Dolby Digital mono

Commentary: English Dolby Digital 2.0

LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles None None English, None English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Koch Vision Entertainment

Aspect Ratio:
Cropped- 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• 
None

DVD Release Date: Unknown
Keep Case

Chapters 9

Release Information:
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:

• Optional DTS Audio

• Optional Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio

• Audio Commentary with Roman Polanski and Catherine Deneuve

• A British Horror Film - An all-new featurette (23:46)

• Theatrical Trailer (2:40)

• Original Script Extracts

• Original Drawings by Art Director Seamus Flannery

• Eye and Brain (audio) by Professor Richard Gregory

• Liner Notes

• Talent Bios

• Poster and Stills Gallery

• Collector's Booklet

 

DVD Release Date: August 25th, 2003
Keep Case

Chapters 18

Release Information:
Studio:
Criterion

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1


Edition Details:

• Audio commentary featuring Polanski and actress Catherine Deneuve
• A British Horror Film (2003), a documentary on the making of Repulsion, featuring interviews with Polanski, producer Gene Gutowski, and cinematographer Gil Taylor, among others (24:01)
• A 1964 television documentary filmed on the set of Repulsion, with rare footage of Polanski and Deneuve at work
• Original theatrical trailers
• 16-page liner notes booklet featuring an essay by film scholar and curator Bill Horrigan

 

DVD Release Date: July 28th, 2009
Transparent Keep Case

Chapters 15

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

 

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 44,983,336,789 bytes

Feature: 30,681,366,528 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.55 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:

• Audio commentary featuring Polanski and actress Catherine Deneuve
• A British Horror Film (2003), a documentary on the making of Repulsion, featuring interviews with Polanski, producer Gene Gutowski, and cinematographer Gil Taylor, among others (24:02 in HD!)
• A 1964 television documentary filmed on the set of Repulsion, with rare footage of Polanski and Deneuve at work (21:30 in HD!)
• Original theatrical trailers (3:13 in HD)
• 16-page liner notes booklet featuring an essay by film scholar and curator Bill Horrigan

 

Blu-ray Release Date: July 28th, 2009
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 15

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Criterion DVD and Blu-ray July 09': The Koch Vision travesty is easily dismissible. the Anchor Bay is not too bad considering its age although it is in the wrong aspect ratio (1.78 as opposed to 1.66) with more digital noise artifacts, hazier, and is darker than the Criterion editions which are advertised as 'New, restored high-definition digital transfer(s), approved by director Roman Polanski'. The Blu-ray advances over its DVD counterpart with more prominent grain visible in backgrounds. It is also has better detail and slightly superior contrast as well. Everything is, expectantly, a bit tighter. Presently on Amazon the Blu-ray is one dollar cheaper than the DVD.  

The Blu-ray edition has an uncompressed monaural soundtrack but I couldn't distinguish extravagant differences between that and the new DVD. Both are exceptionally clean without pops, hiss or other flaws. Both Criterions offer optional English subtitles. The DVD is coded for region 1 in the NTSC standard and the Blu-ray is region 'A'-locked as verified by my Momitsu.

Extras are the same on both Criterion editions, excepting on the Blu-ray the video supplements are in 1080P. The audio commentary featuring Polanski and actress Catherine Deneuve is stated as being recorded for the Criterion Collection in 1994 (for the Laserdisc) and appears to be the same one on the Anchor Bay (UK) DVD from 2003. It seems both parties were recorded separately as they never interact. It's a slow pace but has solid information - Polanski offers a lot of the ideas that help evolve the story ,as well as many things he would do differently today (or, rather, in 94'), and Deneuve discusses more of production from her standpoint - ex. how others sometimes found Polanski difficult. She didn't seem appreciative of the director's encouragement for her to pose in Playboy magazine. A British Horror Film (2003), a documentary on the making of Repulsion, featuring interviews with Polanski, producer Gene Gutowski, and cinematographer Gil Taylor, among others. It is the same 24-minute one, made by Blue Underground, as found on the Anchor Bay DVD. There is a 21-minute 1964 television documentary, directed by Claude Chaboud for Ecran in 1964 (French television), filmed on the set of Repulsion, with rare footage of Polanski and Deneuve at work. There is two trailers that run together for over 3-minutes and a 16-page liner notes booklet featuring an essay by film scholar and curator Bill Horrigan.

This is another masterpiece by Polanski and a pleasure to own in the ultra-clearer resolution of Blu-ray. Looking at the Koch Visions is astounding to see how far we have come for this film in digital home presentation in about 10-years (although the 15-year old Criterion Laserdisc was also superior to that first DVD). The Blu-ray exports all of Repulsion's subtle attributes, beyond a intensely creepy horror, to a more personal level. We strongly recommend this hi-def package. After watching the Blu-ray I consider it an essential purchase. Please Criterion - keep em' coming!   

- Gary Tooze 

***


 

ON THE ANCHOR BAY DVD (written 2005):

PICTURE: The picture suffers from print damage and negative scratches, but you can live with them. There are two minor problems:

The picture is slightly out of focus. It disturbs a little, but the picture itself has many variations on the black color and are reasonably rich.

The other problem is that ANCHOR BAY has used some kind of data program to enhance the sharpness and contrasts. For me the program functions like there was some kind of field (veil, or draperies) between the viewer and the film. It disturbs me a lot. In the 23 min documentary there are some clips from the film without the data program. They look much better.  out of  

The inside world of CAROLE in the apartment are quite dark, but it functions very well to the contrast of the light subjective street pictures.

SOUND:
The mono sound (on the menu page 2.0 stereo) is narrow, as it was from a film made in 1940'. The only option is the DTS track. The re-mix is made with prestige, the dialog is only on the center speaker, and the music and some minor effects are on the other speakers. Still, why couldn't they make a precious mono mix instead! out of     

THE FILM:
It's hard to believe that this film is soon 40 years old. It looks very modern and very skillfully directed. A masterpiece.

When I told for a friend that I am going to view REPULSION he told, that do you remember that the film starts with an eye. He suggested that the film (as in The Death and the Maiden) can be understand as a dream / nightmare, and it's upon the viewer what to believe. In fact the film could be a impression that the young girl, in the conclusion, has been abused...
out of

- Per-Olof Strandberg 


DVD Menus

(Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)


 

 

Criterions

 

 


 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Screen Captures

 

1) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


 

1) DVDY Films - Region 2 - PAL (burned-in French subs)  - TOP

2) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND

3) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - FOURTH

5) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


 

1) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


 

1) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


 

1) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


 

1) Koch Vision - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Anchor Bay - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Criterion - Region 1- NTSC - THIRD

4) Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 

More Blu-ray captures

 

DVD Box Covers

 

 

Coming to the UK from Criterion in May 2023:

Distribution

Koch Vision Home Entertainment

Region 0  - NTSC

Anchor Bay
Region 2 - PAL
Criterion
Region 1 - NTSC
Criterion
Region 'A' -
Blu-ray

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