More additions to the already impressive Criterion Collection this May and June. On 22 May comes REPULSION, Roman Polanski’s controversial, chilling tale of psychosis starring Catherine Deneuve.  The film is a surreal, mind-bending odyssey into personal horror, and it remains one of cinema’s most shocking psychological thrillers.

Following on 26 June SMOOTH TALK is released.  Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s celebrated short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the narrative debut from Joyce Chopra features a revelatory breakout performance by Laura Dern.

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 spectres 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.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 

Restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Roman Polanski, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

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

A 1964 television documentary filmed on the set of Repulsion, with rare footage of Polanski and Deneuve at work

Original theatrical trailers

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar and curator Bill Horrigan

Suspended between carefree youth and the harsh realities of the adult world, a teenage girl experiences an unsettling awakening in this haunting vision of innocence lost. Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s celebrated short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” the narrative debut from Joyce Chopra features a revelatory breakout performance by Laura Dern as Connie, the fifteen-year-old black sheep of her family, whose summertime idyll of beach trips, mall hangouts, and innocent flirtations is shattered by an encounter with a mysterious stranger (a memorably menacing Treat Williams). Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, Smooth Talk captures the thrill and terror of adolescent sexual exploration, and it transforms the conventions of a coming-of-age story into something altogether more troubling and profound.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

Restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

Conversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by Turner Classic Movies host Alicia Malone

New interview with Chopra

New conversations between Chopra and actors Treat Williams and Mary Kay Place, moderated by Malone

New interview with production designer David Wasco

KPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985

Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1975), three short films by Chopra

Audio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,” which inspired the short story by Oates

Trailers

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by poet and memoirist Honor Moore