Customer Reviews

Possession (Widescreen)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

You either love this film or you hate it. I write this review mostly to add five more stars to the ratings this film has recieved. There is not much more I can add to what the others have said. This film is a unique experience. By American standards, all the performances are grotesquely over-acted, but if this is pretentious, then I say bring on the pretense! Isabelle Adjani is wonderful to watch even in the calmer moments, and when she moves into High Historionics she is utterly unlike anything you have ever seen (and much more impressive than the monster). The film is not light entertainment, but deep catharsis, intended slap the viewer into satori, the Dionysian dream of an Apollonian chorus. Since viewing it, I have searched for anything by Zulawski I could get my hands on, and it has not been easy to find much. This is his only film in English, and much of his work has never even been released with English subtitles, much less in American formats. (Perhaps after the mutilation Possession recieved at the hands of Vestron, Zulawski did not want to release more of his films in the United States?)

All the stuff going on , when they all go crazy.

The director was going true a divorce at that time so he was reflecting a bit is situation, i guess in the movie they exagerated it a bit.

Good to see one time but after that not much to come back too.

I was thrilled to find so many references to Polanski and Cronenberg among the reviews for this film. It does indeed combine the dark suspense and ironic humor of ROSEMARY'S BABY, the biological horror and familial disintegration of THE BROOD, and the unabashed histrionics and directorial flamboyance of Ken Russell's THE DEVILS. With themes of marital strife, familial disintegration, and psychological breakdown harking back to the former two and the in-your-face grotesquerie and visceral drama reminding the viewer of the latter two, little-known but acclaimed Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski tells the story of Anna (Isabelle Adjani, in the performance of a lifetime) and Mark (Sam Neill), she a bored housewife and he an overworked... something (the film never makes clear his occupation). They share an apartment in an empty, run-down Berlin with their young son. After completing an important job of some kind, Mark comes home to his family to find things changed. He drags the truth from Anna that she has been having an affair. She insists she cannot stay with him, and leaves Mark with the child, apparently to shack up with her lover. Mark tracks down the lover, a real weirdo named Heinz (Heinrich Bennent), but after insults and fisticuffs, Heinz insists he has not seen Anna in quite a while. Mark, perplexed, hires a detective to follow her from their apartment after one of her sporadic visits, which always end in chaos. The detective manages to get in and... something really strange happens. I know what that something is, having seen the picture, but on the off-chance you haven't read the other (spoiler-inundated) reviews, I'll keep it secret. Instead I'll talk about the photography, which goes a long way toward mirroring the absolutely unhinged performances, and the set design, which provides a cool counterpoint to the feverish tenor of the film's action and dialogue. It obviously isn't going to be for everybody, and in fact some will doubtless find it repellent. Writing the film was obviously therapeutic for Zulawski (who, like Cronenberg when writing THE BROOD, was going through a nasty divorce). A friend of mine said he was more sickened by the scenes of emotional anguish than by any of the film's often-stomach-churning special effects. Just keep two things in mind: firstly, this isn't your typical "horror flick", therefore the splatterpunk/gorehound set should stay away; and secondly, this one is playing for keeps: though laced with a bitter humor, there are no light moments here AT ALL, and this should not be watched by couples on a first date, or any couple whose relationship is not secure. Also, keep impressionable children away from it. I was very impressed with what I thought would be just another dreary, over-hyped horror film and turned out to be a genuine classic (at least as far as I'm concerned). Watch POSSESSION if you like Polanski's horror films, Cronenberg's more dramatic outings, or any of Ken Russell's stuff. SCENE OF NOTE: Adjani going ABSOLUTELY NUTS and having a miscarriage (or going into labour...?) in a subway station for what seems like an eternity.

Firstly, I gotta say, that chick Anna was as hot as this movie is bizarre. I recognized her as the girl from that kooky Klaus Kinski version of Nosferatu. Holy Hannah! Picture a kind of slender, sylphish beauty, almost impossibly pale and perfect, with contrasting dark hair and dark eyes. If you've ever read the Death Dealer novels, she is exactly how I would picture the sorceress Cobra. This chick can take the edge of a screwball movie like nobody's business.

This guy (it's Grant from Jurassic Park---you gotta love that guy) comes home from some sort of ambiguous job to find out that his wife Anna has been cheating and is pretty much ready for splitsville. The guy goes nuts---and all you have to do is look at Anna to understand why. So, he embarks on a kind of nonlinear quest to wipe out the competition. At first he's convinced that Anna is with this one spaced-out jerkweed, but it becomes evident that the jerkweed is now out of the loop too. By the way, every one of these people are nuts, just absolutely out of their minds, every single one of them.

He hires this private eye, and the private eye, none too subtly, traces Anna to another apartment building altogether. He manages to conive his way into the apartment, and finds this slimy bloated thing with tentacles sticking to the bathroom wall, heaving and pulsating, making little smacking wet sounds. Anna kills the private eye with a shattered wine bottle to the throat, and I guess maybe feeds him to the tentacle thing, I don't really know. Other victims follow, and Anna confesses that she's been making it with Tentacle Thing. Just think, having a fine chick like that leave you for something that looks like it was picked from a nose and wiped across a wall.

All this time, the husband has been more or less taking care of the son he shares with Anna. He finds out that the son's teacher is a strange Anna clone with brown hair and pale blue contacts. She's got Anna's looks, she's much nicer, she seems sane, and most importantly she doesn't make it with slimy monsters. He has a chance to get it on with her, but, disappointingly, nothing ever really develops. Eventually, Anna kinda comes back to him, explaining that she's had relations with Tentacle Thing, to the extent that she had some kind of otherworldly miscarriage. Tentacle Thing, evidently, is evolving into something else. Things become more bizarre as the movie moves towards its climax. Somehow they even managed to throw a shoot out into the final scenes. Tentacle Thing, I guess fortified by the love of a good woman, ends up becoming an odd clone of the husband, seemingly immune to gunshots.

In a way this movie reminded me of that movie Naked Lunch---you know, the one where everyone has typewriters that turn to big talking bugs. But I liked Possessed alot more; it was faster-moving, funner to watch, and DEFINITELY a step up in the chick department. I don't know if the movie had a point; if it did I missed it, but it was pretty entertaining either way.

This is simply the most original thing I've seen on a screen. Zulawski creates his film, not as situational candy, but with the consideration and energy of raw confessional poetry. Posession does not even pretend to be mere entertainment or storytelling, but goes so far and successfully outside of convention one wonders that everyone isn't making movies like this. The dialogue alone has a lyrical beauty and rhythm rarely heard outside of the playhouse. In it's tense and deceptive opening moments, anyone who has ever sensed or seen the dark sides of love may feel as though they are being recognized for the first time. It should be made clear that, unlike so-called arthouse flicks, the viewer never feels the need to justify what's on the screen (The lame "It's supposed to be a nightmare." excuse for things that "don't make sense."). Posession's solid art stands without apology.
Many will whine (and have whined)that this movie does not follow tradition, but it gets away with it so staggeringly well, and moves into a vivid territory that, in a way, puts even the greatest plot-based movies to shame.

let's just get one thing straight before we begin. i'm an advocate lover of strange or weird films a general rule of thumb and am always looking for something a bit obscure so this one really is something special. easily, i could rate 5 stars because the performances here are outstanding considering the material they had to work with. isabelle adjani is simply a fantastic actress & manages to pull off one of the most impressive or raw performances i've seen in some time which is very impressive. there are fleeting moments during possession which rightfully deserve high praise & those are usually when ms. adjani graces the screen with her psychotic overtones or her unusual sensual charms. if you can get past the first twenty minutes or so of this film, probability suggests you'll be staying for the entire viewing whether you like or not. possession starts off extremely sluggish as we are constantly starving for a bit of gore or slime but instead we are offered a polanski-esque build-up of melodrama & suspense but are kept in the dark as to follow the hows & whys of everything going on around the dysfunctional marriage of sam neill & isabelle adjani. to make things interesting, adjani plays both the unfaithful wife & the lovingly gentle but sensual teacher of his young son. if this doesn't throw you off, there is bound to be something later on in the film which will definately mess with your head. before the first forty minutes is up, we find ms. adjani's character with her own apartment harboring some kind of slimy creature which she manages to protect at all costs. but why? are we to believe that she created this creature out of her complete anger and comtept in this crazy marriage of hers or what's the deal here? why is her character having intercourse with this tentacled beast in a scene which recalls something nasty right out of a classic cronenberg film? i can repect the need to restore cult classics, horror films, and other lost treasures for dvd so i'll tip my hat off to anchor bay & this director's cut is a triumph. you aren't going to understand everything this film puts on your plate but you'll have a squeamish great time nevertheless.

If you approach this film expecting to see a standard early eighties horror movie you may be extremely disappointed. Sure, it has horrific moments and some gore, but the film is closer to The Tenant than the Exorcist, both in narrative and mood.

Several reviewers seemed to have completely missed the point. The three main actors in the film are not over-acting in the traditional sense: Zulawski got exactly the performances he wanted from his actors. There is a certain theatricality to the whole thing that should not be overlooked - what you see are seeing are outward manifestations of inward emotional turmoil. Every movement and expression the actors make, though disconcerting, are very carefully considered. If you are laughing you are not getting it. Only the characters going through severe emotional turmoil behave the way they do. All other characters in the movie are relatively calm.

The cover on the DVD is designed to be seductive. It does not accurately reflect the film in any way. DO NOT PURCHASE IT FOR THE COVER AlONE.

Not an easy subject, not an easy movie but all in all it is a Great One, it is good directed and generally good released. Before watching it I expected a far lower product (also lead by some terrible opinions I read) but now I'm glad I bought it. It keeps you glued and also the monster is fairly done and seldom seen just like in the traditional horrors. Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani work great, they are perfect for the role.
If you are open to original ideas you will enjoy it; has lurking horrors all over the time, a weird movie, different from the usual total horrors of modern times.
Also restored and fine released on DVD.

Not an easy subject, not an easy movie but all in all it is a Great One, it is good directed and generally good released. Before watching it I expected a far lower product (also lead by some terrible opinions I read) but now I'm glad I bought it. It keeps you glued and also the monster is fairly done and seldom seen. Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani work great, they are perfect for the role.
If you are open to original ideas you will enjoy it; has crawling horrors that you don't see, a weird movie, different from the usual total horrors of modern times.
Also restored and fine released on DVD.

Not an easy subject, not an easy movie but all in all it is a Great One, it is good directed and generally good released. Before watching it I expected a far lower product (also lead by some terrible opinions I read) but now I'm glad I bought it. It keeps you glued and also the monster is fairly done and seldom seen.
If you are open to original ideas you will enjoy it; has crawling horrors that you don't see, a weird movie, different from the usual total horrors of modern times.
Also restored and fine released on DVD.