Possession (1981)

Mark (Sam Neill) comes home from months on the road to find his flighty wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani in an almost bug-eyed performance), ready to divorce him. Distraught and angry, he tracks down her lover, but discovers a secret unknown to either of the men. Anna has given birth, literally, to a demon lover (created by monster maker Carlos Rimbaldi), and she'll murder anyone who dares to come between them. Full of anger, jealousy, emotional suffering, and vindictiveness, this bizarre, bleak horror film is a mix of Hollywood melodrama, European psychodrama, and the raw, blunt emotions of personal art cinema. Mark and Anna grow increasingly shrill and erratic as they sink deeper into madness and obsession, and finally doppelgängers, also played by Neill and Adjani, arise to take their place. Hints of Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and the biological horrors of David Cronenberg float through the story. The English-language French production was shot in Germany with a Polish director and an international cast, which only adds to the dissonance. Andrzej Zulawski (who claims that the film was inspired by his own divorce) directs this obscure and often alienating film with unrelenting intensity. The 2-hour film was cut down to 80 minutes for its original American release, and has only now been restored to full length. The DVD features commentary by Zulawski in conversation with his biographer, Dan Bird. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Sexy Madness

If a culmination of a movie had been a scene of a wife rooting some out-of-this-world half-male half-insect (from Naked Lunch - Criterion Collection, or?), the rest depicted is a complete nonsense fed with ill imagination of money-hungry producers and natural attractiveness of actors. July 16, 2008

What Does It Mean ?

I've watched this movie quite a few times now and I still don't understand it too well.

The two main characters appear in two different roles. Perhaps these represent their positive and negative natures.

There's a strange character named 'Heinrich' who's into very strange things like psychic energy and bizarre sexual practices.

But then there's also a very strange character !

The husband is involved with some sort of secret agency I think. There's a tie in with a guy who wears pink socks.

The wife is a great actress. She becomes possessed down in the subway tunnel. This is a great performance and includes bizarre special effects.

Jeff Marzano

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Superb

All negative reviews of this film should be ignored.

This is one of the best films I have ever seen. The acting is top notch, the special effects look great, and most importantly, the subtext is deep and thought provoking.

This film will not only stay with you because of the haunting imagery, but also because of its intelligence. Don't expect an easy ending or explanation. October 27, 2006

Another Cult movie that divides - dont all cult movies do :-)

First of all, I loved this movie.

Having a read around the boards and some reviews, its quite amazing that so many people really, really hate this movie and others think it's a total masterpiece. However, since my 20 or so years following obscure cult movies, I learned one thing - cult movies always split an audience due to their bizarreness, pushing the envelope, or being too clever and off-mainstream. Lazy reviewers often immediatley label this as pretentious but that's their loss, but getting ahead of myself here :)

Wont do a summary, but I will say that this DVD is a fine addition to any collection because the movie has everything, a euro background of Berlin, a mysterious story, a beautiful actress (Adjani), some crazy extreme scenes and some weird characters - all you want from a cult movie, right?

The extras, have a insightful commentary by the director which adds great value to the dvd.

Overall, if you want an intelligent movie and are open-minded and just sick of boring zombies, vampires, and brain-numbing slashers - this is one of the coolest flicks for your collection.

recommended, cult fans - thank me afterwards! July 20, 2006

There's Much More Going One Here Than You Think

Yeah, Possession. The First time I saw this film I was catatonic by the end. Three friends and I talked about it so much we got 4 new friends to watch it with us again. We continued marveling over it and watched it yet again on the third night (ten people this time). Why? Because this isn't really a horror film. Yeah, there's a "monster", but only in America would this get relegated to the "Horror" genre. Because here, we usually make films to fit in a box, follow a formula or entertain; whereas this one seems to be about catharsis for the director.

Several years ago there was an amazing fan site to this man's work (which doesn't seem to exist anymore) that went into infinite detail about his films and personal life. Suffice to say, there's much more going on here than you think.

During 1970's and 80's Poland, all films were approved by the Polish film commission and Zulawski's second film "Diabel" (1975) was banned. Made in Polish, it was essentially cut off from it's only possible audience. He took a trip to France, made his 3rd film and returned to his homeland to do the 4th. After two years work the authorities would not allow him to finish it. Since then he has lived and created successfully in France.

"Possession" is the first film he made immediately following the second incident in Poland; just as his marriage was dissolving, and is better described as 3 films in 1. The first part is a drama centered around a couple who's marriage is falling apart. As the discord escalates, it becomes a horror film with some scenes potentially taking place only in the psyche of the wife. The finale is an action film that drives the frenzied pace even higher through chase sequences.

Other confusions seem to stem from many lines of dialog (especially in exchanges between Hans and Sam Neil) that may be interpreted as critique of Zulawski's treatment by the government of Poland. Consequently some exchanges leave viewers perplexed, as characters words don't appear to have any bearing on the scene at hand. The mysterious "agents" that pop up from time to time, simply create the social context the director must've felt as a persecuted artist. And as for the doppelgangers... I like to think they are the plastic versions of each character that the government or society's values would have them become.

In many ways this film is an examination of the internal landscape of Zulawski at that moment; divorced from his wife and exiled by his beloved homeland. The high drama of these characters has the actors screamingly portraying every pent-up emotion Zulawski felt about his marriage, and wasn't allowed to say to his fellow countrymen about their homeland. I love this film. I love every gut wrenching, hysterical, chaotic minute of it. Viva Zulawski. April 22, 2005

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