Written by Andrzej Żuławski And Frederic Tuten
Directed by Andrzej Żuławski
Anna: "Goodness is only some kind of reflection upon evil. That's all it is."
With a remake of this movie on the horizon, it was definitely time to see what the fuss was about the original. A movie that wasn't a commercial success upon it's initial release but gained cult status over the years.
To start off with, this doesn't feel like a traditional horror movie about the nature of possession. For the most part, it's very much a kitchen sink drama with a small dose of espionage talk in the mix but even the latter bit felt somewhat muted until the last few minutes of the film.
The focus was on separating couple Mark (Sam Neill) and his dissatisfied wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani). Their whole relationship was an exercise in pure destruction to watch. If they weren't screaming at each other in nearly every scene together, both of them were physically assaulting each other to boot. It's a bit exhausting at times.
On top of that, they've got a son named Bob (Michael Hogben) that neither make an effort to look after or reassure during their volatile outbursts. Although Mark did try to fight for custody of Bob early in the movie. Also, there was the matter of adultery itself and how it factored into both Mark and Anna's actions.
Mark started an affair with Bob's teacher, Helen. Helen looked exactly like Anna and was even played by the same actor. Anna was also sleeping with Heinrich (Heinz Bennent) but oddly enough, his best scenes were with Mark rather than Anna. Oh and he was eventually killed by Mark.
As for the possession itself, it was a creature driving both Mark and Anna (the latter moreso) into absolute madness. The creature eventually became Mark's doppelganger and by the end of the movie, the volatile couple were no more. In fact, the movie ended on a rather horrifying note.
- The upcoming US remake will be directed by Parker Finn and produced by Robert Pattinson. A Malaysian remake came out in 2024.
- There's a character called Man with Pink Socks, played by Maximilian Rüthlein. I think that's a neat name for a character.
- This film was actually banned in the UK until 1999 and was written while the director was going through a divorce.
- Chronology: 1970s West Berlin for the duration of the movie.
Possession (1981) was something of a wild movie. I don't think I love it but I couldn't keep my eyes off it either. It's such a fascinating look into an absolutely destructive pairing with a very bleak ending. It's definitely a movie that'll stick with you.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment