Video Nasty - Possession

Possession

(1981)

Gaumont / Oliane Productions / Marianne Productions / Soma Film Produktion : Anchor Bay Entertainment / VTC Entertainment

4 / 10

Back in the days, directors like Andrzej Zulawski (who also wrote the story and screenplay) were still able to experiment and this movie is one of those experiments.  Unfortunately today it no longer holds it's power.  It just seems to be strange, awkward, annoying, and presumptuous.

Both of the main actors are strong in their characters and roles.  Sam Neill is Mark, who comes back to his wife after being away for months on work.  He returns to find things have changed.  His wife has been having an affair and now wants a divorce while seeming to be in the grip of a mental breakdown.  This sets Mark on his own course of mental illness and Neill does a good job of portraying anxiety and depression.

Isabelle Adjani as Marks wife Anna is, for the most part, brilliant at portraying her character's breakdown.  She rushes about agitated, unable to complete even one simple task.

Though the actors do exemplary jobs it's Zulawski that makes their illnesses a weakness to the film by overplaying them.  There is just too much of them "spazzing" (Sorry for not being PC but when you watch the film you may forgive me) out to create a relatable atmosphere.

Then with the unveiling of Anna's lover, the truly unbelievable self-righteous and pompous Heinrich, superbly over-acted by Heinz Bennent, that the film falls further into implausibility. 

The only realistic anchors in the film are the secondary characters, such as Heinrich's mother played with feeling by Johanna Hofer and Anna's friend Margit Carstensen portrayed by Margit Gluckmeister.

Having said that, Zulawski does an impressive job of creating an unease through all the insanity.  You get the feeling that there's something more, something darker, which is bothering Anna and Mark.  When this is finally revealed the revelation is startling and is the reason why this was originally banned.  It also shows why Carlo Rambaldi was one of the great special FX artists.

This is a long two hours and four minutes.  There are sequences that didn't need to be so long, and others that didn't even need to be in at all.  Had this been at least fifteen to thirty minutes shorter with tighter direction, it may have lasted the time and be relevant today as it was then.

I enjoyed parts of this film and loathed others.  Because I didn't love any part of the film I cannot recommend for people to view.  There are better wastes of time out there.

Had I Watched The Trailer I Probably Wouldn't Have Watched The Movie,,,