Blending genres as effectively as it subverts expectations, 'Possession' uses powerful acting and disquieting imagery to grapple with complex themes.
Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Żuławski’s stunningly choreographed nightmare of a marriage unraveling is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark (Sam Neill) returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani, in a role that earned her Best Actress at Cannes) insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister than his wildest suspicions. With its pulsating score, visceral imagery, and some of the most haunting performances ever captured on screen, Possession is cinematic delirium at its most intoxicating. Adjani won a César for her performance, one of the most grueling ever caught on films, though later reflected that the palpable ordeal she put herself through on the movie was nearly enough to make her leave acting behind.
"Adjani won the best actress prize at Cannes for her dual performance (as an unfaithful wife and her angelic doppelganger), but the whole cast is astonishing, exorcising painful feelings with an intensity that rivals that of the filmmaking." - Chicago Reader
"In much the same way that Possession blurs and blends genres, it also inextricably entangles the personal and the political. 4/4 stars" - Slant Magazine
"[Possession] remains one of the most grueling, powerful, and overwhelmingly intense cinematic experiences that you are likely to have in your lifetime. 4/4 stars" -Roger Ebert.com
"That the film is much more than a gawk-at-it freak show is testament to Zulawski's talent for making even the most exaggerated behavior resonate with pointed and potent emotion. 5/5 stars" - Time Out
