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Possession (1981)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
27 May 1981 (France)
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Tagline:
She created a monster as her secret lover! more
Plot:
A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife...
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Plot Keywords:
Affair
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Dostoevsky
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Cab
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Intimacy
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Sex With Animal
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Awards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.
Another 5 wins
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2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
Anne Billson | Why aren't there more roles like Séraphine for British women?
(From The Guardian - Film News. 26 November 2009, 1:45 PM, PST)
Zulawski & Raimi: The Hell They Dragged Us Into
(From GreenCine. 13 October 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 26 November 2009, 1:45 PM, PST)
Zulawski & Raimi: The Hell They Dragged Us Into
(From GreenCine. 13 October 2009, 11:19 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
I Loved It
more (67 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Isabelle Adjani | ... | Anna / Helen | |
| Sam Neill | ... | Mark | |
| Margit Carstensen | ... | Margit Gluckmeister | |
| Heinz Bennent | ... | Heinrich | |
| Johanna Hofer | ... | Heinrich's mother | |
| Carl Duering | ... | Detective | |
| Shaun Lawton | ... | Zimmermann | |
| Michael Hogben | ... | Bob | |
| Maximilian Rüthlein | ... | Man with pink socks (as Maximilian Ruethlein) | |
| Thomas Frey | ... | Pink sock's acolyte | |
| Leslie Malton | ... | Sara, woman with club foot | |
| Gerd Neubert | ... | Subway drunk | |
| Kerstin Wohlfahrt | |||
| Ilse Bahrs | |||
| Karin Mumm |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Night the Screaming Stops (USA) (reissue title)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
France:127 min | UK:118 min | USA:80 min (cut) | USA:123 min | Australia:123 min
Country:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Spain:18 |
New Zealand:R18 |
Australia:R |
France:-16 |
South Korea:18 |
Sweden:18 (video rating) |
UK:18 |
USA:R
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film originally appeared on the DPP 74 list of UK video nasties. It was banned but never prosecuted, and was eventually passed uncut by the BBFC in 1999.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Featured in Celluloid Horror (2004)
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FAQ
What did I just see?more
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I think that Possession is one of the most effective horror films ever made.
I've read mixed reactions to Possession. I think that this is because the writer/director intentionally introduces dozens of narrative ambiguities. There are many unanswered questions, and the viewer is placed in a position where she/he must become a creative participant by answering these questions for themselves. Audiences are by and large uncomfortable with this type of thing, but luckily I've seen a lot of experimental/unusual cinema, so I'm acclimated to it.
Isabelle Adjani is glorious in a dual role (which is a reversal of the Bunuel mindgame from 'That Obscure Object of Desire'--Instead of two actresses playing a single character, there is a single actress playing two characters.)
Adjani and Sam Neill's enacting of a horribly troubled marriage is spectacular. Heinz Bennet's distasteful character would give anyone the creeps. When Adjani is seen in the company of a terrible Lovecraftian monster, it's almost a relief after the awful domestic situations depicted earlier in the film. (I also appreciate how the monster is very tastefully seen only in fleeting segments.)
Everyone is right--Find the Japanese cut of this film. It has Japanese subtitles, but it is much more comprehensible with 40 more minutes of footage.