Possession (1981)

Director:

Andrzej Zulawski

Writers:

Andrzej Zulawski (original screenplay)
Andrzej Zulawski (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

27 May 1981 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

She created a monster as her secret lover!

Plot:

A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife...

Plot Keywords:

Affair | Dostoevsky | Cab | Intimacy | Sex With Animal

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 5 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Night the Screaming Stops (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

France:127 min | UK:118 min | USA:80 min (cut) | USA:123 min | Australia:123 min

Country:

France | West Germany

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:R | France:-16 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:18 (video rating) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Marianne Productions

Trivia:

Although co-produced by a German Company and shot in Berlin, the Film itself has never been released in Germany.

Quotes:

Heinrich: There is nothing to fear except God, whatever that means to you.
Mark: For me God is a disease.
Heinrich: That's why through a disease we can reach God.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Celluloid Horror (2004)

Excellent!

"Possession" is a weird horror film by Polish art house director Andrzej Zulawski.Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill("Event Horizon","Omen 3")star as a couple who's marriage is on the rocks.Adjani claims to have a lover-she has a surreal affair with an octopus creature.First of all this movie is great,so every horror fan should check it out.Obviously some people don't get it-maybe they were expecting some cheesy horror bloodbath,who knows?Of course there's some exceptional gore including where Adjani slices into her own neck with an electric carving knife and a scene where she has a miscarriage on the metro which is quite disgusting(and possibly due to this scene the film was classified as a video nasty),but the atmosphere is really creepy and weird.The acting is awesome-especially an incredible performance by Isabelle Adjani.Watch this film with an open mind and an open heart,and I guarantee you will love "Possession".