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:

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.

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)

I Loved It

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.