France / West Germany
, 122 min
Shown in 1981
CREDITS
- dir
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Andrzej Zulawski
- prod
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Marie Laure Reyre
- scr
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Andrzej Zulawski
- cam
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Bruno Nuytten
- cast
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Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent, Margit Carstensen, Michael Hogben
-
COMMENTS
Andrzej Zulawski and Isabelle Adjani in person.
The Polish director and novelist Andrej Zulawski is one of the most eclectic and unpredictable of artists. His two Polish features have rarely been shown (actually, the second film was banned in Poland), and his third, L’Important c’est d’aimer, made in France, has not received American distribution. His next scenario was turned down by the Polish authorities but, finally, he was able to make this French-German production, in English, entitled Possession. The film was an official entry at Cannes’ festival and caused an uproar. It is definitely one of the most artistic, Kafkaesque horror films ever made and one should be prepared for unexpected shocks. Out of the inanity of domestic commonplace, Zulawski has conceived a tale of suspense and conjugal deception that staggers the imagination. The environment is Berlin, but one that is haunted by the mysteries of a divided city, a blue-white world dominated by inexplicable premonitions. Marc and Anna are an attractive married couple with a young son. Marc returns to their apartment after having been away on some questionable activities in East Berlin. He soon discovers that Anna has a secret lover whom she sees every night. It is Marc’s attempt to save his marriage that leads one into the terrifying, labyrinthine turns of the film. As it unfolds, the element of horror assumes a loftier dimension, for Zulawski is a surreal poet—the creation of mysticism in a milieu like Berlin has a strangely haunting effectiveness. One becomes obsessed with Zulawski’s teasings and touches of medieval fantasy which move closer to nightmare. The acting conforms to his demands, and Isabelle Adjani (in a dual role, finally) is extraordinary. She won the Best Actress award at Cannes for her work here, and Sam Neill (the New Zealander who is best known for My Brilliant Career and the role of Damien in The Final Conflict), is equally persuasive as the beleaguered husband. Possession transforms the ordinary into Zulawski’s personal vision so that one can readily accept a building on Sebastianstrasse, near the Berlin wall, as a veritable temple of Hell.
—Albert Johnson
FACTOID #27
A surrealist stop-motion animator, the Czech Jan Svankmajer, was the first recipient of the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award in 1997. The POV Award honors the lifetime achievement of a filmmaker who works outside of feature-length narrative filmmaking.
