Well, now that our site has been christened with a coil, it’s onward and upward…well probably not, but what to expect really? I will be the first to admit though, right here in this blog, that I am a narcissist (see below). Whew, it felt good to finally get that out. I watched a little gem a few days ago that I’ve been wanting to see for some time: Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession. Don’t take this to sound like I’m familiar with the director’s work and such, because I’m not.
I knew two things going into this movie:1. It’s one of Sam Neill’s first flicks and
2. Most people’s reviews of it say it’s fucked up
Good enough for me.
I have to say that this is not an easy film to watch. Have you ever been at a friend’s place when he or she is fighting with their partner, and the relationship is particularly bad to begin with, so it is almost scary to witness? The happy socialized filters are gone and both people are like animals. Emotionally explosive, hysterical and completely irrational. The voices raise not only in volume, but there is also a pinpoint violence in their tone. If you could amplify that already insane situation you would begin to enter the realm of Possession.
A very simple overview is that it is a film about a failed, or failing marriage, a cheating spouse, and really two people who don’t know each other, but who can’t seem to be without one another. Relationships can be hellish, and as civilized as we’d like to imagine we are, when our emotional chords get struck deep down we become something else.
There is a lot more going on in this film than I can glean from only one paltry viewing, but I can appreciate what is unconcealed. The Husband and wife, played by Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, are so raw and intense that it’s hard to connect with, though these emotions are a part of us all.
This is what is most disturbing about the film - that these are things we all feel at one time or another in moments of high tension. The emotions have us in their grip and when some comfort is torn from us, we react. If I could see myself in those moments of blinding emotion, I don’t know if I’d look much different than these characters, though it is not a flattering thought to such a high-minded and civilized person as myself.
Sam Neill is priceless in this film – the rocking chair scene a particular highlight – as is Adjani, who must have been continually exhausted by this role. Her ‘possessed’ scene in the subway tunnel is terrifying and primal...the pit of feeling.
This blurb does the film no justice because there are many layers to explore and I haven't really said anything…I didn’t even get into Heinrich’s fucked up character, the son, or the monster, or any of that…damn this short attention span.
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