Origin/Director: France, Germany/Andrzej Żuławski
Viewings Tally: Only one time, and I think that’s all I need, thank you very much.
Synopsis: A young woman left her family for an unspecified reason. The husband determines to find out the truth and starts following his wife. At first, he suspects that a man is involved. But gradually, he finds out more and more strange behaviors and bizarre incidents that indicate something more than a possessed love affair. [Letterboxd]
Reely Bernie’s Take: Possession (1981) reinforced for me why movies were made in the first place. Although our own imaginations can blossom under the spell of a good book, another person’s visual and audible interpretation on a screen can open a door to an entirely different atmosphere—both gloriously splendid and hauntingly wretched.
Writer/Director Andrzej Żuławski presents a travelogue through the hell of divorce as both a cathartic exercise and nightmare extraction. There is crying after sex, religion is compared to a disease, codependency regurgitates toxicity where love is an insult, and a creature lurks in a corner—puppeteering every move of the wife (a beguiling Isabelle Adjani, who throws self-preservation into blazes).
The most impressive feat is Żuławski’s depiction of possession as both psychological torment and tangible goop. Clive Barker (Hellraiser), Lars von Trier (Antichrist), and Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) owe him one.
The Shot that Won’t Let Go:
Final Score: 4.5 Globbity Gloops out of 5
Amazon Prime if you dare!
Happy Reely Bernie Horror Fest,
RB
Reely Bernie 
Sounds like something I should watch, if only for education, but I really don’t want to feel sick during or after. My stomach lining is rather delicate.
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It’s an atmospheric, impressionistic take for sure. But, the ending will require a pillow or TUMs.
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I only saw part of this, many years ago. It was kinda disturbing. Probably didn’t help that I missed the beginning and had to leave before the ending …
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Oh, wow: This probably won’t make sense, but that’s a good movie to either leave during the second half or not leave during the second half, haha! It’s very disturbing!
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Very keen on this one, not a lot of laughs, the electric knife scene is quite distressing, but it’s still something to behold, even if, like you, I’m not exactly hungry for a rewatch.
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Great review, FA: “A psychosexual nightmare of ambiguous political intent, Possession rises to several unforgettable sequences, including Adjani’s meltdown on the underground and a distressing scene in which the couple appear to mutilate themselves with electric knives during an argument.” I have not seen any of Zulawski’s other works, but if this is what you call a more “normal” one, I would say, “Yikes.”
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NOT your run of the mill horror movie! Some of it was painfully realistic with the couple and then it just keeps getting dark, then darker…than pitch night darness lol.
It’s a thinking mans movie…you have to pay attention.
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I really liked a term you used earlier, Max: “horror art film.” There are sensational aspects to the movie that place mood and atmosphere above anything logical, and the clear answers are nowhere to be found, which, in turn, make this thing even scarier. Domestic qualms amplify, and then an evil, supernatural “possession” comes in, and you’re set for something disturbing.
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There were metaphors going around with the doppelgangers I’m sure…One part of their personality. It’s a movie you need to watch twice at least.
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Tough movie to watch again. I’ll give it a 10-year moratorium first, haha! Thanks for taking on the challenge!
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No problem…I had to do a double take with Sam Neil… I think of him in Jurassic Park…that look…I didn’t recognize him at first.
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Talk about throwing yourself into a pack of wolves with that performance!
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Yes…I read an interview with her…she said she would have never done it again. She was bruised and put through hell lol. She said that you won’t see other actresses that was in two films with the director.
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Yikes. I heard the dude had a drinking problem and wrote and directed this thing pretty blasted. It makes the background all the more vile. Art shouldn’t harm others, man. Not cool.
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Sam Neil said though…that they were willing to do what was asked because of the art…and it paid off…but it could not be done today.
He said he would be told to get in her face and scream… reminds me of the way Kubrick was on Duvall.
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I was thinking the same thing with Kubrick. It’s scary what toxic dominance could get away with (and still does).
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