Famous for it’s disturbing scene set in a subway station, “Possession” is the 1981 film from Polish Director Andrzej Żuławski. Is it a horror film, a psychological drama, or an autobiographical cry for help from a man going through a painful breakup? Whatever answer you come up with, you will still have to say it is one weird film.
Mark is a spy, returning from an assignment that seems to have been in East Berlin. He is greeted by his wife Anna, who is looking to end their marriage when he returns to her and their young son in West Berlin. That is about as coherent a set up as you are likely to get because after the opening moments, both partners seem to be operating as if they are hypnotized. Actors Isabella Adjani and Sam Neil, embrace a strange acting style that Żuławski seems at home with from a Polish tradition. Whether or not you will be at home with it is another issue.
The Vern championed this film to our selection this month, and he hosts Matthew Simpson, Bubbawheat and first time LAMBcaster Cayley, from “Once Over with Cayley. The group gets immersed in metaphor, psychology, marital strife and the grim specter of the Berlin Wall in the Cold War era. For an hour, it is not clear what is driving this couple apart. Suddenly, the film’s tone shifts slightly because murder and monsters enter the story.
Some of the participants loved the movie, some of them were not as enthusiastic, but everyone agreed, it is one big mind f@#k. Get ready for confusion and passion in equal doses.
Listening Links:
Be sure to check out the other guests on this episode!
- Richard Kirkham, Kirkham: A Movie a Day
- Cayley, Once Over with Cayley
- The Vern, Cinema Recall
- Bubbawheat It’s Time to Rewind