Possession
All of the poster art, and VHS and DVD covers, for Andrzej Zulawski’s psychological thriller are so evocative, just seeing those, you have a pretty good idea that you’ll be in for a wild ride when you do finally watch the film. “Possession” is a film that is very up front with what it’s about, and how it is about it, while also hiding just enough that you can honestly be surprised when things come in to play later in the movie. This movie should not work. At all. And yet, it does, because it comes from a raw place, and understands where it’s headed so effectively.
Zulawski is a Polish filmmaker working in English, while setting his film in West Berlin. How one decides that is the play for an intensely personal story of a marriage being absolutely obliterated in front of our eyes is one of its strengths. That is because Zulawski was inspired to make this film because of his own divorce to actress Malgorzata Braunek, which he was in the middle of while writing the screenplay. That sounds about right, as this film plays like a fresh wound that’s just had salt rubbed in it. The knife is still being twisted as it’s playing, and the rage is palpable, not just in the film’s execution, but in the performances by Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani, which are all-timers in any genre.
Divorce is one of those subjects which lives in the murky grey areas of life. To some, it’s a sin. To others, it’s an important option to have when a relationship goes south. Some couples have a difficult time with the idea of divorce, while for others, it is a conclusion they realize they need to come to if either of them are going to survive. I think Zulawski’s own feelings on the matter are, perhaps, not as clear cut as we might think watching the events of “Possession” unfold. The film begins with Mark, Neill’s character, in a meeting with his superiors. He is a spy, and they are trying to get him to stay on; he wants to make sure he is there for his family, however. But when he gets home to his wife, Anna (Adjani), she says she wants a divorce. Blindsided, he asks if there’s another man; she says no, but that’s a more complicate answer than he is prepared for.
If “Possession” were a straightforward drama about divorce, it would be absolutely unbearable, given the pitch of the performances by Neill, Adjani (who won Best Actress at Cannes) and Heinz Bennent as Heinrich, whom we find out is the other man. Zulawski is not afraid to have his actors- which include Michael Hogben as their son, Bob (a name that feels very odd to call a young boy)- go over-the-top, and yet, it works magnificently. This is a narrative that is so insane to watch unfold that the performances being at the level they are feels correct. Mark and Anna cannot stand one another, and Heinrich and Bob are casualties in the madness. There is one woman who goes unscathed (for the most part)- that is Helen, also played by Adjani. When Mark first meets her, he is thrown off guard by her appearance. Is him seeing his wife’s face in Helen a projection? Or is it just an odd coincidence. The finale of the film makes me think it’s more than just coincidence.
“Possession” deals in body horror and psychological terror, but I don’t think it’s designed to be scary in the ways in which we traditionally consider horror scary. This is a visceral ride through the shared destruction of these two people, and everyone around them, and it is unsettling and powerful. The setting plays a part in this. Zulawski making his first English-language film plays a part in this. The ominous score by Andrzej Korzynski plays a part in this. The performances are the icing on the cake. Throughout the film, we’ve seen Mark and Anna startle one another into madness, but as the film goes along, are they building up new versions of the other that might have a better life together, for Bob? No one escapes the wreckage of a relationship imploding, regardless of how good that person is. That’s the harsh truth “Possession” lays bare.
