Andrzej Zulawski's Possession

Isabelle Adjani gives birth to the apocalypse. Absolutely unique family drama horror fantasy shot in Berlin. The greyish sinister Wall never looked more "alluring" due to the cinematography of Bruno Nuytten and the amazing soundtrack by Andrzej Korzynski. Both Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill were fantastic.The Umbrella 4K UHD edition looked great and had lots of interesting extras.This may be the best, or at least the most unusual, film i've ever seen

Really, really awful. More on that later.The film, of course is amazing. I can finally toss my VHS tape.Picture/audio/extras exceeded all expectations. And the packaging? Wow, I've never owned a movie in such a beautiful case. Fantastic.Okay, there's an essay by a Daniel Bird. It reads like an old National Lampoon parody of a guy that stupid people find smart. Or is English not his first language? Bad translation from foreign text? Is he unaware that Great Directors (Kubrick, Polanski, Hitchcock,Philip Kaufman, Paul Schrader, and DePalma come to mind) have made Horror movies?Samples:"Traditional theology holds that God is both in and transcends the visible world.""The identification of an adulteress chimes with a trend in Contemporary French philosophy [...]"And other pearly gobs of wisdom.It goes on like this. Ugh, what's with the college freshman gibberish?This guy over-uses quotations (all cliches) big time. Whether to cite another's work or ironically (i.e., "fellow travelers" and "sacred and profane.")Who knows, maybe this fella uses quotes with all his dreary cliches. Man, if I read this dreck whilst being unfamiliar with this movie... I'd stay away.For the life of me, I don't know why the liner notes bugged me so much - they're actually kinda funny...If only "someone" with that "colloquial touch" could've "penned" a "readable" yet "informative." A "stylist" or even a "Fan" capable of "holding a pen."I mean, not a peep about French Sex Bomb, Isabelle Adjani? Possibly the most astonishing beauty to appear in the movies? He also might've mentioned that this is Sam Neill's finest performance - I guess he thinks this sorta thing is beneath him.I need a Xanax, I guess... can't let the film nerds get you down. Refer to the late Rick Sullivan, writing in The Gore Gazette (mid-80s) for a more appropriate review.My take, for what it's worth...Andrzej Zulawski's 1981 masterpiece opens with the messy separation of a middle-class couple (Sam Neill, Isabelle Adjani), then goes on to imagine various catastrophic breakdowns—of interpersonal relationships, social order, and ultimately narrative logic itself. The film can be hilarious one moment and terrifying the next, and Zulawski's roving camera only heightens the sense of unpredictability. Few movies convey so viscerally what it's like to go mad: when this takes an unexpected turn into supernatural horror, the development feels inevitable, as though the characters had been bracing themselves for it all along. Adjani won the best actress prize at Cannes for her dual performance (as an unfaithful wife and her angelic doppelganger), but the whole cast is astonishing, exorcising painful feelings with an intensity that rivals that of the filmmaking. Performed in English and shot in Berlin by an international crew, this also conveys a sense of displacement that's always been crucial to Zulawski's work. A true masterpiece - horror or otherwise.

The Mondo-Vision release of Possession is frankly amazing! Given that this was filmed in 1981 with a shoestring budget, it's amazing that the Blu-Ray looks this good. They did a spectacular job restoring it. The packaging is also some of the best I've seen. The case is beautiful and just feels better than most other cases.The supplemental extras are also phenomenal. I haven't watched it will the full-length commentary yet, but the interviews with Zulawsk greatly expand my understanding of the film. There are many extras that rival any Criterion or Arrow special edition.While not a perfect film, I appreciated it so much more when I watched it this time. It's hard to classify, but it was probably a mistake to release it as a horror film, though you could draw some parallels to something like Kubrick's version of The Shining. The performances of the lead actors are phenomenal. While never happy, their descent into madness is palpable.This is an underappreciated film (even by me), that finally received its due. At $40 it's not inexpensive, but I definitely feel it was worth it.

The package was delivered quickly and wrapped in bubble wrap. This Mondo Vision release comes in a thick shell inside of a sleeve. It has a 24 page booklet and tons of special features. If you like this movie or are looking to see it for the first time, I recommend this one. Worth the money for a dvd that is sometimes hard to find.

I purchased the director's cut of this movie, and I think this is a good thriller, suspense, mystery, science fiction movie. The racy parts of this film are tastefully done, so I don't understand why this movie is so controversial. Compared to other racy monster movies from the early 1980's, this move is pretty tame. It is interesting to see this movie's film locations in East Berlin during the Berlin Wall era. Good acting. Isabelle Adjani does a good job portraying Anna who is the wife with two affairs. I wish this movie's creators had let Isabelle portray Anna in a less emotional manner. Sam Neil portrays Mark who is Anna's husband. In my opinion, Sam Neil usually portrays confident characters, so I thought it unusual to see him portray a vulnerable character. Heinz Bennet does a good job portraying Heinrich who is a man Anna is conducting one of her affairs with. In my opinion, the arguments between Mark and Anna are more intense and scarier than the monster scenes. This movie has lots of details, so I watched it three times. I really had to pay attention to the dialogue to understand the details, especially the details around the origin of the monster. I give this movie 4 starts because I think some of the scenes made it difficult to hear the dialogue because there was a lot of other stuff going on. Hence, watching this movie 3 times. Good movie, though. I will keep this DVD in my collection.

DVD works as it should, cool box art and protective sheath. Weird movie but I knew that beforehand. I think everyone should at least see it once. Creepy, cool, classic - although bizarre.

Vi una reseña de este producto en Youtube que traía un poster y el mío no lo traía, aún así, la calidad de las imágenes es muy buena

Possession, le choc de Cannes 1981, avec une prestation d' Adjani au top !

Regisseur Andrzej Zulawski verarbeitete mit „Possession“ aus dem Jahr 1981 nicht nur seine eigene zerbrochene Ehe mit der Schauspielerin Malgorzata Braunek, sondern auch die Vertreibung aus seinem Heimatland. Nachdem die polnische Regierung seinen Science-Fiction-Film „Der silberne Planet“ wegen politisch subversiver Botschaften stoppte, verließ er Polen, um ohne Einschränkungen arbeiten zu können. So bekommen auch die Grenzposten an der Berliner Mauer eine besonders bedrohliche Dimension, wenn sie mit ihren Ferngläsern in Marks Wohnung blicken.Als Mark (Sam Neill) nach einer Geschäftsreise zu seiner Frau Anna (Isabelle Adjani) und seinem Sohn Bob (Michael Hogben) nach West-Berlin zurückkehrt, merkt er schnell, dass etwas nicht stimmt. Anna gesteht ihre außereheliche Affäre. Er wirft sie hinaus und macht sich auf die Suche nach Heinrich (Heinz Bennent), ihrem angeblichen Geliebten. Doch auch Heinrich hat Veränderungen an Anna bemerkt – sie sei schon lange nicht mehr bei ihm gewesen. Daraufhin beauftragt Mark einen Detektiv, um den neuen Liebhaber zu finden. Bald macht er eine monströse Entdeckung...In der ersten Hälfte des Films gibt es keine Zeit für eine Atempause. Unaufhörlich dreht sich die Kamera um die beiden Protagonisten. Eine Gewitterwolke aus Wahnsinn, Eifersucht und Depression entlädt sich in aller Heftigkeit. Anna scheint wie auf Drogen, kann ohne ihren neuen Liebhaber nicht mehr leben. Mark ist rasend vor Wut, will die Tatsache nicht wahrhaben, dass Anna ihn für einen anderen verlassen hat. Es wird geflucht, gebrüllt und geschlagen. Ein elektrisches Brotmesser wird sogar zur Selbstverstümmelung genutzt. Es herrscht ständige Unruhe. Ein Gefühl der Ohnmacht macht sich breit.Anna und Mark werden durch ein fast menschenleeres Berlin der 80er-Jahre gehetzt. Die kargen, verrotteten Bauten, die verwahrlosten Altbauwohnungen mit zerrissenen Tapeten – alles Anzeichen darauf, dass auch ihre Gefühle füreinander emotional erkaltet sind. Schließlich endet der Sturm in einer quälend langen Sequenz, in der Anna in einer Unterführung wie von einem Dämon besessen scheint. Dann ist erstmal Ruhe, zumindest kurzzeitig.Die Phasen der Erkenntnis über das Ende der Beziehung von Anna und Mark sind noch einigermaßen nachzuvollziehen. Doch wenn zu Beginn noch grob ein narrativer Faden zu entdecken ist, wird die zweite Hälfte zunehmend abstrus, aber faszinierend zugleich. Bobs Lehrerin entpuppt sich bis auf die grünen Augen als Doppelgängerin von Anna – und dann wäre da noch der neue Mann in ihrem Leben, über den man nicht zu viel verraten sollte. Nur so viel: Neben Adjanis „Besessenheitsszene“ wird der Zuschauer auch eine außergewöhnliche Liebesszene nicht mehr aus dem Kopf bekommen.Isabell Adjani und Sam Neill gehen mit ihren Darstellungen wahrlich an die Grenzen des Zumutbaren. Die damals 26-jährige Französin sagte in einem Interview, sie habe zwei Jahre gebraucht, um sich von der Rolle zu erholen.Ingesamt ist „Possession“ eine bizarre Mischung aus Psychodrama und Arthaus-Kino in unterkühlten Bilder, angefüllt mit vielen Allegorien und manischen Exzessen, nicht leicht zu verstehen, aber auf seine Weise durchweg faszinierend.Es ist tatsächlich so, wie es auf dem Cover steht: Man kann ihn nicht beschreiben. Man muss ihn erleben...

Edición de Umbrella Entertainment. Al ser australiana es zona B y reproducible en modelos europeos. Muchísimo mejor que la desastrosa edición con BR-R cutre que se distribuye en España.

got around to see it ...happy i made the purchase . but keep in mind this movie suffers a bit from its poor video definition (its a bit grainy) but for the price worth it .