A young married couple, Anna(Isabelle Adjani) and Mark(Sam Neill) living in West Berlin split up at Anna's behest for unknown reasons. Mark is left to care for their young son, but becomes increasingly more paranoid that Anna is having an affair, so he hires a private detective to follow her. His fears are soon realized and Anna admits to being more satisfied by her new lover. However when Mark tracks this lover (Heinrich) down, he says their relationship has been over for some time, Mark soon realizes that there is another mysterious lover, but what he finds is more terrifying than he could have dreamed. My first Zulawski film i had been warned was just a little odd, while not the most linear of films to start with, i had no idea where or when the craziness would start or how it would present itself. It begins with a couple being destroyed by a lack of intimacy, paranoia, jealousy and ultimately separation. I must say that this aspect is brilliantly realized by Zulawski with two incredible performances to back it up, i really felt the guilt, the betrayal and the pain for both of them as they spun into self destruction. . Mark soon finds a lover of his own, strangely its his sons teacher Helen, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Anna . As the film evolves Anna becomes ever more manic, as a result, every one she knows seems to come to a bloody end, can anyone survive the mysterious beast that hides in Anna's apartment? I guess there must be many explanations for how and why the film evolves the way it does, my take is that both Mark and Anna invented their respective lovers to compensate for their own failings, of course others may look at it as a skewed version of Invasion of the Body snatchers. Adjani provides the viewer with perhaps THE most manic female performance since Shelley Duvall in The Shining (perhaps even ever), she even makes that performance seem restrained, such is her dedication to her performance that she really does seem possessed. Neill is equally strong, putting in what could be a career best performance. The standout performance for me though was the bizarre and crazy Heinz Bennent who plays uber mannered Heinrich, i was in awe of his every word and movement, he even made me laugh out loud. Zulawski for his part controls things to perfection, his camera is always moving making even mundane scenes seem really interesting. The setting of Berlin before the wall came down is a constant reminder of separation that mirrors the couples plight. Again though i feel this is a film that will benefit from subsequent viewings, i did lose my train of thought towards the end, still though it didn't spoil my overall enjoyment. If there's one over riding memory i'll take from the film, besides its bizarreness, that would be its incredible eroticism, despite the fact there is almost no sex contained within, it left this viewer a little hot under the collar. Before i finish off, its hard not to mention Anna's real lover, but how can one give justice to him, seeing is believing. Its onward and upward with Zulawski for me, next up Diabel.
Review of Possession
