Possession 
(PALVisual Entertainment VHS) 
 (1981)
review by Krug Stillo

“This for me exceeds anything thrown up by The Exorcist for sheer impact on
the nervous system.”
David Thompson - Sight and Sound

Acting, colour, camera movement and story thrown into hyperactivity…What do
you get? Well, a headache is one thing and Possession is another. Beautiful,
erotic and extremely disturbing, Andrjez Zulawski’s film (admired by the
Italian Master of the Macabre himself, Dario Argento) is an extreme assault
upon the senses.

Mark (played excellently wild by Sam Neil) returns home from secret
government work to his wife in Berlin, cue many shots of the Berlin wall
representing the couple’s marital breakdown. However, Mark’s wife, Anna (a
truly unforgettable, no holds barred and hypnotic performance from the
lovely Isabelle Adjani) is behaving strangely. Mark finds out that she is
having an affair with Heinrick (another crazy performance from Heinz Bennet)
and confronts him to find that the lover has not seen Anna for some time
either. This is the part of the roller coaster ride before your cart
plummets into some real thought- provoking, unsettling and scary surrealism.

Possession is definitely the film that requires many subsequent viewings.
Excellent performances that frequently go way OTT, dreamily fluid camerawork
and migraine inducing metaphorical horror, this is a true beast of the
imagination. Love it or hate it, it is a true original masterpiece that is
definitely not for all tastes. If films were placed in boxes and divided by
flavours, like chrisps, POSSESSION would sit in a box entirely by its self,
awaiting only those who can take it. Go into it with an open mind like
you've never gone into a film with one before. It can seriously give you a
headache if you try and figure it all out on that initial viewing; if there
is truly anything to work out. The now infamous miscarriage in the subway is
confusing, painful and sickening to watch and nothing like it can be found
anywhere else. A hell of a film!