Possession
1981
***½
Director: Andrzej Żuławski
Cast: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent, Margit Carstensen, Johanna Hofer, Carl Duering, Shaun Lawton, Michael Hogben, Leslie Malton, Thomas Frey
A man returns to his home in Berlin to find that his wife wants to leave him and their son. As her behaviour becomes increasingly violent and unhinged, he discovers that she is hiding a dark and disturbing secret. Andrzej Żuławski's only work in English is an intense psychological horror film that operates as an allegory for marital breakdown. The performances are unusual, to say the least, especially that of Isabelle Adjani, who engages in more facial contortions and screaming than I can remember any other screen character doing. All in all, this cult film is totally bonkers, yet it remains unlike anything else.
