Movies that are too weird for their own good. (1 Viewer)

[MartinTeller]

Dead Ringers.

 

[Joseph Young]

I have seen many weird, strange films in my lifetime, but none, and I mean NONE as strange and disturbing as Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, starring the luminous and disturbed Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. Yes, that Sam Neill.

Honestly, Possession (not to be confused with the recent movie adaptation of A.S. Byatt's great novel) takes the prize for second weirdest movie I've ever seen.

The first is, of course, Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel's legendary silent Surrealist experiment Un Chien Andalou.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Cube? All right, maybe it's not that weird...

Crash certainly was, though.

 

[Magnus Nord]

how about Ken Park, thats a very very weird movie..

 

[Al B. C]

"Gummo"

Strange, weird flick.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

"Gummo"

Strange, weird flick

Yes, but in a good way!

 

[Steve Clark]

Many people I know always thought the movie "Tommy" was a little too far out.

 

[JoeStemme]

I have seen many weird, strange films in my lifetime, but none, and I mean NONE as strange and disturbing as Andrzej Zulawski's Possession, starring the luminous and disturbed Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. Yes, that Sam Neill.

Honestly, Possession (not to be confused with the recent movie adaptation of A.S. Byatt's great novel) takes the prize for second weirdest movie I've ever seen.

I had seen a couple of Polish Director Andrzej Zulawski's films so I knew not to expect a traditional narrative, but, I still wasn't prepared for this unhinged experience. The acting starts at 11 and escalates from there. Ostensibly, a metaphor for a bad marriage breakup (Zulawaksi was apparently going through a bitter divorce at the time), POSSESSION is a psychological horror piece which never finds a proper conceit to tie the screenplay together.
Isabelle Adjani (Helen) and Sam Neill (Mark) are the warring couple at the center. And, for much of the run-time their 'discussions' are out of control arguments including physical violence. It's isn't until almost half-way through the film that the 'horror' elements are even introduced. By that point, they are almost superfluous to the plot. It's the madness within the characters that is the true horror and not the grotesque creature effects (well done by Carlo Rambaldi - E.T., KING KONG '76) -- and, that may be the point all along.

Zulawski also introduces doppelgangers to personify the internal anguish of the lead characters. That duality also could be interpreted as reading the film as being about multiple personalities. There is a also a son, Bob (Michael Hogben) who is one of those magical movie kids who only seems to show up when the script needs him, and, despite knock-out drag-out fights by his parents, he never seems to appear during them (or he's conveniently off with a babysitter). The magic kid leads to yet another interpretation of the film*. Helen is having an affair with an older German gentleman Heinrich (Heinz Bennent). He, too, is as much symbolism as fully integrated character.

The true monster here is the rage within Helen and Mark. This is clearly similar territory that David Cronenberg was also exploring at the time (especially, the previous year's THE BROOD). Whatever critiques one may have of Cronenberg's early work, he did have the ability to make his bloody body horror metaphors palpable and dramatically clear and urgent. Zulawski, for all his skill, never quite accomplishes that. The title can be read as having a dual meaning - the most obvious fulfilling the horror quotient of some kind of demonic spell, the more subtle being how each spouse in a relationship wishes to own and mold the other. It's laudable that he has made a film that can be interpreted in various ways, but, POSSESSION never truly satisfies or grips the imagination. Being shouted at and witnessing a gallery of terrors has some momentary satisfaction, but, it never fully takes hold. There's a sequence involving a bomb and a toilet that has the kind of gonzo energy that most of the movie lacks. More of that may not have made the film any more coherent, but, it would certainly have made it more enjoyable.

Adjani certainly throws herself into her role with abandon. So intense and exhausting was this film to her, that she swore that she would never take on another like it (although Jean Becker's 1983's superior ONE DEADLY SUMMER has some parallels). Sam Neill is a fine actor, but he can't quite get on the same bead as Adjani, although much of that is attributable to Zulawski's screenplay (co-adapted by Frederic Tuten). The score by Andrzej Korzynski is creepily effective as is much of Bruno Nuytten's cinematography.

POSSESSION is ultimately a frustrating film. I've long wanted to see it, but, it constantly undercuts it's own effectiveness. Adjani's performance aside, it never fully captivates. Hopefully, Zulawski got his divorce out of his system at the very least.


* SPOILER.
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The very end of the film with the boy drowning could be interpreted as having the entire story we see be a horrific projection of a couple's grief at the loss of a child. The first time we see the boy he is taking a bath with the parents looking in.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This always makes me laugh...

 

[David Norman]

A non spam 17 year necro-bump. That's impressive

I'm tempted to say the Japanese Horror (??) film Hausu and The Happiness of the Katakuris except I like both of them adn the reaction of
those that have watched them for the first time.

 

[Malcolm R]

Asian horror is often weird. I watched Mon Mon Mon Monsters (Taiwan) recently. What a bizarre waste of time.

 

[Jake Lipson]

By weird, I mean sufficiently detached from reality so as to prevent believability and frustrate many viewers.

Cats has to take this particular cake.

 

[TJPC]

I don't understand this reaction to CATS. Having seen it live a couple of times, the movie is just true to the source material. It is not ever been a favourite of mine, and I have always said that as a show it makes a good cast recording, but I think the extreme negative reaction is mostly from people who just don't know anything about it. I mean people -- it's a show about people who dress like cats. How "normal" can it be?