If you’ve only seen the famous GIF of Isabelle Adjani convulsing in a subway tunnel, you know the image but not the context. Directed by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski, Possession is a brutal, beautiful, and baffling masterpiece. Here’s why you need to see it—and how to survive the experience. On the surface, the plot is simple: Mark (Sam Neill) returns home to West Berlin after a long business trip to find that his wife, Anna (Isabelle Adjani), wants a divorce. She has been having an affair.
You like art that bruises. You think Requiem for a Dream was too gentle. You want to understand the outer limits of cinematic acting. possession 1981
But this is no Kramer vs. Kramer .
Sam Neill, fresh off Jurassic Park fame, has called it the most difficult role of his career. He and Adjani reportedly hated each other on set, which only fuels the film’s volcanic energy. Possession is not a "good" movie in the conventional sense. It is a masterpiece of chaos. Watching it feels like a fever breaking. If you’ve only seen the famous GIF of