Possession

Directed by Andrzej Żuławski, Possession follows an antagonistic couple (Sam Neill’s Mark and Isabelle Adjani’s Anna) as their tumultuous relationship takes a decidedly bizarre turn after Anna asks for a divorce. Filmmaker Żuławski, working from a script written with Frederic Tuten, delivers a seriously oddball endeavor that manages to hold the viewer’s interest, to a certain degree, through a progressively nonsensical narrative, and it’s clear, certainly, that the movie fares unexpectedly well in its mysterious yet somewhat hypnotic opening stretch – with the compulsively watchable vibe heightened by Żuławski’s often stunning visuals and the two stars’ irresistibly over-the-top efforts. (It is, as such, easy enough to overlook Żuławski and Tuten’s ongoing reliance on stilted, stylized dialogue that’s often laughably on-the-nose.) There’s little doubt, then, that the picture’s tenuous grip on the viewer is exacerbated by a meandering midsection that is, for the most part, weird for weirdness’ sake, and although this portion of the proceedings does contain a handful of highlights, including a remarkable scene wherein Anna completely flips out in an empty subway tunnel, Possession is eventually (and ultimately) felled by a ludicrously overlong running time that transforms the second half into a palpable endurance test – which, despite an admittedly captivating final 15 minutes, cements the film’s place as an art-house experiment that one admires more than one enjoys.

** out of ****