Possession

“Essential viewing … astonishing and heart-stopping … there are plenty of movies which seem to have been made by madmen.  Possession may be the only film in existence which is itself mad.” – Tom Huddleston, Time Out

Banned upon its original release in 1981, Andrzej Zulawski’s notorious, stunningly choreographed art film shocker depicting a nightmare of a marriage unraveling in monstrously spectacular fashion, is an experience unlike any other. Professional spy Mark (Sam Neill) returns to his West Berlin home to find his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani, giving an unforgettable performance that earned her Best Actress at Cannes) insistent on a divorce. As Anna’s frenzied behavior becomes ever more alarming, Mark discovers a truth far more sinister and horrifying than his wildest suspicions.With its pulsating score, visceral imagery (featuring wild practical SFX designed by Oscar-winning effects artist Carolos Rimbaldi), and some of the most haunting performances every captured on screen, Possession is cinematic delirium at its most intoxicating. Butchered almost beyond recognition for its original release, this is the fully-restored version of this mind-bending, shape-shifting, anxiety-producing horror classic. (Dir. by Andrzej Zulawski, 1981, France/Germany, in English, 124 mins., Rated R)