Every now and again you find a film (or a film finds you) that fits perfectly into the list of ‘well that was a really weird film’ and for me Possession is one of those films. I had heard of the film over the years, mainly because it popped up on those lists that were ‘horror films you might not have seen’ or in an article talking about one of the films stars Mr Sam Neill. Possession was a film I hadn’t managed to track down but thankfully due to the wonderful people over at Second Sight Films, Possession has now been given the special treatment by Second Sight Films and finally I have now seen the film. To sum up what Possession is about is pretty tricky. It has so many levels to it one of them being ‘ Anne (played by Isabelle Adjani) starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behaviour after asking her husband Mark (brilliantly played by Sam Neill) for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something far more sinister. So that’s one level, on the other level- well I wont go into too much of that but the opening credit of ‘Creature Effects by Carlo Rambaldi) might give you a clue.
You can order the set from the Second Sight Films Website
Whilst I am still processing whether I liked Possession (I know I didn’t dislike it, I’m just still unsure on my full thoughts on the film itself) This Second Sight Films set is fantastic and packed to the gills with extra features that will take you through pretty much every aspect of this films creation and release. At the moment, even though I’m still processing my thoughts on the movie itself. I cant give enough praise to the extras on this set. Possession might (and I say might) not be a film I love, I will say that its production, and post production is fascinating and many of the extras go into details about the films journey. Did you know for example that Possession which was released in 1981, wasn’t released in the US until 1983. When it was finally released in the US, the distributors over there chopped over 40 minutes from the film, reedited much of the other scenes, rescored them, placed new dialogue into characters mouths, changed the color scheme of the film and much more. What is wonderful is that not only do we get the films original version on this Second Sight Films set (which runs for 124 minutes) but we also get the butchered 77 minute North American version of the film- which is worth watching just to see what they had done to it. However easily the best version of the film is the 124 original version so when you watch the film for the first time, please do check out that version. The 77 minute version should be watched just for educational purposes and to see what changes were made.
The set also comes loaded with the following features all of which I checked out over the past few days.
Possession looks great and that’s due to this being a new Producer approved 4K restoration which is presented in HDR with Dolby Vision. Its far better than most previous versions dating back to VHS in the early or mid 80s. This new release comes in a dual format 3 disc edition including one 4K UHD and 2 Blu-rays with the main feature and bonus features on both formats. So for those who don’t yet have a 4K set up, you can still watch this set on your bluray player, and you’ll have added another 4K movie to your growing collection.
There are four chat tracks on the disc including a new audio Commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Alison Taylor as well as an audio Commentary by Director Andrzej Żuławski moderated by Daniel Bird and an audio Commentary by Frederic Tuten moderated by Daniel Bird. Finally we get a new Audio Commentary by Daniel Bird and Manuela Lazic (this chat track is on the North American Re-edit and is a fascinating listen which will educate you a ton on the changes made for this version compared to the superior theatrical version)
For featurette fans there is the following.
The Horror of Normality: Guillermo del Toro on Possession (26 minutes)
The Shadow We Carry: Kat Ellinger on Possession (18 minutes)
Repossessed: The Film’s UK and US Reception (12 minutes)
Andrzej Żuławski: Director: archive documentary (51 minutes)
A Divided City: The Berlin locations (7 minutes)
The Sounds of Possession: an interview with Composer Andrzej Korzynski (19 minutes)
Our Friend in the West: an interview with Producer Christian Ferry (6 minutes)
Basha: a featurette on poster artist Barbara ‘Basha’ Baranowska ( 6 minutes) and one of my favourite documentaries is The Other Side of The Wall: The Making of Possession which runs for 52 minutes and is a great starting point when heading into all these extras. To round things up there a great archive interview with Andrzej Żuławski (36 minutes) and some deleted scenes and the films trailer.
That’s an incredible 237 minutes worth of extra features, and that’s not including the alternate edit of the film (77 minutes) or the 4 audio commentaries included in the set.
Limited Edition Contents
Rigid slipcase with Basha’s original theatrical artwork
220-page hardback book with new essays by Daniel Bird, Elena Lazic and Alison Taylor, ‘The Creature: Preliminary Sketches’, ‘Filming Possession’, ‘The Poster of Possession’, pressbook feature, archive articles and interviews and Behind the Scenes gallery
211-page original shooting script book with notes by Andrzej Żuławski and Frederic Tuten
6 collectors’ art cards
Possession might still be one of the strangest films I’ve seen for a long time but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this Second Sight Films edition is a 5 out of 5 release and is a must for Sam Neill fans, its a must for weird horror movie fans, and its a must for Second Sight Film collectors. I think that Possession is a film that will sit in my mind for a long time and its one that I do plan on revisiting and letting the bonkers movie explain itself with each repeat viewing.
frompage2screen.com 