My Second Attempt in Analyzing POSSESSION

POSSESSION
Andrzej Zulawski, 1981

Author's note: After reading Soiled Sinema's brilliant analysis of Possession, I decided to examine review Zulawki's film for the second time. (Here's my first attempt.)

Author's note 2.0: Sorry for the strikethroughs, but my opinion towards this film changes as time goes by.

Love - once lost, it can never be found.

(Photo belongs to its owner/s. I don't own or claim to own this photo.)

L'APPARTEMENT
Gilles Mimouni, 1996

If you had a chance encounter with your long lost love, would you try to rekindle your broken romance with that person? Would you be willing to abandon your bright future in order to go back to your gloomy past? Max (Vincent Cassel) says yes to all those questions.

Entertaining Film - MAYBE. Quality Film - NO.

Tagline: Looks can be deceiving.

SO CLOSE
Corey Yuen, 2002

So Close is a film about two assassin sisters who are hunted by their employer and a determined policewoman.

I wish I can have the chutzpah to kick the a** of everyone involved in So Close. Aside from the preposterous action stunts and the hot actresses, So Close has nothing more to offer. In my humble opinion, So Close is a mediocre film. It's so overrated it makes its audiences stupid — stupid to like a film that is full of impossible stunts but is actually lacking in substance.

A Beautifully Sculpted Film

CAMILLE CLAUDEL
Bruno Nuytten, 1988

Camille Claudel is about the life of French sculptor Camille Claudel (Isabelle Adjani); her art, her obsessive love for fellow sculptor Auguste Rodin (Gerard Depardieu), and her tragic ending.

"Serbis" is Out of Service

An obviously photoshopped poster for Serbis.
(Photo belongs to its owner/s. I don't own or claim to own this photo.)

Tagline: Service. It's the family business.

SERBIS
Brillante Mendoza, 2008

The Pineda family runs an old movie theater in Angeles. The movie theater shows bomba films (soft-porn films). It also serves as a shabby home to the Pineda family, and a haven for their perverted customers.

The story looks promising. Serbis definitely has a story to tell, but Brillante Mendoza doesn't know how to tell it properly.

Once They Were Babies

Babies. Aren't they adorable? They're full of beauty and innocence. Babies have this irresistible power to lighten you up. Last night, while browsing baby pictures to cheer myself up, I decided to compile pictures of some celebrities at their most innocent. Let us now return to innocence.

Isabelle Adjani



Birth name: Isabelle Yasmine Adjani

Date of birth: June 27, 1955
Birthplace: Gennevilliers (near Paris), Hauts-de-Seine, France

Baby Isabelle will have enchanting blue eyes. She will be a successful theater and film actress. Some of her films will include The Story of Adele H., Nosferatu the Vampyre, Possession, Subway, Ishtar, Camille Claudel, and Queen Margot. Putting her hand on her cheek will be her mannerism. She will become one of the most awarded actresses in France.

Criminally Insane Women in Films

Here are some tour de force performances I've seen onscreen. Fearless actresses portraying mentally sick women; characters who commit crimes in the midst of their insanity. These are the performances that inspired me (not to be insane or to be a criminal). It would be a crime to ignore such performances.

Isabelle Adjani, Possession (1981)

Starring Isabelle Adjani

Today is the 55th birthday of one of France's national treasures, Isabelle Adjani. She's the youngest Oscar® Best Actress nominee (for The Story of Adele H.), until Keisha Castle-Hughes broke that record in 2003.

It's great to see that she's making movies again after taking a long break in the mid-90s. As a birthday tribute to one of the finest actresses alive, allow me to present to you my top five performances by the Adjani.

1. Possession (1981)

This One Brought Tears to My Eyes

"One day I'll get to you

And teach you how to get to purest hell."

JUST
Jamie Thraves, 1995

A man suddenly lies down on a busy pavement, people ask the man what's wrong and why is he lying there. We don't hear their voices because Radiohead's Just is on. We follow their conversation through subtitles. The man refuses to answer their questions. The people persistently demand an answer from the man.

Silent But Powerful

THE BRONTË SISTERS
André Téchiné, 1979

The film tells the story of the Brontë sisters and their brother Branwell (Pascal Greggory). Les sœurs Brontë may bore some audiences because it's mostly quiet, but the film's silence is its power. Although the characters rarely speak throughout the movie, when they speak, their words are heartfelt and poetic (just like the lines from the Brontë sisters' novels). The actors' facial expressions and the film's landscapes are impressive.