Paul and Corey Cross the Streams: S6E10 [POSSESSION (1981)]

Having amassed more than 100 episodes in its run, PACCTS’ sixth season will focus its sights on “the greatest films of all time” (both in the US and internationally), as assembled by the British Film Institute’s 2022 Sight and Sound Poll of industry critics. Corey will be choosing American films from the list, and Paul will be choosing international ones. 

Our goal is to examine the films that are considered great, and why that may be the case.  

Ranked 243, Andrzej Żuławski's Possession (1981) has only recently gotten the attention it deserves. A difficult and overwhelming examination of divorce (and tentacles), the film was banned in countries, highly edited in America, and labeled as a Video Nasty in the UK. It's been difficult to find, and only recently has Possession been readily available in its entirety in the US, streaming on Shudder. Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani play a married couple in West Berlin. The film begins with him returning home from a spy mission, only to learn his marriage is over. Things don't get better from there. Both Neill and especially Adjani give some of the most intense performances committed to film. You've never seen anything like this...