Under the Spotlight: Isabelle Adjani’s horrifyingly unforgettable performance in ‘Possession’
Possession is a movie unlike any other, blurring the lines between psychological drama and terrifying horror. Despite Andrzej Żuławski’s film featuring a hideous alien-like creature, it’s the violence that occurs as a result of Mark (Sam Neill) and Anna’s (Isabelle Adjani) crumbling relationship that is all the more terrifying.
While Neill gives a fantastic performance as the crazed and paranoid Mark, Adjani provides us with some of the movie’s most unforgettable moments. The actor won a Cesar for her breathtaking encapsulation of a woman spiralling out of control, turning increasingly violent and unhinged as the movie progresses. Adjani demonstrates a knack for moving between sheer unbridled rage and quietly tense moments, on the precipice of exploding at any moment. It’s a breathtaking performance that allows Żuławski to execute a perfectly gruesome tale of divorce, using extreme brutality and ambiguity to explore the conflict between partners and ourselves as individuals.
At the beginning of Possession, Mark comes home from a work trip to discover that Anna wants to leave him. It doesn’t take long for him to discover that she is having an affair, and events quickly progress towards the depths of depravity. From the start, Anna puts the viewer on edge with her unnerving stare and ability to easily slip into such monstrous behaviour. She is possessed by some dark force, transforming her from a loving wife and mother into a neglectful parent and destructive lover, and Adjani truly seems to be possessed by the same entity.
In one standout scene – the movie’s most memorable – Anna flings herself around an empty subway while carrying groceries, throwing the bags about while hitting the walls and spinning around in a crazed frenzy. Then, she begins spewing up white liquid and blood and appears to have a miscarriage on the floor, all while screaming ferociously. It’s the kind of scene you’ll never forget, confronting the audience with a brutal display of human corporeality that is equally disgusting and saddening to watch.
Elsewhere, Anna and Mark are constantly fighting, both verbally and physically, leaving them bloodied and maniacal, with Anna even slicing her own neck with an electric carving knife. Possession barely allows the audience to breathe, yet Adjani’s performance never feels over-the-top. While her acting is incredibly dramatic and intense, it always feels like Adjani knows exactly what she’s doing, knowing when to lash out and when to restrain herself – oftentimes, doing the latter creates more of a horrifying effect. Still, Adjani’s performance is not for the faint of heart, and as she argues, screams, slices up herself and kills others, you wonder how she must have felt once production wrapped. According to the director, Adjani tried to kill herself after watching Possession, horrified by what she had seen on screen.
Talking to Interview Magazine, Adjani revealed that she could never take on a role as demanding as Anna again. She said, “I often wonder, when a person is an actress if they’re capable of overcoming everything that’s inflicted on them. I remember — if you’ll allow me to offer a comparison from my own career and some situations with Andrzej Żuławski — there was something of great violence that I agreed to take on. But I’ve realized over the years that it’s something I could never accept again, and it’s part of everything that my subconscious has been swallowing and incubating.”
When Adjani’s role in Possession is discussed, people often overlook her performance as Helen, the teacher of the couple’s son, Bob. Mark soon finds himself attracted to Helen, who is identical to Anna, only with different coloured eyes and hair. Yet, unlike Anna’s psychotic personality, Helen is calm and gentle, looking after Bob when no one else will. Adjani demonstrates an ability to master two polar opposites within the same movie, a testament to her strengths as an actor.
The movie descends into further chaos as Anna has sex with the mysterious creature, commits murder and eventually kills herself in Mark’s arms. The whole time, Adjani never falters, often showcasing the ability to command a scene with nothing more than a twisted facial expression, allowing the movie to become one of the most harrowing explorations of marital failure, identity, division and violence put to screen.
