An entrancing literary thriller...
 Aug 23rd, 2004
(Aug 28th, 2004)
Advantages:
Plot, casting, scenery, twists, music
Disadvantages:
If you like action movies, this is not for you
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
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  lazuli77
About me:
3 years later, I'm back. Looking forward to explore the site again.
Member since:20.08.2004
Reviews:46
Members who trust:51
Review rated by 34 Ciao members on average: helpful 
Adopted from A. S. Byatt prize winner novel, "Possession" is an intimate, heart-warming, and easy to watch film. Roland Michell (Aaron Eckhart), an American research assistant struggling to be accepted within the English academic circle, realises his luck might be about to change when he comes across compromising letters written by the highly acclaimed Victorian poet, Randolph Henry Ash (Jeremy Northan). If his suspicions prove right, all studies to date on the poet’s life will be deemed inaccurate. Eager to find more, Roland seeks help from Dr. Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow), an academic teaching at Lincoln University. Maud is a specialist in Christabel LaMotte’s (Jennifer Ehle) work, an understated Victorian writer, who Roland suspects might have had some untold connections with Ash.
Despite Maud’s initial scepticism to Roland’s theories, he challenges her enough to convince her to embark on a “wild goose chase”, as she puts it. Together they will travel through rural England in an
attempt to reconstruct and unveil Ash’s secret life. As the past unfolds and old passions are stirred Maud and Roland’s romance begins to flourish. Interweaving from present to Victorian days, the timeline begins to thin, leading to a highly satisfactory ending with enough twists to keep the audience entranced. “Possession” has become one of my favourite films, one of the very few that I will watch countless times. Directed by Neil LaBute, who also co-wrote the screenplay, the movie is a successful adaptation of the novel. As with many other adaptations from book to screen, some facts had to be omitted or changed. Movies are all about images and action, whereas books can describe feelings and give more insight into the characters personalities and backgrounds. Doing this on film is not always technically possible.
Perhaps the one and biggest flaw was making the character of Roland Michell an American. In the book Rolland is an Englishman. Yet, I think Aaron Eckhard gave a more relaxed attitude to the character (casual clothes, dishevelled hair, laid back attitude), which works well in terms of setting the contrast between his character and Paltrow’s.
In terms of acting, I think all the actors performed extremely well. Aaron had more space of manoeuvre because his character suffered a cultural background change. As for Gwyneth she plays Maud as she has to – a cold, distant woman, with a broken heart and a lonely life. The Victorian actors (Jeremy Northan, Jennifer Ehle and Lena Headey) are just brilliant! Their behaviour and their actions are so constricted by the ways of the epoch, yet their eyes tell a million things about the turmoil and burning desire inside of the characters minds. (If you watch this movie, pay attention to their eyes expressions) In my opinion, only very talented, experienced actors can achieve this level of performance.
The DVD extra features comprise of movie trailer, and a commentary by LaBute on the making of the film. This might be slightly disappointing for some, as the commentary means seeing the movie all over again with LaBute’s voice over, revealing how all the scenes were made. As for me, I really enjoyed this feature as I am very curious about filmmaking and scriptwriting. I was living in Lincoln when some of the scenes were shot there. The university in this film, both outside and inside is the actual University of Lincoln, where I had the opportunity to conclude my Tourism degree. At the time of shooting, I had just finished my course and was working right across the road.
I remember following the news on the local paper regarding this film but never went out of my way to meet the film crew. I’ve always being enchanted by England and I am truly passionate about Lincoln so, feeling a bit nostalgic, I remembered that there had been a movie made there. When I read the review for the movie and watched the trailer at the International Movie Database (www.imdb.com), I realised how intriguing the plot was and ended up buying both the film and the book. I was committed to read the book first but found the richness of the vocabulary very hard to grasp and it was interfering with my understanding of the story – please bear in mind that English is not my first language. I gave in and watched the movie.
I am back to the book and finding it easier to read. Now that I interiorised the story I can concentrate in the complexity and meaning of some of the words and phrases. (I will write review on the book as soon as I finish it).
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by (62%):
23.09.2007 18:08
This does sound like a film I would enjoy ~ I find it hard to concentrate on a book, though probably I should read it first. Your English is very good btw. :-) Well reviewed.
23.09.2007 14:28
I bought this as part of a job lot, I am watching it at the moment, seems good, very helpful
06.10.2004 01:05
Sounds interesting - I will have to watch this! Anne x