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Possession

Screening on Film
Directed by Andrzej Zulawski.
With Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill, Heinz Bennent.
France/West Germany, 1981, 35mm, color, 127 min.

After an extended business trip behind the Iron Curtain, a man returns home to suspect his wife of having an affair and soon realizes he has created a monster. From the first frame, Polish director Zulawski transmogrifies this domestic crisis into an unrelenting, over-the-top cinematic spectacle. A deeply unnerving tour-de-force, Possession benefits from an awe-inspiring performance by Isabelle Adjani that garnered the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the French César Award. Reduced to 82 minutes against the director's wishes upon its American release, we are pleased to present the original 127-minute version in all of its tumultuous glory.

Part of film series

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Treasures from the Harvard Film Archive: Directors U–Z

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Andrzej Zulawski's Possession

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The Reincarnations of Delphine Seyrig

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Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow