Possession

“The infinitive is the key: to accept.” SPEAKING IN TONGUES Zulawski’s heightened artificiality only serves to make what would other wise be hyper-melodrama (which it sometimes is) into something wholly brutal and real. there is not one moment in the film where it is not blatantly obvious to us that we are watching actors putting on a performance, but that in no sense takes away the intended effect of it all. in just about every scene there is a dramatic and almost comical tension between each character. their wide eyes burn into one another’s soul. a psychological attack on the complicated specifics of a crumbling connection between 2 people who are so desperate, so unbelievably desperate. Neill’s character at points is borderline pathetic in his attempts to salvage a relationship long gone and beyond saving. a moment that has always stuck to me (for some odd reason) is his character rocking back and forth and shaking in his bed; drenched in sweat, with bloodshot eyes. the camera in the film glides with an almost omniscient voice: sometimes providing space between its eyes and the characters, and sometimes being merciless and almost voyeuristic. no scene is left without forcing the viewer to hear the 2 partners’ screams and wails. Zulawski’s musings on love, religion, and Existence could be read as pretentious nonsense and incomprehensible, but the only way to not view it as such is to view this film entirely as an intuitive piece. “Don’t understand it, feel it.” putting yourself inside of the film’s horrific and harsh world is to accept the fact that reality is merely a façade in the face of emotional anguish. doubles of people emerge, strange, extraterrestrial beings have sex with humans, Jesus looks down at Adjani’s character, but with no indication of being able to hear her whimpers. she comes into the apartment and then disappears with no explanation, back into the unseeable abyss.. the film ends with a bang. an explosion. the screen gets shrouded in whites. Adjani stares at us. do we accept the truth in all it’s harsh glory? or maybe there is no single truth. your surroundings are a product of your mind after all. you choose what you see, and you choose how to deal with that. Loving U Is Complicated