According to IMDB Bruno Nuytten is the credited cinematographer and second sight have not mentioned him. Instead they are using the camera operator. Given the variations of "right" for this film I am not faithful in any one person's assessment of that TBH The Sounds of Possession - in this video interview, composer Andrzej Korzynski discusses his contribution to Andrzej Zulawski's Possession. The two gentlemen have collaborated on seven feature films. In Polish, with imposed English subtitles. (20 min). No one has claimed with certainty that Second Sight was delivered the finished SDR-graded 4K master for Possession, in which case the latitude for corrections would indeed be limited. Why exclude the possibility they got a log scale master on top of which they could make sensible grading choices? I would assume that the 4K scan and most restoration work were performed with the widest possible latitude (and then grading being the last step) and as such, these materials should be readily available. Audio Commentary - co-producer Frederic Tuten recalls his work with director Andrzej Zulawski on Possession and offers his interpretation of the film's complex message. (The Polish director views Possession as an autobiographical film, but Mr. Tuten's take on it is rather different). There is plenty of interesting information about the trips that were made to West Berlin, where the film was shot, Isabelle Adjani's performance and her image in Europe after the film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. Mr. Tuten also shares some very interesting information about a project with Nastassja Kinski that never materialized, etc. Also contributing to this commentary is biographer Dan Bird. In English, not subtitled. The SS comment explaining color correction also doesn't provide much in the way of answers. They don't mention any sort of reference at all except that it's being graded to "meet the filmmaker's goals" which doesn't necessarily mean how it was originally intended to look.

folktales that caught my eye was one that none other than Leonard Bernstein adapted into a ballet in the mid-terms of their storytelling, but the fact is, these films are often as fictional as any offering made up from scratch. became enamored of Bernstein's version of The Dybbuk, in fact, I went to the Jessica Lange film Frances,

freely admits in his commentary is supposed to give the viewer the idea that "someone—or something—is watching us", A most engaging interview with composer Andrzej Korzynski, who recalls meeting director Zulawski at primary school ("we sat on the same bench and made trouble together") and his subsequent seven-film collaboration with him. Tantalising clips from three of Zulawski's films are included, with particular focus on his banned and nearly lost science fiction epic On the Silver Globe.Daniel Bird here is joined by the film's American co-writer Frederic Tuten, whose thoughtful reflections prove every bit as revealing and entertaining as Zulawski's, covering new ground and bringing a welcome second perspective to previously discussed elements. Topics covered here include how Tuten came to be involved with the project, how it dented his liberal politics, his positive working relationship with Zulawski, the initial casting of Sam Waterston in the role of Mark, what Adjani brought to the character of Anna, working with Sam Neill, the subway scene, his disappointment that Zulawski chose to show the monster (which Bird convincingly counters), and a good deal more. Tuten and Bird are clearly on the same intellectual wavelength here, resulting in some fascinating and in-depth discussions on everything from politics to the cinema of Jean-Luc Godard. Again, a terrific extra. even be tempted to slightly believe that it is based on anything other than the fanciful imagination of a screenwriter (or What sells this even at its most fraught is a pair of boldly brilliant performances from Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani. Perched on a fragile ledge on the brink of madness, they wrestle with their confusion and inner pain and bellow into the abyss without ever breaking the delicate tether that binds them to reality. Such acting requires a rare blend of fearlessness, raw talent and faith in the director, a willingness on the part of both to push themselves further than logic would normally dictate in a manner that electrifies every encounter between them and transforms their solo scenes into often memorable set-pieces. The most justifiably famous of these is Adjani's explosive subway breakdown, where distress mutates into wild and ultimately orgasmic hysteria and a climactic expulsion of something whose true form and intent we can at this point only guess at. Adjani is genuinely astonishing here, hurling herself headlong through the emotional meat grinder in a performance that bagged her the Best Actress César, but apparently took her some years to fully recover from. Director Andrzej Zulawski, most ably prompted by Daniel Bird, comments in impeccable English on all aspects of the film, including how the project developed, his specific reasons for shooting in Berlin, casting the lead roles, the use of specific colours, the doppelgänger motif, working with the crew, the autobiographical elements, and a whole lot more. It's a little unsettling to discover that the man his own partner left him for had the same name as his on-screen equivalent and that Mark's later assault on him was driven primarily by Zulawski's hatred of the man. Specific scenes are explored in detail and there's even the occasional bit of lively verbal sparring between the two when Zulawski disagrees with a point Bird is making. Surprisingly, perhaps, Bird doesn't challenge Zulawski when he claims that the Steadicam wasn't yet invented when they shot the film, given it's prominent use three years earlier in John Carpenter's seminal Halloween. Perhaps my favourite Zulawski quote of all here comes late in the commentary when he complains that "most of the good films have disappeared because they don't want to bite any more." Absolutely. A first-rate extra.

A Divided City - a before-and-after look at the key locations seen in Possession. The new footage is from modern-day Berlin, where Possession was shot. With English text. (8 min). Andrzej Zulawski Interview - in this video interview, director Andrzej Zulawski recalls how Possession came to exist and discusses the socio-political climate in Poland at the time when the film was made. The Polish director also discusses the unique qualities of the main characters in Possession, Isabelle Adjani's legendary performance, and the film's visual style. The interview was produced by Jerome Wybon for TF1 Video in 2009. It also appears on the Region-B release of Possession. In French, with optional English subtitles. (36 min). interesting mystical writings that populate Jewish tradition to further my own self-directed education. Since I was alsoExclusive Art Cards - 5 (4x6) exclusive art cards. Original paintings courtesy of French artist Jean-Philippe Guigou.

Slarek is still reeling from POSSESSION, Andrzej Zulawski's extraordinary 1981 collision of relationship drama, politics, horror, and a whole lot more, released this week on a splendidly featured Blu-ray by Second Sight. will probably know, Hebrew is written and read right to left (as opposed to our language's left to right procedure), but As a portrait of a relationship collapsing into madness the film would be strong enough meat, but underscoring the drama are a number of potent metaphoric strands whose purpose and interrelationship require at least two viewings to untangle and fully appreciate. Chief amongst these is a fascination with duality, appropriate in an ideologically and physically divided city (this choice of location was a deliberate political statement on the exiled Zulawski's part), which is most literally realised in the figure of warm and kind-hearted schoolteacher Helen, who bonds with the couple's young son Bob and is an idealised dead ringer for Anna and at one point looks set to replace her in the family unit. It's uncertain whether this visual similarity to Anna is actually the product of Mark's own loneliness and wish fulfilment or a genuine doppelgänger whose male equivalent is slowly taking shape in Anna's bedraggled apartment, a creature born of Anna's unhappiness and neurosis (given disturbingly gooey shape by master creature creator Carlo Rambaldi). It's a concept that was successfully road-tested by David Cronenberg two years earlier in The Brood – no surprises, then, that the broken relationships in both films were autobiographical in origin and the product of the directors' hostility towards their respective ex-partners. Also, there are tradeoffs to making tweaks like that in SDR, which the 4K master of possession is. While the Mondo/SS discs have less blown out highlights, as a result of that change the whole scene is much darker - it looks like he is standing in a dim room instead of a room illuminated by natural light. Looking at the bright reflection on the desk near the window, the tamed highlights dim-room look doesnt make as much logical sense honestly. Thus its not an error, but a tradeoff. HDR on the other hand you can make tweaks like that with minimal side effects (other than seeing more of what was behind the highlight, which has created issues for some 4K transfers).affected me, to the point where my first real impact in film scholarship circles was my decades long quest to sort out fact whoever translated the menu choices into English kept the Hebrew in an incorrect (and actually kind of laughable) left The film is perhaps most famous for a scene of Isabelle Adjani suffering a violently-animated miscarriage in a subway, which many continue to take out of context, treating it as humorous instead of horrifying. However, it plays a part in a larger story about the disintegration of two people, not just from each other, but from themselves as well. Amazing cinematography, incredible monster effects by Carlo Rambaldi, and a go-for-the-throat acting and story approach make Possession one of the most amazing pieces of filmmaking ever mounted. Whether you like the film or not, you won’t soon forget it. somewhat unwieldy Shloyme-Zanvl). Dybbuks are malevolent spirits which possess people and they have long been a