Possession
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Movie Reviews of Possession
Movie Review: Katie, CT
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Gwyneth Paltrow in general, but especially when she blows us away with her perfect English accent. The plot was interesting, with mystery, drama, suspense and of course romance. I totally recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good love story!Movie Review: Breathtaking
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never seen such beauty. This movie took me in and made me feel as if I were there, sharing in all the love and wonder. I have yet to see a love story that has moved me like this one has. It is truely one of the best. I will love it forever.Movie Review: wonderful! wonderful! wonderful!
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie was superb. I was left at the end with tears and a smile. I have not read the book so don't know how it compares to the film, but this story was very moving and the characters were exceptionally brought to life on screen.Movie Review: Captivating movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I just want to say that I agree with most of the reviewers here that it is a brilliant movie with equally brilliant actors. Captivating from beginning to end. Highly recommended.Movie Review: Broken Hearts and Coronets
Summary: 4 Stars
There is something which fascinates me about viewing the long-departed as more than just historical figures, or pictures in an old, dusty photo album, or simply names on a tombstone. Whenever I take a tour of an old historical home, the rooms which give me cause to ponder the most are the bedrooms - not for any sordid reasons, but simply because it is a room to which we can all relate most deeply. You can picture the couples laying awake at night, talking with each other, loving each other, wondering about their future, how the bills would be paid, what they would wear to the park on Saturday, etc. There is a scene in "Possession" where a couple, now long-dead, are together in bed, dealing with their life, their emotions, and their love for one another. It may not last for long, but they enjoy the time together while they can. Then, in present day, another couple stays in the exact same room, and have their own ponderances about life and love.The couple from the past in "Possession" are Randolph Henry Ash, and Christabel LaMotte. Both are distinguished poets, Ash even holding the position of poet laureate for Queen Victoria. He was known as a devoted husband, never straying from his wife. Christabel LaMotte, however, was most certainly not his wife. She was, in fact, a lesbian, living quietly with her companion in an eclectic English house, both enjoying their love of poetry, painting, and each other.
In the present day, literary scholar Roland Michell makes a discovery which could shatter the image of Randolph Ash as having been the perfect husband. Through a quick and winding series of events, Roland engages the cooperation of Maude Bailey, a scholar of Christabel LaMotte's work, to help him in his research. At first, Maude is more than dubious as to the veracity of Roland's claims of Ash and LaMotte's infidelity together, but once the evidence begins to mount, there can be but one obvious conclusion reached.
"Possession" is directed with a steady hand by Neil LaBute. Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle do a fine and sincere job in their roles as Ash and LaMotte, respectively. Gwyneth Paltrow, as Maude Bailey, is good at being British, but comes across somewhat stiff (though her character is written that way). Unfortunately, Aaron Eckhart suffers the misfortune of being an American character which, in the novel the movie is based on, had been English. It may sound superficial, but there were scenes where I thought that some of the romantic dialogue would have benefited greatly from a British accent. That is simply taste, however.
The movie oscillates between the 19th century affair of Ash and LaMotte, and the 21st century investigation (and subsequent bonding) of Roland and Maude. The scenes from the past are much more dramatic and poignant than the present-day occurences. The characters of Ash and LaMotte have much more at stake, and their affair brings with it much baggage. I would liked to have seen more scenes with them, as the movie is slow to unravel their characters, and I found it difficult to, at first, be as involved about their affair as Maude and Roland were. But the movie progresses nicely, and their is much love, angst, drama, and sadness. The ending is touching.
"Possession" is not without its faults, but it is also a very solid movie. The film combines the ease of modern day culture with the properness of a period piece drama. Emotions unleashed in period pieces are, I find, always more interesting, as the people of that time are typically supposed to be more restrained than those inhabiting the present. The characters of Ash and LaMotte are long dead, but we are able to catch a glimpse of their lives, and of their love, and it perhaps touches upon a sad note that such intensity, such emotion, must one day go the way of all things. But for a brief time in the grand scheme of things, they were in love. That is what "Possession" so movingly uncovers.