Obsession

1976 "A bizarre story of love."
6.7| 1h39m| PG| en
Details

A wealthy New Orleans businessman becomes obsessed with a young woman who resembles his late wife.

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Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing
Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
lasttimeisaw Overshadowed by De Palma's own cult-classic CARRIE (1976) in the same year, OBSESSION ostensibly is De Palma's homage to Hitchcock's VERTIGO (1958) about a man, who is obsessed with a woman who is (presumably) dead, is given a second chance from her doppelgänger with a sinister scheme lurking behind. Although De Palma's execution lacks the professional attentiveness to the details, e.g. the obtrusive anachronism of the opening scenes supposed happening in the 1950s, thanks to Schrader's uncanny screenplay; the atmospheric craftsmanship of D.P. Vilmos Zsigmond (1930-2016), the master-hand who has just left us in the 1st January; and Bernard Herrmann's (the original composer of VERTIGO) Oscar-nominated solemn score, which is grandiosely awe-inspiring right from the ominous opening credits, OBSESSION is undeservedly being categorised as a shoddy pastiche, and deserves a better recognition for its own sake.Even in the fantastic cinema realm, the encounter with a woman who looks very much alike his dead wife, 16 years after her unfortunate death, at the exact locale, is too much a stretch to pull it off as a pure coincidence, but American real estate businessman Michael Courtland (Robertson) believes firmly. The story starts in the late 1950s, on the night of their 10th wedding anniversary, Michael's wife Elizabeth (Bujold) and their daughter Amy (Blackman) are kidnapped, and choosing to follow the police department's advice, Michael uses blank notes instead of real money as the ransom, the plan backfires with all the kidnappers and hostages dead due to a dead collision and explosion. 16 years has passed, Michael has to live through the consequences and has been deeply mired in self-accusation and remorse, during a business trip to Florence with his business partner Robert (Lithgow), miraculously he meets a young Italian girl Sandra Portinari (Bujold) who looks exactly like Elizabeth, and is doing some preliminary work to the restoration of a fresco of Madonna and Child in the church where he and Elizabeth met for the first time. Their very first conversation is about art restoration, and betrays Michael's preference of refurbishing the beautiful facade to digging up the truth beneath. Mutual attractions kindle, Michael's backstory is frankly accepted by Sandra, and a speedy marriage is under the way. Michael is believed to given a second chance from Elizabeth, to redeem the haunting guilt, until Sandra is kidnapped by the same fashion, this time, can he right the wrong or is there some bigger scheme involved?There is a simple and plausible explanation of the resemblance between Elizabeth and Sandra, but one wonders whether the story will advance into an incestuous scandal (considering American audience's priggish taste), and it turns out De Palma and Schrader are actually carrying this take- no-prisoners approach until the finale, where De Palma's suspenseful style reaches its trance-like apex, all is drawn to a split-second decision whether it will end as a gut-punching shocker or a less disturbing but also less convincing reconciliation. Even though it opts for the safer option in the eleventh hour, the film is still an effective thriller to say the least, leaving audience to wait for the axe to fall until the very end.Performance-wise, Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson's turn as a guilt-ridden husband hopelessly having recourse to a second chance to do the right thing is too broad and sometimes even a bit wooden apart from the glistening light in his eyes when he meets Sandra, surely is less compelling than his co-star Bujold, whose baby-face brings out a great effect in the key moments with De Palma's sleight-of-hand where the truth is replayed from her troubled mind, and one important factor that we can buy this tall-tale is her deceitful callowness; whereas Lithgow, offers his best annoying mannerism in spite of showing almost no ageing during a 16-year gap apart from a convenient moustache. On a whole, OBSESSION is singularly enjoyable, not as excellent as VERTIGO, but not a forgettable dud either.
djangozelf-12351 This had one of the baddest plots ever and you could see it coming from miles of. At a certain point about 40 minutes in you all ready know what the conclusion will be because it all obvious points to that. There is simply no set up for anything else so the story basically unfolds without any surprises and a very predictable ending.The characters make illogical decisions and there is a real lack of chemistry between them and some explanations are ludicrous like the nine year old girl that seems to forget her former life because its convenient to the script.Movie has a lot of these examples and most of the time just drags one for that "shocking moment" at the end which it does not deliver because you all ready know that.A later movie from De Palma "raising Cain" which has some of the same subject matter is a far better movie than this both visually and plot wise so your better of watching that.This was compared to Hitchcock but while his movies will stand the test of time this one from De Palma shows he still had a lot to learn about story telling.He got it eventually but he can write this one of as a fail.
Spikeopath Obsession is directed by Brian De Palma and written by Paul Schrader. It stars Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold and John Lithgow. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Vismos Zsigmond.You either love him or hate him, it seems. Brian De Palma that is. He's an amazing stylist who made some piercingly great thrillers in the tradition of Maestro Hitchcock, or he's a knock off artist using style to hide his inadequacies as a story teller? One thing for sure, for a good portion of the 70s and 80s his films would not be ignored, for better or worse depending on your own proclivities of course.Obsession, as has been noted numerous times, is De Palma's homage to Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo. It's not a straight out copy as some reviewers have somehow managed to convince themselves, but narrative drive is similar. Robertson in grief for a passed on wife (Bujold) and daughter meets a doppelganger (also Bujold) of his dead wife 16 years down the line and becomes obsessed with her. As the new woman reciprocates the attraction, the relationship becomes wrought and borderline unhealthy, reaching a crescendo when muddy waters are stirred and revelations force the can to open and worms to spill everywhere.When remembering that for a long time Vertigo was out of circulation in the 70s, Obsession was sure as hell a good second option for anyone hankering for a superbly stylish thriller boiling over with psychological smarts. Even if you buy into the style over substance argument, what style there is here though. Roving camera work, up tilts, haze surrounds, canted frames, pan arounds, dream shimmers and personalised focus. Add in the splendid use of New Orleans and Tuscany locations and Herrmann's sensually dangerous score (lifted in part and re-worked from Vertigo) and it has style to burn. While the big reveals at pic's culmination are in turn intriguing and daring; even if the original ending planned would have really put the cat among the pigeons and made for a more potent piece ripe for heated discussion.Lead cast are on fine form, Robertson plays it superbly as a wistful and damaged wastrel, guilt and obsession seeping from every pore. Bujold is just darling, a telling twin performance that actually doesn't demand to be noticed until late in the play. While Lithgow stomps around the edges of the frame like some shyster lawyer whose tie is on too tight. Ultimately Obsession is a film crafted in the mode of Hitchcock, but not in anyway disgracefully so. This is no illegitimate relation to Vertigo, it's more like a reliable brother-in-law. Pulpy, Trashy but also Classy. Great. 8/10
Paul Andrews Obsession starts in New Orleans in 1959 as businessman Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson) & his wife Elizabeth (Geneviève Bujold) celebrate their wedding anniversary, after all the guests have gone home Elizabeth & their young daughter Amy are kidnapped & a ransom note is left. Michael calls the police but the kidnappers get away & in a pursuit crashes & explodes killing everyone inside, devastated Michael blames himself for calling the police. Fifteen years later while on holiday in Italy Michael decides to visit the Church where he first met Elizabeth & is startled to see a young artist named Sandra Portinari (Geneviève Bujold) who is the spitting image of Elizabeth, he becomes obsessed with Sandra & becomes convinced she is Elizabeth. After a brief romance Michael proposes & she agrees, traveling back to New Orleans & marrying Sandra is also kidnapped & a ransom note is left just like fifteen years ago...Directed by Brian De Palma he & screenwriter Paul Schrader apparently decided to make the film after watching Alfred Hitchcock's classic Vertigo (1958), originally titled Déjà Vu this is a rather far fetched thriller that is watchable as long as you don't think about the plot too hard. Split up into three sections the script tries to be clever but the twist's don't quite add up, Obsession starts off as a straight kidnap thriller & then turns into a fantasy romance & finishes with various twist's that are alright but a silly & never come across as well thought out. The main plot by the villain to get their hands on Michael's share of the business is rather complicated & relies on a lot of coincidence & things they could never predict to happen perfectly (Michael's reaction to Sandra in particular), wouldn't it have been easier to just kill him? Why admit everything to Michael? Why give him the briefcase full of money back? That sort of ruins a very complex plan that probably took a lot of time & effort to execute, doesn't it? At just over 90 minutes Obsession has a slow going middle third as Michael & Sandra fall in love & marry & the final twist isn't really worth waiting for to be honest. The character's are a bit dumb too, the cops who mess up the original kidnapping & Michael who must be really gullible to fall for Sandra particularly the way she just instantly falls for him too. Also, the final twist led me to consider the possibility of incest here, surely Michael & Sandra would have had sex during their swift romance? Think about it.Well made as you would expect from De Palma the soft focus watercolour photography is quite nice although that last shot where the camera spins round for what seems like an eternity made me feel a bit dizzy. No violence or nudity to speak of Obsession is tame as far as 70's thrillers go. The locations are nice enough & it's polished but not particularly memorable.With a supposed budget of about $1,400,000 this was filmed in New Orleans & in Florence in Italy. The acting is alright, John Lithgow has a very silly accent throughout while Robertson is workmanlike, Bujold is OK & looks quite nice in a dual role that's basically the same person.Obsession is meant to be a twist filled thriller, the slow middle section doesn't help neither do some poorly thought out twist's, decision making & motivations. Could have been worse but it could have been better, both De Palma & Schrader have done much better things than Obsession.