The Insatiables

 Shot in 1981 in divided Berlin, Possession not only makes a conspicuous use of the fateful wall in its opening shots, but is actually all about division, parting ways, and cutting lives in half. As if to mirror the city’s torn geography, the central couple (played by Adjani and the harrowing Sam Neill) breaks up in the very first scene. What starts as a civil separation quickly turns into a series of shouting matches, acts of violence, self-mutilation, and…to say anything more would mean to betray the film’s reliance on elements of shock and surprise.

Adjani’s fearless, utterly physical performance earned her an acting award at Cannes, and her uninhibited subway-passage fit is one of the all-time marvels of cine-shamanism. By Żuławski’s own admission, the film was inspired by his real-life breakup with the star of his first two movies, Małgorzata Braunek, and is about the nature of evil and communism, which—in the world of Possession—means the same thing. 

via: The House Next Door