Possession

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Luke W Oct 24, 2018 Possession is a 2002 British-American romantic mystery drama film written and directed by Neil LaBute. I enjoyed this film, and the settings are very good. Although Eckhart may not b quite up to the role, there was enough here to keep me interested throughout See more

Abraham S Jun 9, 2018 A perfect example of how Hollywood destroys a masterpiece of a novel with a mediocre and totally Americanized adaptation. Once I thought that only the legacy of Japanese manga has been annihilated in the West by Hollywood, it turns out that even winners of the prestigious Booker Prize could not escape that fate. I can't believe that the director, the script writers, and the producers, most of them are American, none is English, had the gut to totally rewrite the whole wonderful plot of the original novel, to even replace a fine English character of modern English literature with an American guy of mediocre characteristics and typically American bravado, and of course to give the two leading roles of this film to two American actors, who are also fine thespians but had to unfortunately go along with the subpart script (including Gwyneth Paltrow, who had to play a character of the finest Englishness and understandably failed to deliver aside from the faked accent and remarkably similar appearance). I do not know how A. S. Byatt must felt while watching this film, I hope that she did not care or got enough money from selling the copyright of her most cherished book to care, as the elegant contents and characters of her marvelous book were unmercifully butchered by an American team who only cared about "selling" this adaptation to the general American audience (they did not buy it either, as the film bombed at the box office) by retaining very few important plot points, introducing several unnecessary and cheesy "melo" elements, and even misinterpreting the focal points and the sense of beauty of the original novel. For ones who have not read the book, this film might be passable with the beautiful scores by Gabriel Yared (his music really evokes a sense of melancholy from the audience about a time that has just passed), or the nice surprise of Jennifer Ehle, whom everyone knows as the "true" Elizabeth Bennet from "Pride and Prejudice" (if only Paltrow could learn a thing or two from Ehle...), and even Lena Headey, who would be much later known for her role in "Game of Thrones". But for ones who already fell in love with the book before embarking on this adaptation, watching this film must be an excruciating experience. Personally, I just feel bad for those who watch this film before reading the book, as they have to endure a horrible adaptation that lacks any beauty of the book, while being spoiled the major plot points of the book, which A. S. Byatt had meticulously constructed throughout the novel in order to delight, and amaze her readers. Such a waste of original materials! See more

Luke R Oct 21, 2017 It was solidly ok. I feel like they may have left a few key scenes on the editing floor since it seems to make a few decently large leaps in logic for finding the next clue to the story. Good moments, but a little odd overall. See more

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Possession

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