Paramount to remake film that ruined a star

Shortly after Paramount Global was acquired by the international consortium Skydance, the legendary Hollywood studio, which for 40 years has passed through so many hands that it has put its identity at risk, and which is sustained in particular thanks to its incomparable historical archive (which spans from “Sunset Boulevard/The twilight of a life” and “The Godfather” until “Titanic), its CEO Brian Robbins continues ahead with one of its most striking projects: the remake of an obscure 1981 European film, “Possession”, which cost the fame – and almost the career – of a star of the time, Isabelle Adjani.

Released that same year in Argentina as “A woman possessed”the film by the now semi-forgotten and now deceased Polish director Andrzej Zulawski suffered Almost 20 minutes of cuts due to censorship by the Rating Agency of the military dictatorship. Although the public of that time was resigned to such outrages, the cuts to an already complicated and even twisted film turned it into a difficult enigma to decipher. Of course, it was a total failure.

However, In countries where it could be seen uncut, it did not fare any better with critics or the public.. Today, both Robbins as the director who will do it again, Parker Finn (the same as “Smile”), refer to it as a “cult film”, concept that has been used so much that it no longer means anything. Because what is a “cult film” in the years of streaming and the virtual extinction of art cinemas? If anything, it could be one. “Waiting for the carriage”which has up to a fan club who regularly go to perform their secular worship rites in front of the house where it was filmed, but “Possession” a cult film? Whose?

Leaving the cliché aside, Maybe the film was shot at the wrong time with the wrong cast.. Let’s look at the story: filmed in West Berlin, of course before the fall of the Wall, it is about a marital drama with fantastic, almost horror-like overtones. The crisis of the marriage composed of Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani It is externalized, graphically, with the presence of a third party, but that third party is not the one the reader can imagine: it is a kind of slimy and disgusting monster (it was designed by Carlo Rambaldithe same specialist who had made Alien), which comes out from inside her not only at the most uncomfortable moments, in the corridor of a subway station, for example, but also ends up sharing their bed. A trio rarely seen.

The film surprised some of the fans of Zulawski (who had released interesting titles such as “The third part of the night” or “The important thing is to love”with Klaus Kinski), but it left the millions of fans of the beautiful actress speechless. In the worst sense, of course. She has never made a successful or appreciated film since then, except perhaps for “Camille Claudel” next to Gerard Depardieu. In the 90s, together with Sharon Stoneco-starred in an embarrassing remake of “The diabolical ones”Not long ago, she was seen as a guest star in one of the episodes of the French miniseries “Ten percent”which Netflix programmed. The years had passed, of course.

Let us remember that Adjani She had been one of the most dazzling faces on the French screen, and on the European screen in general, in the mid-70s, a beauty to which she added her magnificent qualities as an actress. After her appearance in “The slap”next to Yves Montand, starred in —among his most resonant titles— “The story of Adela H.”of François Truffautin which she played the daughter of Victor Hugo; “The Brontë Sisters”of André TechinéWith Isabelle Huppert and Marie France Pisierin which he took on the role of Emilythe author of “Wuthering Heights”and “Nosferatu”, of Werner Herzogalso with Kinski and Bruno Ganza passionately romantic film rather than a horror film. The complete opposite of “Possession”.

The film of Zulawskias stated before, may have come at a bad time. In the early 80s, the horror genre, and gore (because there were several scenes of that nature in this film) did not enjoy the prestige that it later acquired among young people (and the succulent commercial profit for the producers).; it was still a marginal genre, to which, very little by little, films by directors like John Carpenter (“Halloween”), either Brian de Palma (“Carrie”) began to be removed from the lazaretto of movie theaters of dubious prestige.

But beyond that, the film suffered from a central flaw, which perhaps the new version, in addition to the different times in which it will arrive, will dissolve: had the ability to satisfy almost no oneHorror fans turned it down because it was too serious, dramatic and psychologically pretentious to appeal to them; marital drama fans couldn’t believe their eyes, and finally, for Adjani fans it was a stab in the back of their necks. This is not how you treat a star on screen.

In the next version Finn will write the script, direct and produce. In this last aspect he will be accompanied by the company Robert Pattinson Icki Eneo Arlo. He was mentioned several times as the protagonist, in the role he played in the first version Sam Neillbut that was not confirmed. The first news that this project would be launched dates back a month ago, which sparked a bidding war. Warner Bros and Sony were among the bidders, but it ended up in the hands of Paramount.