Obsession

Summary

“She looked very much like you.”

Brian DePalma is one of my favorite filmmakers. I have seen the vast majority of his films, but there are still a few films from the director that I have not yet gotten around to viewing. Such was the case with his 1976 film Obsession. It had been on a list of films I planned to watch for years, and since I had purchased Shout! Factory’s Collector’s Edition release of the title, last night I decided to finally view it. One reason why I was curious to see the film was the chance to see the only onscreen collaboration between screenwriter (and notable filmmaker) Paul Schrader and Brian De Palma. They are two of my favorite filmmakers, so my interest was piqued. They co-wrote the film’s story together, with Schrader penning the screenplay. The film was released in 1976 – the same year that Taxi Driver and Carrie were released. While Obsession is not quite the equal of those two iconic films, it is still an interesting thriller with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. The artistic marks of both filmmakers shine through in the film. 

New Orleans, 1959 – land developer Robert (John Lithgow) toasts Michael and Elisabeth Courtland. Michael (Cliff Robertson) and Elisabeth are celebrating their tenth anniversary. Michael is working on a real estate development called Pontchartrain Estates alongside his partner Robert. Michael and Elisabeth’s daughter comes downstairs to the party to dance with her daddy. After the party, as the family begins to go to bed, their daughter cries out from her room. Elisabeth investigates the noise and finds two men with guns holding her hostage. A ransom note is left behind demanding $500,000 in cash for the return of both the wife and daughter. Michael is meant to take the money out in cash, take a boat, and toss the briefcase with the funds from the boat to a designated area. From there it will be picked up by the kidnappers. Michael will need to take out his portion of cash from the project, to the dismay of Robert. Robert promises to continue the Ponchartrain project as if Michael was still leading the project. If Michael can retrieve his funds within a week, he can exercise his option. Michael meets with the police. They set him up with a radio transmitter in order to hopefully track the criminals down after handing off the briefcase. Michael boards the boat and throws the briefcase out according to the plan. The briefcase is picked up. The case is brought back to the hideout of the kidnappers, but the ambush of the kidnappers is bungled. When they open the case they find empty bills and the radio transmitter. The kidnappers take off in a car in hot pursuit. They meet a fiery end before the car flies off a bridge. Years later, a business trip takes Michael and Robert to Florence, Italy. At the business meeting, Robert mentions that Michael and him own fifteen acres of the best real estate in New Orleans, but the only thing developed on it is a tomb. Michael excuses himself. The next day, Michael revisits the church where he first met Elisabeth, which happens to be the basis of the tomb he created for his wife and child. In the church, he sees a woman that looks strikingly similar to Elisabeth. One night he follows the girl back to her home without her noticing him. He decides to stay behind a few days instead of returning to the states. The plot develops from there, as Michael pursues the mysterious Sandra (Genevieve Bujold.)

Like many of De Palma’s films, Obsession is an overt ode to Hitchcock in every way, but the film is also very much infused with Paul Schrader’s own ideas. It’s essentially their take on Hitchcock’s Vertigo. The script from the film is melancholy and never fails to be interesting. The finale of the picture is really something else thanks to an incredibly unusual flashback device. I also appreciated the settings of the film which takes place in both Florence and New Orleans. I lived in Florence briefly in college so it was nice to see it again. One of the things I love about Florence is that – architecturally- the city has been essentially the same for hundreds of years. This film was made 25 years before I arrived in Florence, yet the city still looked unchanged to my eyes. The Ponte Vecchio had not changed at all in the interim. 

The film was shot by legendary cinematographer Vilma’s Zsigmond. He lensed the film in an intentionally dreamlike haze. De Palma’s shots are all well thought out, even though his more virtuosic setpieces would appear in future films. The acting by the three leads in the film is for the most part excellent. Genevieve Bujold is most impressive given the amount of parts she plays in the film, but both Cliff Robertson and John Lithgow are up to the task as well. The score by Bernard Herrmann is wonderful. It was his final original score and not a bad one to end a career on. Herrmann was an incredible talent.

Overall – I’m glad I finally got around to watching Obsession. It’s a melancholy and mysterious film with some disturbing notions that the viewer is left to untangle. De Palma and Schrader fans will definitely enjoy seeing the two filmmakers’ sole collaboration.

Video

Shout!Factory have provided a transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec from a a 2K scan performed by Arrow in 2011. The video transfer looks good, but it does not reach the level of greatness. I feel confident that a 4K remaster of this film would probably look incredible, because there is some room to improve. The film’s cinematography by Vilmos Szigmond is intentionally hazy, so the image has a softer look. Fans of the picture will enjoy seeing the film in high definition.

Audio

Shout! Factory have provided a pretty solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround track. The music by Bernard Herrmann sounds fantastic, but the dialogue is occasionally slightly muffled. I can’t imagine any fan being disappointed with this track overall.

Supplements:

Audio Commentary with Author Douglas Keesey

Producing Obsession – An Interview with Producer George Litto

Editing Obsession – An Interview with Editor Paul Hirsch

Obsession Revisited

Theatrical Trailer

Radio Spots

Still Gallery

Overall Score:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4/5

Obsession is a unique and disturbing homage to Hitchcock’s Vertigo from iconic filmmakers Paul Schrader and Brian De Palma. The film is not quite on the level of some of their other masterpieces, but it is really interesting to see the ways in which De Palma and Schrader’s unique sensibilities come together in the film. All three of the lead performances in the film are excellent, and the picture has some memorable twists and turns, including a very memorable finale sequence. Fans of De Palma will definitely want to check the film out. The Collector’s Edition by Shout!Factory relies on a 2K scan performed by Arrow in 2011. While it definitely looks nice, I would love to see what the film looks like in 4K someday. Fans of the film will appreciate the upgrade from their old DVD copies to this version, but fans that own the UK region locked Arrow Video Blu-ray will only need to purchase the Shout! Version if they want to see the new supplements. I was not disappointed at all with my purchase of the film and am happy to have it in my collection.