Введение
Фильм 1976 года Брайана Де Пальмы
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
«Одержимость» – американский нео-нуарный психологический триллер 1976 года режиссёра Брайана Де Пальмы, в главных ролях Клифф Робертсон, Женевьева Бьюолд и Джон Литгоу. Сценарий был написан Полом Шредером по сюжету, разработанному Де Пальмой и Шредером. Бернард Херрманн написал саундтрек к фильму незадолго до своей смерти в 1975 году. В центре сюжета – видный бизнесмен из Нового Орлеана, которого мучает чувство вины после гибели жены и дочери во время неудачной попытки спасения во время похищения. Спустя годы он встречает и влюбляется в молодую женщину, поразительно похожую на его давно умершую жену. Как Де Пальма, так и Шредер называют фильм Альфреда Хичкока «Головокружение» (1958) основным источником вдохновения для повествования и тематических элементов «Одержимости». Сценарий Шредера был значительно переработан и сокращён Де Пальмой перед началом съёмок, что привело к тому, что сценарист заявил о полном отсутствии интереса к дальнейшему производству и выпуску фильма. Завершённый в 1975 году, фильм был приобретён Columbia Pictures для дистрибуции, но потребовал внесения незначительных изменений для смягчения потенциально спорных аспектов сюжета. После выхода в прокат в конце лета 1976 года фильм стал первым крупным кассовым успехом Де Пальмы и получил неоднозначные отзывы критиков.
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
В 1959 году жизнь Майкла Кортленда, застройщика из Нового Орлеана, рушится, когда похищают его молодую жену Элизабет и маленькую дочь Эми. Полиция рекомендует ему передать похитителям портфель с фальшивыми долларами вместо требуемого выкупа, поскольку это увеличит вероятность того, что похитители сдадутся, когда их загонят в угол, а не сбегут с деньгами. Кортленд соглашается на этот план, что приводит к неудачной погоне и впечатляющему взрыву, в котором погибают похитители и жертвы. Кортленд винит себя в гибели своей семьи. Шестнадцать лет спустя, в 1975 году, Кортленд одержим своей покойной женой и часто посещает памятник, воздвигнутый в её память – точную копию церкви (Базилики Сан-Миниато-аль-Монте) во Флоренции, Италия, где они впервые встретились. Его деловой партнёр Роберт ЛаСалл уговаривает Кортленда поехать с ним в командировку во Флоренцию. Там Кортленд посещает церковь и встречает молодую женщину по имени Сандра, которая выглядит как его покойная жена. Кортленд, уже находящийся в нестабильном состоянии, начинает ухаживать за Сандрой и незаметно пытается превратить её в копию Элизабет. Кортленд возвращается в Новый Орлеан с Сандрой, чтобы они поженились. В их брачную ночь Сандру похищают, и похитители оставляют записку, являющуюся копией послания похитителей шестнадцать лет назад. На этот раз Кортленд решает выплатить выкуп, даже если это разорит его, выводя огромные суммы со своих счетов и передавая ЛаСаллу свою долю в бизнесе по недвижимости. Это приводит его к открытию, что ЛаСалл организовал и первоначальное похищение, чтобы контролировать акции Кортленда. Кортленд, почти потерявший рассудок, убивает ЛаСалла. Зная, что Сандра, вероятно, была сообщницей в заговоре, он отправляется в аэропорт, чтобы убить её. Перед посадкой в самолёт в воспоминаниях раскрывается, что Сандра – дочь Кортленда Эми. После первоначального похищения ЛаСалл скрыл выживание Эми и отправил её жить в тайне с итальянской опекуншей, которая воспитала её как свою дочь и назвала Сандрой. На протяжении многих лет ЛаСалл обманывал Сандру относительно Кортленда, убеждая её, что он не выплатил выкуп, потому что не любил её. Сандра, которая полюбила Кортленда, пытается покончить с собой в самолёте и покидает рейс в инвалидном кресле. Кортленд видит её и бросается к ней с пистолетом. Охранник пытается остановить его, но Кортленд оглушает персонал чемоданом, набитым деньгами, рассыпая их содержимое. Сандра, увидев летящие банкноты, встаёт и кричит: «Папа! Ты принёс деньги!» Кортленд наконец-то понимает, кто такая Сандра, и отец с дочерью обнимаются.
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
В ролях:
Клифф Робертсон – Майкл Кортленд
Женевьева Бьюолд – Элизабет Кортленд / Сандра Портинари
Джон Литгоу – Роберт ЛаСалл
Стокер Фонтелиу – доктор Эллман
Стэнли Дж. Рейес – инспектор Бри
Ванда Блэкман – Эми Кортленд
Ник Фрейгер – Фарбер
Дон Худ – Фергусон
Андреа Эстерхази – Д’Аннунцио
Дж. Патрик Макнамара – похититель
Сильвия Куумба Уильямс – горничная
Реджис Кордик – диктор
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Производство
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Де Пальма и Шредер разработали историю с сюжетом, вдохновлённым фильмом Альфреда Хичкока «Головокружение», который оба режиссёра высоко ценили. Оригинальный сценарий Шредера, под названием «Дежавю», был значительно длиннее, чем финальная версия фильма, и включал в себя эпилог, действие которого происходило ещё через десять лет после окончания фильма. Де Пальма посчитал сценарий Шредера нереализуемым из-за его объёма и переписал и сократил концовку после того, как Шредер отказался внести необходимые изменения. По словам Де Пальмы, «Концовка Пола Шредера на самом деле продолжалась ещё одним актом одержимости. Я посчитал, что она слишком сложна и не будет работать, поэтому я её сократил». Бернард Херрманн, композитор фильма, согласился с тем, что оригинальную концовку следует исключить, сказав Де Пальме после прочтения версии Шредера: «Избавься от этого – это никогда не сработает». Шредер в течение многих лет испытывал обиду на переписывание Де Пальмы и утверждал, что потерял всякий интерес к проекту после внесения изменений. Шредер отметил, что «оригинальная трёхчастная история завершается секцией, действие которой происходит в будущем (1985 год). Моей первоначальной идеей в сценарии было написать историю об одержимости, которая выходит за рамки обычных временных ограничений». Де Пальма сказал: «Это очень расстроило Шредера: он думал, что я урезал его шедевр. Он с тех пор изменился». В 2011 году полный трёхчастный сценарий Шредера был выпущен в составе Blu-ray издания Arrow Video. После завершения фильма Бернард Херрманн считал его лучшим фильмом в своей музыкальной карьере. Руководители Columbia Pictures выразили обеспокоенность темой инцеста, особенно тем, что она была изображена в столь романтизированной манере. В результате в ключевую сцену между Робертсоном и Бьюолд были внесены незначительные изменения, в которых в свадебные и послесвадебные сцены были добавлены переходы и визуальные «волны», чтобы предположить, что их брак произошёл только во сне. Пол Хирш, монтажёр фильма, согласился с решением затушевать тему инцеста, отметив: «Я думаю, что было ошибкой втягивать инцест в то, что по сути является романтической тайной, поэтому я предложил Брайану: «Что, если этого никогда не происходило? Что, если вместо того, чтобы они поженились, Майкл только мечтает о женитьбе? У нас есть этот кадр, где Клифф Робертсон спит. Мы можем использовать его и затем перейти к свадебной сцене». И мы так и сделали. Это стало проекцией его желаний, а не фактом». В документальном фильме о Де Пальме режиссёр отметил, что главной неудачей фильма было приглашение Клиффа Робертсона на главную роль. Де Пальма считал, что Робертсон не смог передать страдания персонажа и часто был сложен в работе на съёмочной площадке. Де Пальма был полон похвалы Бьюолд, которая, по его мнению, получила более сложную роль и блестяще с ней справилась, придав фильму необходимый эмоциональный резонанс.
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Приём
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Фильм имел неожиданный финансовый успех. Columbia удерживала фильм почти год, прежде чем отправить его в кинотеатры в конце августа, традиционно в «мёртвый сезон» посещаемости кинотеатров. «Одержимость» получила достаточно положительных отзывов, чтобы вызвать интерес, и принесла дистрибьютору более 4 миллионов долларов в домашнем прокате (США и Канада). Первоначальная критика «Одержимости» была неоднозначной. Роджер Эберт написал: ««Одержимость» Брайана Де Пальмы – это переигранная мелодрама, и это то, что мне нравится в ней больше всего. Мне нравятся не только такие фильмы, как этот; я ими наслаждаюсь. Иногда чрезмерность может быть своей наградой. Если бы «Одержимость» была хоть немного более тонкой, если бы она имела хоть какой-то смысл на каком-нибудь скучном логическом уровне, я…
1976 film by Brian De Palma
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Obsession is a 1976 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Brian De Palma, starring Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, and John Lithgow. The screenplay was written by Paul Schrader, from a story by De Palma and Schrader. Bernard Herrmann provided the film's soundtrack before his death in 1975. The story is about a prominent New Orleans businessman who is haunted by guilt following the death of his wife and daughter during a kidnapping rescue attempt gone wrong. Years later, he meets and falls in love with a young woman who is the exact look alike of his long dead wife. Both De Palma and Schrader have pointed to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) as the major inspiration for Obsessions narrative and thematic concerns. Schrader's script was extensively rewritten and pared down by De Palma before shooting, causing the screenwriter to proclaim a complete lack of interest in the film's subsequent production and release. Completed in 1975, Columbia Pictures picked up the distribution rights but demanded that minor changes be made to reduce potentially controversial aspects of the plot. When finally released in the late summer of 1976, it became De Palma's first substantial box office success and received mixed reviews from critics. Plot
In 1959, Michael Courtland, a New Orleans real estate developer, has his life shattered when his youthful wife Elizabeth and his little daughter Amy are abducted. The police recommend he provide the kidnappers with a briefcase of plain paper cut into dollars instead of the demanded ransom, as the kidnappers will then be more likely to surrender when cornered rather than flee with cash. Courtland accepts this plan, occasioning a bungled car chase and a spectacular explosion in which the kidnappers and victims perish. Courtland blames himself for his family's passing. Sixteen years later, in 1975, Courtland is obsessed with his late wife and often visits a monument he has had built in her memory, a replica of the church (the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte) in Florence, Italy, where the two of them first met. His business partner Robert LaSalle convinces Courtland to tag along on a work trip to Florence. While there, Courtland revisits the church and finds a young woman named Sandra who resembles his late wife. The already slightly unhinged Courtland begins to court Sandra and subtly attempts to transform her into Elizabeth's duplicate. Courtland returns to New Orleans with Sandra so they can marry. On their wedding night, Sandra is kidnapped and a note left by her abductors that is a replica of the kidnappers' message sixteen years ago. This time, Courtland decides to deliver the ransom though it will drive him to ruin, withdrawing massive amounts from his accounts and holdings and signing over his interest in the real estate business to LaSalle. This leads him to the discovery that everything, including the original kidnapping, had been engineered by LaSalle to control Courtland's shares. The now nearly insane Courtland stabs LaSalle to death. Knowing Sandra must have been an accomplice in the plot, he goes to the airport to kill her. Before boarding the plane, it is revealed in a flashback that Sandra is Courtland's daughter Amy. Following the original kidnapping, LaSalle concealed Amy's survival and sent her to dwell in secret with an Italian caretaker who raised her as her own and named her Sandra. Down the years, LaSalle deceived Sandra about Courtland, convincing her Courtland failed to furnish the ransom as he did not love her enough. Sandra, who has come to love Courtland, attempts suicide on the plane and departs the flight in a wheelchair. Courtland sees and runs at her, gun drawn. A security guard attempts to halt him, but Courtland stuns the staff with the money laden briefcase, spilling its contents. Sandra, sighting fluttering bills, stands and shouts: "Daddy! You brought the money!" Courtland apprehends at last Sandra's identity, and father and daughter embrace. Cast
Cliff Robertson as Michael Courtland
Geneviève Bujold as Elizabeth Courtland/Sandra Portinari
John Lithgow as Robert LaSalle
Stocker Fontelieu as Dr. Ellman
Stanley J. Reyes as Inspector Brie
Wanda Blackman as Amy Courtland
Nick Freiger as Farber
Don Hood as Furguson
Andrea Esterhazy as D'Annunzio
J. Patrick McNamara as Kidnapper
Sylvia Kuumba Williams as Maid
Regis Cordic as Newscaster
Production
De Palma and Schrader devised a story with a narrative inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, a film both admired. Schrader's original screenplay, titled Déjà Vu, was reportedly much longer than the final film, with a coda that extended another 10 years beyond where the film now ends. De Palma ultimately found Schrader's screenplay unfilmable due to its length, and rewrote and condensed the finale after Schrader refused to make the requested changes. According to De Palma, "Paul Schrader's ending actually went on for another act of obsession. I felt it was much too complicated, and wouldn't sustain, so I abbreviated it." Bernard Herrmann, the film's composer, agreed that the original ending should be jettisoned, telling De Palma after reading Schrader's version "Get rid of it — that'll never work". Schrader remained resentful of De Palma's rewrite for years and claimed to have lost all interest in the project once the change was made. Schrader indicated that "the original three part story conclude with a section set in the future (1985). My original idea in the script was to write an obsessive love where transcended the normal strictures of time." De Palma said "It made Schrader very unhappy: he thought I'd truncated his masterpiece. He's never been the same since." In 2011, Schrader's full three part script was released as part of the Arrow Video Blu ray. After the film was completed, Bernard Herrmann considered it the finest film in his musical career. Columbia executives expressed unease over the incest theme, especially as it was portrayed in such a heavily romanticized manner. Consequently, a few minor changes were made to a pivotal sequence between Robertson and Bujold, in which dissolves and visual "ripples" were inserted over the wedding and post wedding scenes to suggest that the consummation of their marriage only took place in a dream sequence. Paul Hirsch, the film's editor, agreed with the decision to obscure the incest theme, noting "I thought it was a mistake to drag incest into what was basically a romantic mystery, so I suggested to Brian 'What if it never happened? What if instead of having them get married, Michael only dreams of getting married? We have this shot of Cliff Robertson asleep. We could use that and then cut to the wedding sequence.' And that's what we did. It became a projection of his desires rather than actual fact." In the documentary De Palma, the director indicated that he felt the major flaw of the film was in casting Cliff Robertson. De Palma felt that Robertson couldn't play the anguish of the character, and was frequently difficult on set. De Palma was effusive in his praise of Bujold who he felt had the more difficult role, which she played admirably, giving the film the emotional resonance needed for the project. Reception
The film was an unexpected financial success. Columbia held on to the movie for almost a year before sending it into theaters in late August, traditionally the "dog days" of movie attendance. Obsession had managed to obtain enough positive critical notices to spark interest, and it earned the distributor over $4 million in domestic (U. S. and Canada) rentals. Initial critical reaction to Obsession was mixed. Roger Ebert wrote "Brian De Palma's Obsession is an overwrought melodrama, and that's what I like best about it I don't just like movies like these; I relish them. Sometimes overwrought excess can be its own reward. If Obsession had been even a little more subtle, had made even a little more sense on some boring logical plane, it wouldn't have worked at all." Variety'''s review described it as "an excellent romantic and non violent suspense drama Paul Schrader's script is a complex but comprehensible mix of treachery, torment and selfishness "
In Time, Richard Schickel called the film " exquisite entertainment The film also throws into high melodramatic relief certain recognizable human truths: the shock of sudden loss, the panic of the effort to recoup, the mourning and guilt that blind the protagonist to a multitude of suspicious signs as he seeks expiation and a chance to relive his life. In a sense, the movie offers viewers the opportunity to do the same thing—by going back to a more romantic era of the cinema and the simple, touching pleasures denied the audience by the current antiromantic spirit of the movies." Other reviewers praised the stylish cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond, and Bernard Herrmann's beautiful, highly romantic score was one of the more acclaimed in his distinguished career, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination (the composer died in December 1975, a few hours after completing the score of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver). The National Board of Review named Obsession one of the Top Ten Films of 1976. But several critics complained that the film was all too clearly a mere homage to Vertigo, without being original or interesting enough in itself as a thriller. Pauline Kael, normally one of De Palma's greatest admirers, dismissed the film as "no more than an exercise in style, with the camera whirling around nothingness " Vincent Canby wrote "To be blunt, Obsession is no Vertigo, Hitchcock's witty, sardonic study of obsession that did transcend its material, which wasn't all that bad to start with. The Schrader screenplay is most effective when it's most romantic, and transparent when it attempts to be mysterious The plot is such that you'll probably have figured out the mystery very early." Decades later, Obsessions reputation improved considerably. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film as having a 73% favorability rating, based on the critiques of a sampling of 26 reviewers. The site's consensus reads: "Obsession'' suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint".
Саундтрек
Саундтрек к фильму в формате CD, написанный и дирижированный Бернардом Херрманном, доступен на лейбле Music Box Records. Первый диск содержит "Музыку к фильму", а второй – "Оригинальный альбом саундтрека 1976 года". Полный саундтрек к фильму был записан оркестром и хором города Праги под управлением Ника Рейна (Tadlow 2015). В комплект также входит Blu-ray CD диск с записью сессии.
The CD soundtrack composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann is available on Music Box Records label. Disc one presents "The Film Score" and disc two, "The Original 1976 Soundtrack Album". "complete film score" was recorded by the City of Prague Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Nic Raine (Tadlow 2015). It includes a second disc Blu ray CD recording of the session.