“Obsession” An anti-moral love story where all sorts of obsessions intertwine *Note! Contains spoilers.

*This article touches on the ending of the story, so we recommend watching the movie before reading it.

“Obsession” synopsis

Michael (Cliff Robertson), a successful businessman, loses his wife Elizabeth (Genevieve Bujold) and daughter Amy in a kidnapping on the night of their 10th wedding anniversary. Over ten years later, Michael visits Florence for work and meets Sandra (Geneviève Bujold), a woman who is the exact image of his late wife. The two fall in love and get engaged, but the hideous kidnapping incident is repeated again.

Index

• A love story that transcends time and space
• anti-moral theme
• Bernard Herrmann's “Obsession”

A love story that transcends time and space

``Memories of Obsession '' (1976) was quietly released between the masterpieces ``Phantom of Paradise '' (1974) and `` Carrie '' (1976). Although it is a little overlooked film in Brian De Palma's filmography, I consider it an extremely important film. This is because the film is deeply influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, whom De Palma admires. The original title of `` Obsession'' is ``Obsession,'' and it is nothing but De Palma's obsession with Hitchcock.

And this story completely references Hitchcock's masterpiece Vertigo (58). The main character, Scotty (James Stewart), who has just quit his job as a detective, falls in love with Madeline (Kim Novak), who is asked to do a background check, but a fall causes her to die. The rough synopsis of `` Vertigo '' is that Scotty is in despair, and a woman named Judy (Kim Novak), who looks just like his girlfriend, appears...

On the other hand, ``Obsession'' is like this. Michael (Cliff Robertson), a successful businessman, loses his wife Elizabeth (Genevieve Bujold) and daughter Amy in a kidnapping on the night of their 10th wedding anniversary. Over ten years later, Michael visits Florence for work and meets Sandra (Geneviève Bujold), a woman who is the exact image of his late wife. The two fall in love and get engaged, but the hideous kidnapping incident is repeated again.

“Obsession” preview

The idea for ``Obsession'' was born in a conversation between Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader. Paul Schrader originally worked as a film critic, but made his debut as a screenwriter with Sidney Pollack's ` `The Yakuza '' (1974). After that, he worked on a series of popular works, including Martin Scorsese's `` Taxi Driver '' (1976) and `` American Gigolo '' (1980), which he also directed, and was regarded as one of the cutting-edge creators. He recalled those days in an interview:

"We were sitting and talking, talking about Yasujiro Ozu's `` Autumn Weather '' and [Alfred Hitchcock's] `` Vertigo ,'' and developing ideas for the film. The idea was that if you could cross the boundaries of time without surprising the audience, you could create a very strong love story that would allow the audience to travel into the future. It should be something strong like that.'' (*)

“A love story that transcends time and space.” Yes, this movie is not only a mystery movie, but also a love movie with a strong twist.

anti-moral theme