UK Blu-Ray Review: Brian De Palma’s ‘Obsession’

Obsession (1976)
Distributor: Arrow Video
Blu-Ray release date: 11th July 2011
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Cliff Robertson, John Lithgow, Geneviève Bujold
Review by: Stephanie Scaife

Yet again we are treated to another fine Blu-Ray release from the ever expanding Arrow Video label. This time it is the turn of Brian De Palma’s Obsession, a lesser known film that sits comfortably within De Palma’s varied oeuvre, which ranges from the highs of Scarface to the lows of Mission to Mars. Ostensibly a reworking of Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Obsession is an overly melodramatic psycho-thriller that remains highly enjoyable and even a little surprising as it twists and turns to its completely bonkers conclusion.

The film starts in 1959 at the 10-year wedding anniversary of blissfully happy couple; Michael (Cliff Robertson) and Elizabeth Courtland (Geneviève Bujold). Disaster strikes however and on that same night Michael’s wife and young daughter are kidnapped and held to ransom for $500,000. A botched scheme cooked up by the police to foil the criminals ends in a car wreck and the bodies of Elizabeth and her daughter are never found. Fast-forward fifteen years and Michael is still blaming himself for accident and regularly visits the elaborate monument he has constructed in the honour of his beloved wife and daughter, endlessly obsessing over the events that happened all those years before. Michael’s long time business partner Robert LaSalle (John Lithgow, who gives a fine performance) convinces him to tag along on a trip to Florence, where he had originally met Elizabeth, hoping that by revisiting the city Michael may finally be able to find some peace and let sleeping dogs lie. Once in Italy Michael takes a trip to visit the church where he first laid eyes on Elizabeth and is shocked to encounter an restoration artist named Sandra (Geneviève Bujold, again) who is the spitting image his late wife. After a whirlwind romance the pair return to America intent on getting married, much to the dismay of Michael’s friends who think, unsurprisingly, that what he is doing is decidedly creepy.

Of course nothing is as it seems in this film and with one unexpected twist after another we are led to a scandalous finale, that admittedly I didn’t entirely see coming despite it being fairly derivative. So credit is due to De Palma who manages to keep the audience guessing all the way to the end. To give you an idea of what to expect try imagining if Dynasty and Don’t Look Now had a love child that grew up to be a massive Hitchcock fan – that’s pretty much Obsession.

Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) but apparently toned down considerably by De Palma and the studio to remove the more controversial and salacious aspects of the story, interestingly Schrader’s original script is included as one of the bonus features on the disc, and if anything even with Schrader’s script subdued, Obsession remains a wholly ridiculous and hysterical film. Also contributing to the almost constant sense of frenzy is the score, composed by Bernard Herrmann, which although very good is about as subtle as a slap in the face. However, the excesses only aided in my enjoyment of this film, albeit it as a guilty pleasure.

Special features on the Blu-Ray include a brand new High Definition transfer of the film, reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork, a two sided fold out poster, an exclusive collector s booklet featuring an essay on the film by critic and author Brad Stevens, an interesting doc “Obsession Revisited” which includes interviews with director Brian De Palma, stars Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold, early Brian De Palma short films Woton’s Wake (1962) and The Responsive Eye (1966) and more.