Brian De Palma is not one of my favorite directors. At least not in a long shot. But, his films are very good, if not, great or good. Frequently, most of his movies are focus on some of the concepts that were conceived from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. In the film Obsession, De Palma takes on Hitchcock once again after making his third feature film, Sisters, which was released three years ago.
In 1959, Michael Courtland, (Cliff Robertson), an wealthy New Orleans businessman, is celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary with his beautiful wife, Elizabeth, (Genevieve Bujold). But, as the night ends, his life is about to turn upside down. Kidnappers have took his wife and his daughter, Amy. The kidnappers demanded Michael to pay the ransom. He does come up with the money. But, the kidnapping ends in tragedy when his wife and daughter are killed in a car explosion.
Fast forward to 1975. Courtland and his business partner, (John Lithgow), travel to Florence to look at a job. Courtland is still grieving about the loss of his dead wife and daughter. At Florence, he visits the same church that he and Elizabeth got married. Inside the church, he finds out that the person working inside the church is his dead wife! But, how did she survived the explosion in 1959?
A lot of critics complained that Obsession is a complete rip off of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo. But, there's a catch. Rip offs are done in a poor taste to be failure. Obsession is not a rip off of Hitchcock's Vertigo. But certainly, Brian De Palma does know how to shoot a well made mystery thriller. This is a man who loves movie-making. And like his other movies such as Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, he knows how to shoot certain scenes that build suspense or create tension between characters. Characters that we are interested in watching.
The movie isn't a great one, but it is worth seeing if you are a fan of De Palma or fans of Hitchcockian thrillers. Cliff Robertson does a good job of playing the grief stricken Michael as well as a man infatuated by his wife. There even several good scenes where Michael seems to follow his wife around Florence. What makes those scenes work and maybe the entire movie work is that the music score by Bernard Herrmann is very appropriate to empathizes the sorrow and mystery of Michael's obsession. He is a man of certainty and will follow his mind and especially his heart by solving this complicated mystery that ends in a unexpected manner. I won't reveal to you how it all ends. See it for yourself.
Another person who should receive credit and someone who I really think stole the movie from Robertson and Lithgow is Genevieve Bujold. I really like her in this movie as Robertson's wife. She is not like any other movie actress I saw. Her character is played as a smart and intelligent woman who uses her wit and her charm to move the movie's story along. She also have a way of bringing the movie to life and propelling us into this mystery.
This is a good stylish thriller that does have some double crosses and twists. De Palma uses his style of filmmaking to make the movie works on a technical level. On a storytelling level, it does have little plot holes. But, De Palma is able to deliver a strong thriller that does works so beautifully and mysteriously. ★★★ 3 stars.
In 1959, Michael Courtland, (Cliff Robertson), an wealthy New Orleans businessman, is celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary with his beautiful wife, Elizabeth, (Genevieve Bujold). But, as the night ends, his life is about to turn upside down. Kidnappers have took his wife and his daughter, Amy. The kidnappers demanded Michael to pay the ransom. He does come up with the money. But, the kidnapping ends in tragedy when his wife and daughter are killed in a car explosion.
Fast forward to 1975. Courtland and his business partner, (John Lithgow), travel to Florence to look at a job. Courtland is still grieving about the loss of his dead wife and daughter. At Florence, he visits the same church that he and Elizabeth got married. Inside the church, he finds out that the person working inside the church is his dead wife! But, how did she survived the explosion in 1959?
A lot of critics complained that Obsession is a complete rip off of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo. But, there's a catch. Rip offs are done in a poor taste to be failure. Obsession is not a rip off of Hitchcock's Vertigo. But certainly, Brian De Palma does know how to shoot a well made mystery thriller. This is a man who loves movie-making. And like his other movies such as Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, he knows how to shoot certain scenes that build suspense or create tension between characters. Characters that we are interested in watching.
The movie isn't a great one, but it is worth seeing if you are a fan of De Palma or fans of Hitchcockian thrillers. Cliff Robertson does a good job of playing the grief stricken Michael as well as a man infatuated by his wife. There even several good scenes where Michael seems to follow his wife around Florence. What makes those scenes work and maybe the entire movie work is that the music score by Bernard Herrmann is very appropriate to empathizes the sorrow and mystery of Michael's obsession. He is a man of certainty and will follow his mind and especially his heart by solving this complicated mystery that ends in a unexpected manner. I won't reveal to you how it all ends. See it for yourself.
Another person who should receive credit and someone who I really think stole the movie from Robertson and Lithgow is Genevieve Bujold. I really like her in this movie as Robertson's wife. She is not like any other movie actress I saw. Her character is played as a smart and intelligent woman who uses her wit and her charm to move the movie's story along. She also have a way of bringing the movie to life and propelling us into this mystery.
This is a good stylish thriller that does have some double crosses and twists. De Palma uses his style of filmmaking to make the movie works on a technical level. On a storytelling level, it does have little plot holes. But, De Palma is able to deliver a strong thriller that does works so beautifully and mysteriously. ★★★ 3 stars.