I just watched Obsession. That's Brian De Palma's Obsession. De Palma had gained attention with a few thrillers in the preceding years, very much descendants of Hitchcock. This one feels like the first time he had something of a big budget. As a couple of examples, the middle of the film is shot on location in Venice, and he got to work with composer Bernard Herrmann.
The story is a bit of a midpoint between Vertigo and Oldboy, and it doesn't always make sense. Genevieve Bujold is quite lovely, though, and gives an engaging performance once she appears as the second of her two characters. John Lithgow is good too. Oddly enough, he was actually younger than Bujold.
1 comment:
I don't know why I tend to think I don't much like Brian de Palma movies until I look at a list of those I remember having watched and see that a number of them were pretty good: Mission Impossible, The Black Dahlia, Carlito's Way, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Untouchables, Body Double, and Scarface. We've definitely seen all of them, but never Carrie and neither of us can recall having seen Obsession.
I like your comparison of the story seeming like a cross between Vertigo and Oldboy, both films made by directors we admire. It's almost like de Palma had to emulate a director respected by everyone in order to gain confidence in his own ability, or as it happened, to take pleasure in his own weirdness.
I haven't see that many of her movies but I've always admired Genevieve Bujold in the ones I've seen. Her innocent quality is backed by a formidable strength of character.
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