POSSESSION Neil La Bute 2002 **** This story is based on a 1990 novel by A S Byatt of the same name concerning 2 fictional 19C poets who are being researched by a number of contemporary literati and academics, in particular Aaron Eckhardt as a young American research graduate, and Gwyneth Paltrow as an English provincial university lecturer, These two eventually meet in the course of investigating diaries, letter, etc. of the 2 19C poets and lovers. La Bute very nicely merges time present with time past. The whole thing is convincingly done with accurate locations; shots such as Lincoln, the British Museum, the London Library. The whole thing is handled delicately and with great taste. I particularly like that though this is a romance albeit about literati or academics, the course of true love just does not sit comfortably with any of them, because their focus and values are not solely only getting their ends away, or having their egos massaged and producing lots of dopamine. They have goals. intellectual goals. My only reservation in the film is Paltrow as an academic. She looks too young, is too pretty and anyway, my own personal jury is still out as to her acting skills. All she ever seems to play is G Paltrow. Aaron Eckhardt is perfect though, and wholly convincing as a slightly out-of-kilter American Academic. He is very compelling playing someone who is very male yet also very attractive. The cast abounds with a bevy of fine English actors, Trevor Reeve, Tom Hollander Toby Stephens et al.Read full review
A great movie that I had never heard of before. The two main characters follow a 19th century authors trail of love letters between him and his mistress. Some great locations filmed in England too!
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Good I never seen watched
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Great movie! A must-seen!
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Entertaining but nowhere near as good (and very different from) the Booker prize novel on which it was very loosely based.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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