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Obsession
1976
In one of director Brian DePalma's many cinematic tributes to Alfred Hitchcock (this one borrows from VERTIGO and employs Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, composer Bernard Herrmann), Cliff Robertson portrays an American businessman whose wife and child are killed in a botched kidnapping rescue effort. Years later, while in .. Read more
| Starring | Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow, Don Hood |
|---|---|
| Director | Brian De Palma |
| Genres | Drama |
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Obsession
In one of director Brian DePalma's many cinematic tributes to Alfred Hitchcock (this one borrows from VERTIGO and employs Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, composer Bernard Herrmann), Cliff Robertson portrays an American businessman whose wife and child are killed in a botched kidnapping rescue effort. Years later, while in Italy, the still-distraught widower begins an affair with a woman (Genevieve Bujold) whose resemblance to his late wife is rather uncanny. The script was co-written by Paul Schrader (TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL).
| Starring | Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow, Don Hood, Pat McNamara, Wanda Blackman, Stocker Fontelieu, Sylvia Kuumba Williams |
|---|---|
| Director | Brian De Palma |
| Studio | ANCHOR BAY HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 34 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 27 May 2002 Production year: 1976 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Director Brian De Palma made a brave stab at a homage to his idol Alfred Hitchcock with this sexy thriller in which Paul Schrader's screenplay offers more than one nod to Vertigo. Further echoes of Hitch are supplied in the Oscar-nominated score by Psycho composer Bernard Herrmann. Genevieve Bujold is particularly fetching as Cliff Robertson's dead wife and her double, but John Lithgow in his second movie steals the acting honours as Robertson's suspicious business partner. Star Wars editor Paul Hirsch consolidated his reputation on this movie, which is nearly, but not quite, as clever as it thinks it is.
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Schrader and De Palma's tribute to Hitchcock's Vertigo may lack the misogyny and bloodbath sensationalism of De Palma's... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Obsessive
Interesting but slightly peculiar reworking of some of the ideas from Hitchcock's 'Vertigo'. A business man loses his wife and daughter in a kidnapping gone wrong. Years later he is still traumatised and suddenly stumbles upon a woman who is the image of his dead wife... The film never shows the kind of male obsession Stewart gave us in 'Vertigo' and feels weaker because of this. The ending doesn't seem to fit together very well with a lot of peculiar and convoluted back-story coming out too fast. Still, like 'Carrie' (de Palma's 'Psycho' tribute) this is worth watching. Oh, and Hermann's score is brilliant - it vividly recalls 'Vertigo' as does de Palma's cinematography.
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
De Palma's Obsession
Brian De Palma has made a name for himself doing tributes to the great Alfred Hitchcock, and although this tribute is generally well liked amongst films fans; it's not one of the better ones. What makes films like 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Sisters' great is that although De Palma has borrowed (heavily!) from the master, he's always managed to take and yet create something fresh and inventive with it. Look at Dressed to Kill, for example; the Psycho influences were more than obvious, but the film is so fresh and inventive that you would be forgiven for thinking that De Palma had made something on his own. Here, however, he's just took one of Vertigo's main plot details, and made a film out of it. The result is merely a film that is a rip off of Vertigo and not much else. The plot follows the story of Michael Courtland; a man whose wife and child are killed during a botched kidnap rescue attempt. I don't really need to tell you what comes next if you've seen Vertigo, but I will anyway; sixteen years later, he meets a woman that looks exactly like his wife and begins to develop an obsession with her. Who'd have thought it, eh?
The film is set in Italy, which gives it a very euro-horror feel, not too dissimilar to the masterpiece; Don't Look Now. The atmosphere is actually one of the best things about the film, which is fairly sad in a movie that should be mostly story driven. Cliff Robertson takes the lead role, and plays it without much charisma. Of course, the character isn't very charismatic himself, but the performance is largely boring and I think that De Palma could have done a better job with the casting there. Starring alongside Robertson is Genevi?ve Bujold, and she isn't any better them him. Hers is another lackluster performance. The plotting of the film is another thing that isn't so good, especially when you consider that De Palma had a masterpiece of storytelling for his blueprint (that's Vertigo, if you're not keeping up). Too much time is spent on the more boring things - such as an overly long romantic sequence, when De Palma would have been better off shortening it and spending more time building towards the twist. The twist itself is predictable when you've seen Vertigo, much like the rest of the film, but it would come as something of a surprise if you haven't.
Overall, Obsession lacks freshness and only adds weight to the claim that De Palma is a pretentious plagiariser. However, there are some things to be liked about the film but a lot of them are lost if you have, like almost everyone else, seen Vertigo. And if you haven't seen Vertigo, you shouldn't see this as it will undoubtedly tarnish your first viewing of the aforementioned masterpiece. Obsession is decent enough entertainment to be enjoyed, but if you want to see De Palma do Hitchcock; see Dressed to Kill, Sisters or the deliriously campy Body Double and leave this to the die-hard De Palma fans. -
News and features
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De Palma’s Way
- 10 Mar 2008
Brian De Palma is in hot water. Again. For a director who often seems more interested in form than content and who has devoted the bulk of his career to making mainstream entertainment for the Hollywood studios, it's surprising how regularly he upsets people. Even his fans have a love-hate relationship with this prodigiously gifted but perverse and erratic talent. Feminists picketed Dressed to Kill and Cuban refugees weren't flattered by Scarface either. But that's nothing on the US reaction... Read more
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