Overrated and overhyped

From my favorite movies..

The first must-see film of the year.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Overshadowed by De Palma's own cult-classic CARRIE (1976) in the same year, OBSESSION ostensibly is De Palma's homage to Hitchcock's VERTIGO (1958) about a man, who is obsessed with a woman who is (presumably) dead, is given a second chance from her doppelgänger with a sinister scheme lurking behind. Although De Palma's execution lacks the professional attentiveness to the details, e.g. the obtrusive anachronism of the opening scenes supposed happening in the 1950s, thanks to Schrader's uncanny screenplay; the atmospheric craftsmanship of D.P. Vilmos Zsigmond (1930-2016), the master-hand who has just left us in the 1st January; and Bernard Herrmann's (the original composer of VERTIGO) Oscar-nominated solemn score, which is grandiosely awe-inspiring right from the ominous opening credits, OBSESSION is undeservedly being categorised as a shoddy pastiche, and deserves a better recognition for its own sake.Even in the fantastic cinema realm, the encounter with a woman who looks very much alike his dead wife, 16 years after her unfortunate death, at the exact locale, is too much a stretch to pull it off as a pure coincidence, but American real estate businessman Michael Courtland (Robertson) believes firmly. The story starts in the late 1950s, on the night of their 10th wedding anniversary, Michael's wife Elizabeth (Bujold) and their daughter Amy (Blackman) are kidnapped, and choosing to follow the police department's advice, Michael uses blank notes instead of real money as the ransom, the plan backfires with all the kidnappers and hostages dead due to a dead collision and explosion. 16 years has passed, Michael has to live through the consequences and has been deeply mired in self-accusation and remorse, during a business trip to Florence with his business partner Robert (Lithgow), miraculously he meets a young Italian girl Sandra Portinari (Bujold) who looks exactly like Elizabeth, and is doing some preliminary work to the restoration of a fresco of Madonna and Child in the church where he and Elizabeth met for the first time. Their very first conversation is about art restoration, and betrays Michael's preference of refurbishing the beautiful facade to digging up the truth beneath. Mutual attractions kindle, Michael's backstory is frankly accepted by Sandra, and a speedy marriage is under the way. Michael is believed to given a second chance from Elizabeth, to redeem the haunting guilt, until Sandra is kidnapped by the same fashion, this time, can he right the wrong or is there some bigger scheme involved?There is a simple and plausible explanation of the resemblance between Elizabeth and Sandra, but one wonders whether the story will advance into an incestuous scandal (considering American audience's priggish taste), and it turns out De Palma and Schrader are actually carrying this take- no-prisoners approach until the finale, where De Palma's suspenseful style reaches its trance-like apex, all is drawn to a split-second decision whether it will end as a gut-punching shocker or a less disturbing but also less convincing reconciliation. Even though it opts for the safer option in the eleventh hour, the film is still an effective thriller to say the least, leaving audience to wait for the axe to fall until the very end.Performance-wise, Oscar-winning actor Cliff Robertson's turn as a guilt-ridden husband hopelessly having recourse to a second chance to do the right thing is too broad and sometimes even a bit wooden apart from the glistening light in his eyes when he meets Sandra, surely is less compelling than his co-star Bujold, whose baby-face brings out a great effect in the key moments with De Palma's sleight-of-hand where the truth is replayed from her troubled mind, and one important factor that we can buy this tall-tale is her deceitful callowness; whereas Lithgow, offers his best annoying mannerism in spite of showing almost no ageing during a 16-year gap apart from a convenient moustache. On a whole, OBSESSION is singularly enjoyable, not as excellent as VERTIGO, but not a forgettable dud either.

This had one of the baddest plots ever and you could see it coming from miles of. At a certain point about 40 minutes in you all ready know what the conclusion will be because it all obvious points to that. There is simply no set up for anything else so the story basically unfolds without any surprises and a very predictable ending.The characters make illogical decisions and there is a real lack of chemistry between them and some explanations are ludicrous like the nine year old girl that seems to forget her former life because its convenient to the script.Movie has a lot of these examples and most of the time just drags one for that "shocking moment" at the end which it does not deliver because you all ready know that.A later movie from De Palma "raising Cain" which has some of the same subject matter is a far better movie than this both visually and plot wise so your better of watching that.This was compared to Hitchcock but while his movies will stand the test of time this one from De Palma shows he still had a lot to learn about story telling.He got it eventually but he can write this one of as a fail.

As a fan, big fan, of the majority of De Palma's work, I was looking forward to seeing this. I'd never seen it before , somehow it had slipped past me. Now, having watched it, I can only say that maybe I had a kind of 6th sense when I was younger that warned me away from it. Sadly, that sense seems to be fading. This tale of triple obsession (yes, triple) should've been a huge turkey. Difficult to believe it ever broke even, never mind made a profit, as I see it has from this website, though I reckon it must've taken a while. Visually it's interesting, the only real strong point from De Palma that I'd note, though given the Italian locations especially it's still surprising he doesn't do more with the visuals. The performances he gets are barely satisfactory and rarely convincing, not helped by a ridiculously bewigged and mustachioed John Lithgow. Cliff Robertson, a fine actor, is suitable for the romantic side of the story but never at any time convinces as someone tortured by guilt for some 15/16 years.That may not have been entirely his fault since the Paul Schrader script gives him, and everyone else, so little to work with. Full of anomalies and plot holes, while the viewer will likely have every plot twist worked out in the first 25 minutes, the script itself doesn't seem to know where it's going for the first hour with it's snail's pace development and reliance on atmospheric score to keep the audience warm.I've seen this called a psychological thriller but what thrills it has, and there aren't many and they aren't that thrilling , mostly come in the first and last ten minutes. Having sat through most of the movie waiting for something to happen, when it does, it only highlights the worst shortcomings of script and direction with unbelievable character u-turns, revelations, coincidences and just plain stupidity, such as Robertson going to the airport to book a flight , finding out there's one about to leave at that moment and just running for it without getting a ticket. The script actually makes a comic moment of it just to emphasise how stupid it is. (Even stupider than the 1959 New Orleans police as represented here also.) The film ends, more or less, with a priceless look of bewilderment on Robertson's face as, even with all the previous revelations, he finally starts to understand what has happened to him. He can't do tortured guilt, but by goodness he can do bewilderment. Funnily enough that exact look was visible on the faces of quite a few others in the cinema as the lights went up, though most likely for other reasons, that they'd sat through it all, that it had ever got made in the first place, that this stylish piece of trash could come from De Palma, etc..

Director Brian De Palma and screenwriter Paul Schrader pay tribute to Hitchcock's "Vertigo" with this slow, dreamy, romantic thriller, a fine and involving film with some great acting. Cliff Robertson plays Michael Courtland, a New Orleans businessman whose wife and daughter are kidnapped and held for ransom. The attempt to rescue them goes horribly bad and Michael's life is shattered. 17 years later, he and business partner Robert Lasalle (John Lithgow) are in Rome on business when Michael catches notice of Sandra (Genevieve Bujold), an art historian who is the spitting image of his wife, and he falls in love with her. Now, the twists coming at around the 80 minute mark make this all worth it. De Palma's theme of obsession has recurred in his work and in this case it's a romantic obsession as Michael is determined to right the wrong he feels he made and not lose the woman he loves for a second time. The pacing is deliberate but the atmosphere is excellent, with some great location shooting. And the music score by Bernard Herrmann is one of his absolute best, setting the mood for each and every scene. The acting is top notch; Bujold's classic beauty is well utilized in her multiple roles, and she's extremely appealing to boot. Lithgow is solid as always in his supporting role, while Robertson comes off as a little reserved, although it would be hard to watch this and not feel some sympathy for the guy. The story is entertaining and De Palma and company make this an appropriately somber affair, with not much in the way of humour, and handle the material with a fair amount of subtlety and dignity. It's very well shot in Panavision by the great Vilmos Zsigmond, and it just draws you right in, right from its unnerving first act to its final scene. It's a fine effort from all concerned. Eight out of 10.