POSSESSED
(BESAT) (1999)
D: Anders Ronnow-Klarlund.
Ole Lemmeke, Kristi Eline Torhaug, Udo Kier, Ole Ernst, Niels Anders Thorn,
Malene Christian. (Zentropa)
What is it with the Danish? Why is it that
you never hear of any sweet, good-natured Danish romantic comedies?
No, it’s always dark, usually disturbing stuff, and it’s not just Lars
Von Trier anymore. In the past few years, we’ve gotten The Kingdom
II, The Celebration, Nattevagen and Pusher, and now this contagion-themed
thriller, so while the Danish may make lighter films, we only see the dark
stuff. The happier films get left to the Italians and the Spaniards,
with the French going on a case-by-case basis. Maybe it’s just because
Danish, like German, another language cursed by perpetually downbeat cinema,
is just too phlegm-laden a tongue to smile by.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you. The
output of Von Trier and his Dogme clan has so far been extraordinary, Pusher
was great, and this flick, while too derivative of other films to really
break out onto its own, is still worth seeing. Ole Lemmeke plays
a professor of virology who encounters a bizarre death at a parking garage
and suspects that it may be the beginning of a virus worse than Ebola.
After the body is shipped back to Romania for cremation, Lemmeke and his
student/girlfriend (things are a little different over there, apparently)
follow, hoping to get a sample from the spine in order to prove his theory.
Meanwhile, the police are hunting suspected arsonist
Udo Kier, an astrology-obsessed cult member with designs of his own for
Lemmeke’s prey. The paths of Kier and Lemmeke don’t cross until two-thirds
of the way through the movie, at which point the film threatens to become
The Hidden, with the virus leaping from person to person.
Along with The Hidden, the movie is equal
parts Cronenberg (viral infections that cause hideous mutations) and The
Kingdom (hospital settings, power outages, Udo Kier), but at least
the influences are coming from the right places. It’s easy to say
that there’s stuff here that was even in Outbreak, but it’s hard
to imaging Dustin Hoffman sneaking in to a family’s yard to dig up the
body of their recently-deceased 7-year-old son just to get a fluid sample.
Fortunately, there’s enough clever touches on
display here to make it not seem as derivative as it actually is.
Ronnow-Klarlund has some great showpiece moments of tension, including
a great (brief) scene where a handcuffed Lemmeke is on the ground, struggling
to move away from a flowing pool of infected blood just centimeters away.
A nice, downbeat climax that features a great death sequence that borders
on beautiful helps as well, though a Friday the 13th-esque epilogue doesn’t
do the film any favors.
Sure, there’s nothing really new on display here,
and the writers have thrown in a lot of horror movie clichés (astrology,
satanism, plagues, Udo Kier) that you’ve seen before, but it’s gorgeously
shot (Ronnow-Klarlund was a Von Trier protégé) and features
a healthy dose of shocks. Because it’s a pretty standard horror movie,
don’t expect this one to get much of a theatrical release, but look for
it on video. While a majority of the film is in Danish and Romanian,
due to various country-trotting, portions are in English.
Main Screen Reviews
Index