Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Pandelis Maud and Roland are brilliantly performed by Paltrow and her fellow lead, however LaMotte and Ash are the ones that will capture at once your interest! I ranked this film with an 8, mainly because I liked it even better than the book itself!!! The core of the story is all there, but the truth is being revealed at a faster and more appealing pace, without the long poems, short stories, diary entries and other literary works (not to mention other subplots) that the novel is full with...The only cost in those omissions were the philosophical battles behind both authors' writings and of course the significance of LaMotte's magnum opus "Melusina" for herself and literature, that is only mentioned once and in a harry at the film by Ash, as "the Fairy Project"...Another point that should be more emphasized in the film would be the various meanings of the title word (possession) as they are used in the book. The main question was whether "we own/possess the ones we love?". Also, the point that Roland started his research by keeping letters that were not in his possession... And..."the letters should belong to the senders or their receivers?" Also... there is a pun with the alternative meaning of "possession", that is "an idea or maybe a feeling that takes possession of your mind, an obsession".I am grateful to the writers that left outside the film some irritating characters, like Roland's fiancée and the two other female scholars (one expert on Ash's wife and another expert on LaMotte)...

valadas Two literary researchers, a man and a woman, start doing a research to find evidence that a laureate poet of the Victorian era in England had betrayed his wife despite the fact that his biography described him as a faithful husband never interested in other women. Discovery after discovery they finish by finding documents (i. e. letters) that show new clues which lead to results confirming that in fact the poet had a love relationship with a poetess of his times though only for a short period. The movie develops itself in two parallel folds closely intertwined in an intelligent cut, one showing the scenes lived by the two researchers while the other goes 100 years back to show the scenes of the love story between the two poets. The succession of sequences of both epochs is very agile and sometimes there isn't even a shot changing; a simple camera horizontal traveling takes us to the 19th century even since many scenes of both times take place at the same spots, interior or exterior. Of course from a certain moment on and very naturally, the professional relation between the two researchers transforms itself into a love one that runs parallel to the other one. Both love stories are somewhat complicated: the first one because we are in Victorian times where such extramarital relations were not simple at all and besides that we are in presence of two spiritually and intellectually superior human beings that live their love in a refined way though not exempt of doubts and uncertainties; the second one because the researchers are also superior beings and the love freedom of the current times has not freed lovers from similar doubts and uncertainties. The movie's detective feature appears now and then in moving episodes like for instance the fight at the cemetery near the end. Another existential curiosity is when the poet says at a certain point that he goes on loving his wife though in a manner different of the one in which he loves the other woman. This is very modern because nowadays some psychologists discuss the possibility of a man loving two women (or a woman two men) simultaneously though in different ways. Finally we can perhaps say that both love stories though genuine and authentic lack some deepness in terms of analysis. Nevertheless this is a good movie worth to be seen.

evanston_dad The supremely literary and ambitious novel by A.S. Byatt has been streamlined into a more conventional love story for two beautiful Hollywood actors in this screen adaptation directed by (of all people!) Neil LaBute.Aaron Eckhart and Gwyneth Paltrow play scholars of a Victorian poet and poetess, respectively, who discover that their two subjects were romantically involved and find themselves in a race with rival scholars to prove it and change the face of scholarship forever. The film intercuts modern-day scenes of Eckhart and Paltrow falling cautiously in love with flashbacks to the two poets, played by Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle. I found this literal and conventional approach to be the film's biggest failing, and couldn't help but think how much more interesting the film might have been if we had never seen actual reconstructions of the past and were left to visualize it along with the two scholars. However, to be fair, I don't know how that could have been done cinematically, so it seems churlish to hold the writer and director of the film to task for not doing it.Lovers of the book will undoubtedly find much to criticize in the film, as it leaves much plot and several characters out entirely, and is more interested in intrigues romantic than literary, but I thought it was decent. Eckhart is an extremely likable actor, and Paltrow is well cast, if a bit too conventionally beautiful for the role, and the two have quite a bit of chemistry. If one insists on holding the film to the same standards as the novel, it's bound to pale in comparison, but taken on its own terms, the movie is quite enjoyable.Grade: B+

jonatvz After watching the movie, I now want to read the book. I am a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow. She reminds me of Catherine. This is a great romantic movie that has great flashbacks between 21st century and 19th century England. Great plot. I think the main character played as an American worked - somewhat out of his depth when playing against the the Maud Bailey character - but it seemed natural that they were attracted to each other. Just as Jonathan is attracted to Catherine, and yearns to be close to her, so Roland's and Maud's desires surface and cannot be denied. The story unfolds with elements of mystery that keep you wondering. And, what makes this move for me is that, at the end, all the main characters in the story have "happy endings"... this is what I feel makes for a great romantic movie. If only it was so in real life.