History Trivia / Possession

* ReferencedBy: The video clip for the band Music/MassiveAttack's song "Voodoo In My Blood" features actress Creator/RosamundPike re-enacting the famous subway miscarriage scene.

* TroubledProduction: The film was a personally devastating film for Creator/AndrzejZulawski and its lead actors. The film was inspired by and written during a traumatizing divorce Zulawski had from actress Malgorzata Braunek, combined with receiving a ''de facto'' ban from his native home of Poland, that left him in a deep depression. Zulawski hoped to use ''Possession'' to address that depression, and put Creator/SamNeill and Isabelle Adjani through an utterly hellish filming experience, ostensibly in the name of [[EnforcedMethodActing drawing the most emotionally extreme performances out of the two]]. Neill [[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000rwtm would later say]] "I only just escaped that film with my sanity barely intact", while Isabelle Adjani outright [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] after seeing the premire, and needed several years to recover from her performance in the film.

** The same infamous subway scene would later be referenced in ''Film/TheFirstOmen'' where [[spoiler: Margaret loses control of her body after a car accident, during which her pregnancy with the Antichrist progresses to the birthing stage in minutes.]]

** The same infamous subway scene would later be referenced in ''[[Film/TheFirstOmen]]'' where [[spoiler: Margaret loses control of her body after a car accident, during which her pregnancy with the Antichrist progresses to the birthing stage in minutes.]]

* ReferencedBy: The video clip for the band Music/MassiveAttack's song "Voodoo In My Blood" features actress Rosamund Pike re-enacting the famous subway miscarriage scene.

!!For [[Film/Possession the 1981 film]]:

!!For the film:

!!For the book:

* CreatorBreakdown: The movie was inspired by an incredibly messy divorce that Zulawski was going through in the late 70's, as well as his increasing estrangement from his home country of Poland. The experience of filming it, in turn, caused both of the leads to have this. Creator/SamNeill described it as "the most extreme film I've ever made" and said "I only just escaped that film with my sanity barely intact", while Isabelle Adjani took years to recover from the role emotionally, even ''attempting suicide'' soon after seeing the completed print.

** Byatt may have intended a university in Utah named for Robert Dale Owen to indicate people and things that are not at all where they belong; [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dale_Owen Rep. Robert Dale Owen]] (D-IN) (1801-1877) belonged to the great state of Indiana. His temperament is suitable to the story though, as he was an ardent feminist, abolitionist, spiritualist, human rights activist, {{Commune}} co-founder (now the town of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Harmony,_Indiana New Harmony, Indiana]]) and Democratic Socialist, who sponsored legislation creating the Smithsonian.

** "Robert Dale Owen University" is a reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Dale_Owen Rep. Robert Dale Owen]] (D-IN) (1801-1877) -- ardent feminist, spiritualist, human rights activist, {{Commune}} founder (New Harmony) and Democratic Socialist.

* {{Feelies}}: The US theatrical release of the film gave free barf bags to audience members