"Possession" (with Arianna Reiche)

Framed & Bound

On this episode, Tobias Carroll and Arianna Reiche discuss the 2002 film adaptation of A.S. Byatt’s Possession. Arianna Reiche is the author of the acclaimed novel At the End of Every Day, available wherever books are sold. You can read her short story “Potassium” here, too!

Possession is about a pair of academics researching the possible connection between two poets who lived decades earlier — two parallel storylines that trace the growing attraction between each pair of characters.

Discussed in this episode: what the ideal way to adapt A.S. Byatt’s novel would actually be, whether “Jennifer Ehle is the best part of the movie” is a universal truth, the sheet amount of corduroy on screen here, and the film’s action-packed denouement.

If you’re seeking a contrary perspective to our take on this movie, it’s probably worth noting that Roger Ebert liked this film a lot.