The setting then shifts to Washington, D.C., where a younger Louise is in love with an unmarried construction engineer, David (Van Heflin). David, however, finds Louise overbearing and does not return her love, which only makes her want David even more, to the point of obsession. An obsession or a quest (e.g., Sam Spade's quest for the Maltese falcon; the young reporter's quest to find "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane, is also a frequent film noir element, although in general, within film noir films, the main character's quest is more mysterious than Louise's overt, obsessive quest for David's love.
Film noir often also contains plot coincidences, or odd confluences of events (e.g., Kane just happens to meet Susan Alexander on a dreary night when his marriage has just come apart). Such a coincidence within Possessed takes place when David happens to turn up at the home of Louise's employer, a wealthy oil man, Dean Graham (played by Raymond Massey). Inside the Graham household, Dean's wife, Pauline, is an invalid, as well as being mentally disturbed. She erroneously believes that her caretaker, Louise, is having an affair with Dean (which is not true then, although Dean and Louise later marry). So convinced is Pauline, however, Dean is cheating on her with Louise, that she commits suicide, drowning herself in a lake.
Water, e.g., lakes, swimming pools, puddles, reservoirs, steamy showers, etc., especially when tied to mysterious or ominous circumstances or events, is another common element often used within film noir. Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974), a later film...
In Possessed, Pauline, also a villain of sorts (Louise's tormenter) drowns herself.
Film noir often frequently contains a "femme fatale," such as the female main characters in The Maltese Falcon; The Big Sleep; and Chinatown. The femme fatale is a beautiful and seductive woman. She seldom actually kills anyone, although she may be involved in a plot to kill someone, or may otherwise contribute toward another person's (usually a man's)
death. In Possessed, Louise's character is an odd a twist on the "femme fatale"
stereotype, in that she is, quite literally, the person fatal to David, when she shoots and kills David in the end.
All in all, Curtis Bernhardt's film Possessed (1947) is neither a pure woman's film nor a pure example of film noir, but instead contains elements of each. If it is a woman's film, a woman's film, it is a twisted and ironic example of that, since its main female character is not one with which female (or any) viewers can identify, and her circumstances are atypical of most women's. However, the film does possess elements of unrequited love; of a woman alone facing difficulties, and of a love triangle: all typical elements of women's films. Possessed contains some, but not all key elements of film noir; including images of darkness; shadows, or haze; stark lighting; unusual camera angles; stark, washed-out appearances, and the element of
water in
connection with death.
