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still Obsessions (Pim de la Parra, NL /DE 1969)

Obsessions

Pim de la Parra / NL, DE, 1969 / 90 min.

When a student discovers a hole in the wall he gets an eyeful of his neighbour’s erotic and criminal adventures. This Hitchcockian thriller based on a script by Pim de la Parra, Wim Verstappen and Martin Scorsese (!) was sold to no less than 65 countries. In memoriam Pim de la Parra.

poster Obsessions  (Pim de la Parra, NL /DE 1969)
Pim de la Parra passed away on 6 September in Paramaribo at the age of 84. As a tribute to this legendary film pioneer, we’re screening Obsessions. The film’s events pick up when a painting comes down from a wall. The room’s tenant, a medical student, spies on his neighbour through a tiny opening. It is not only sex that stirs his curiosity. Hidden out of sight, he witnesses puzzling and disturbing events, all pointing to crime.

Martin Scorsese, who was in Amsterdam shooting his feature debut Whos That Knocking At My Door, contributed to the screenplay. Pim de la Parra called his first feature film a ‘sex and psycho-suspense mystery’, an English-language, Dutch-German co-production by $corpio Films. He was inspired by Hitchcock's classic thriller Rear Window (1954) for the story. De la Parra contracted Frans Bromet for the camera work, who had previously only shot on 8 and 16mm.

Pre-film

As a pre-film, Joop (Pim de la Parra, NL 1969, 10’) will screen, in which a clumsy man loses his last chance at lasting love. De la Parra shot this comic short film fourteen days before the premiere of Obsessions, as a preliminary film.

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Details

This movie contains scenes of violenceThis movie contains foul languagePersons under 16 years must be accompanied by an adult

Director

Pim de la Parra

Production year

1969

Country

NL, DE

Original title

Obsessions

Length

90 min.

Language

English

Subtitles

NLD

Format

DCP

Part of

Eye Classics

Eye’s collection includes a wealth of classics. With the Eye Classics series, Eye brings film history even closer. Every week, we screen at least three classics from the collection under one recognisable name: Eye Classics.

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still Obsessions  (Pim de la Parra, NL /DE 1969)
still Obsessions  (Pim de la Parra, NL /DE 1969)
Pim de la Parra

In Memoriam

Pim de la Parra was one of the Netherlands' most colourful directors, and an inspiration to many young Dutch and Surinamese filmmakers. With a free-spirited approach to film-making, he changed the course of the Dutch feature film. He died on 6 September at the age of 84.

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