The English setting showed in the film were: London and the London Library, Lincoln, Seal Court and the Yorkshire.

In the movie, like in the novel different kinds of possession are communicated.

The first example of possession conveyed by the film is represented by Mortimer Cropper. He wanted to put his hand on precious documents or objects of research. In the movie the director shows how hje is ready to do everything (legal or illegal) to reach his purpose.

Other kinds of possession are the possession of the truth (example: Roland), of the knowledge and of other people's mind,in particular of the lover's mind.

An important aspect in the movie is the role of academy; they are important because the more you know and the more you can understand. Roland and Maud are both scholars and thanks to their knowledges they could understand all the story.  

Literary erudition is mainly conveyed in the film by dialogue exchanges.

In a first time, Roland's characterization is made up by his presentation in the London Library. Later his characterization is based on his thoughts and opinions, actions and reactions, attitudes.

The characterization of Maud is created at first through what pieces of information Fergus Wolff gives Roland about her; on a second moment, when Roland meets she, her characterizations is made up, as Roland's characterization, by her thoughts and opinions, actions, reactions, and attitudes.

The director shows the bond developing between Roland and Maud using dialogues on particular topics (for example the idea of love in Postmodernism or about their personal relationship)

Moreover he or she who watches the film can foresee how the relation between the two researcher will develop thanks to their attitudes and their ways of acting when they are together.

On the contrary, the characterization of the two Victorian poets is mainly made up by flashbacks while reading their letters or while the two researcher are in a place where also they were.

Pieces of information are given also by quotations from their works.

All documents and letters immediately come to the forefront because they are the engine of the story but also because they are always read loud and, in particular speaking of the letters between Ash and LaMotte, the director underlines their importance showing the two Victorian poets while writing them.

The juxtaposition of present and past is developed as a continuum, it seem as if the characters of the present were running over again the tracks of the characters of the past.

The part of the film dedicated to the Yorkshire is a clear example of this.