“A Dangerous Method,” based on John Kerr’s 1994 book A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud and Sabina Spielrein, examines the relationship between these three people and how far Freud and Jung pushed the boundaries of thinking in the early days of psychoanalysis. Set in 1904 Zurich, the opening scene introduces us to Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), whose physical abuse and humiliation have left the young Russian woman with a severe case of hysteria. Her father has sent her to Karl Jung’s (Michael Fassbender) clinic, where she become’s Jung’s first effort at using Freud’s (Viggo Mortensen) ‘talking cure,’ a novel concept in the treatment of mental illness. Later, when the two men meet, Jung questions Freud’s insistence that all neuroses are rooted in sexual issues. Freud encourages the younger Jung via their first discussion, which lasted 18 hours and the subsequent constant flow of letters between them. Freud eventually learns that Jung is having an affair with Spielrein, who is training to become a therapist after Jung has successfully treated her. Freud, fearing that this ethical lapse could provide ammunition for the many enemies of psychiatry, urges Jung to break it off, which, of course, upsets Spielrein and she reacts violently. Eventually Jung and Freud split when Jung decides to explore Eastern philosophy and astrology as part of his practice.
Director David Cronenberg has assembled a first-rate cast. As Jung, who juggles Sabina with a beautiful and frequently pregnant wife (Sarah Gadon) in Switzerland, Fassbender gives another memorable performance. (He was also in Jane Eyre and X-Men: First Class.) Mortensen, as the cigar-smoking Freud, presents the father of modern psychiatry as a thoughtful, though often intransient, authority figure. Knightley, always effective in period movies, infuses the masochistic Spielrein with intelligence and independence. (Spielrein becomes a noted psychotherapist in her own right who was executed by Nazis during World War II.) The weakness in “A Dangerous Method” is its almost clinical approach with a lack of an emotional core. Nonetheless, it gives real insight into its subjects, especially Jung. 11/26/11
1 comment:
If you like historical dramas this is a pretty good one. These people were on the threshhold of understanding the workings of the mind. Prior to Freud's discoveries the only treatment they had was to lock up the patients in an asylum. Interesting film with great casting and excellent acting.
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