Freud vs. Jung a beautiful period piece [MOVIE REVIEW]

Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. Photo by Liam Daniel, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. Photo by Liam Daniel, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

In “A Dangerous Method,” David Cronenberg gives us a beautiful choreographed period piece, lushly filmed and intelligently told. Written by Christopher Hampton, using his own play “The Talking Cure,” John Kerr’s book A Dangerous Method and Jung’s own notebooks, the film unspools the ever widening rift between Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and the man he thought would carry on his work, Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender). The fulcrum of that unraveling relationship was a young woman, the brilliant and beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), suffering from hysteria and sent by her parents to the Burgholzli mental hospital in Zurich where she becomes a patient of Carl Jung, resident psychiatrist and practitioner of Sigmund Freud’s talking cure, psychoanalysis. Jung successfully breaks through to Sabina, eventually taking her as his mistress and encouraging her own medical studies in psychiatry.

Conflicted both by the ethics of an affair with a patient and his doubts about Freud’s approach to sexuality, Jung is at a crossroads; a crossroads made more difficult when Freud sends him the difficult case of Dr. Otto Gross, a fellow psychiatrist suffering from multiple addictions, not the least of which is sex. Gross, an anarchist and unrepentant in every way, has been committed to Burgholzli by his conservative parents, tired of the humiliation he brings them. Jung’s role as analyst is upended by the amoral Gross whose disdain for any and all boundaries and his rejection of “repression” invades Jung’s own psyche.

Certainly there were many different reasons for the eventual split from Freud and his theories, not the least of which was the introduction of religious thought into Jung’s philosophy and a differing opinion of the nature of the libido, but the focus here is on Spielrein, a patient of both, the lover of one, and a substantive influence in developing the concept that the sexual drive contained both destructive and transformative aspects, a theory adapted by both giants (although only Freud credits its origin). Her presence represents more than the breach of morality and ethics, it can also be interpreted to represent the ultimate conflict between the Austrian and Swiss doctors – religion vs. sex and all their inherent traps. And thus, the chasm between the two gods of modern analysis is elucidated.

Knightley brilliantly conveys the illness and vulnerability of Spielrein. It is unfortunate that many reviewers have categorized this performance as “over the top” as this is an indication that they are unaware of the symptoms and behavior of clinical hysteria, an illness now controlled by drugs. Knightley is flawless; terrifying in hysteria, vulnerable in her intimate needs and stubbornly intelligent in her studies. Fassbender conveys the edgy insecurity of a man rigid in his beliefs and rationalizations. The almost thankless role in this drama as Jung’s actions are totally self-serving, Fassbender still manages to convey depth and doubt in this man. Mortensen is simply extraordinary in his understated ability to command attention and shine a light on the brilliant and imposing, larger than life yet totally grounded Freud. Sympathetic, hypnotic, drowning in bourgeois domesticity and keenly aware of the anti-Semitism working against him, he creates the accessible genius. Especially captivating is the short yet critical and mesmerizing appearance of Vincent Cassel in the role of the Dr. Otto Gross, the unrepentant satyr. A raging conflagration of emotions and manipulations, Cassel makes it impossible to watch anyone else when he is on screen.

This is a film about adults for adults like they rarely make. You’ll find yourself not just discussing the themes and conflicts, but also Knightley’s controversial performance. Go see it and judge for yourself.

Opening November 23, in limited release at The Landmark and ArcLight Hollywood, with a wider release expected in December.

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