Jenni uses her Film Degree to do a Review: A Dangerous Method
Oh boy.
A Dangerous Method is a film about Carl Jung, his relationships with Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein - and the beginnings of psychoanalysis.
It's an interesting piece of cinema. In fact, I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how to tackle this in a written review...
Perhaps I should start at the start - the opening is... confronting. It begins with a squealing, grunting and shrieking Keira Knightly (as Sabina Spielrein) being transported to her new home at a mental health clinic in Switzerland. Then Jung is introduced and suggests they try out this method of talking out the issues - i.e. psychoanalysis. Keira juts out her jaw to the edge of dislocation and stutters her way through sentences - really, she's channelling The Exorcist. I don't care how accurate it is to the nature of this patient's psychosis... her acting is so ridiculous it's distracting.
Thankfully, we move past Keira's demon days quickly enough, and we can get into the heat of the story. Her character, Sabina, is cured by Jung and begins university in the hopes of becoming an analyst herself. She eventually becomes Jung's lover, which somewhat threatens Jung's place as the successor to the psychoanalytical throne, currently held by his hero, Freud.
It's a very talk-oriented movie - which you can probably guess from the subject matter, not to mention that it was based on a play entitled "The Talking Cure" - which is not something I am opposed to, but unfortunately Cronenberg missed the mark of what was most interesting here. The best parts of the film were the conversations between Freud and Jung - and the subtle power battle that played out between them. But this basically appeared as a sub-plot to the love story between Jung and Sabina.
I'm not trying to say that Sabina Spielrein deserves to relegated to the appendices of psychology textbooks - she seems like a fascinating and strong woman. But give her and Jung their own movie, I liked where this one with Freud was going.
Perhaps that has to do with the performance - I'm the first person to get on the Keira Knightly train since I honestly do think she is talented, brave and varied in her choices -- and Pride & Prejudice is kind of the best ever. But either this role didn't fit her or she was trying too hard to prove her capabilities - it felt clunky. I couldn't take her demonic psychosis or her Russian accent seriously.
On the flip side of that - Cronenberg's darling, Viggo Mortensen (like Johnny Depp to Tim Burton) is flawless in his role as Sigmund Freud. He alone makes this movie compelling - it's impressive.
Overall, it sort of falls flat. If you have an interest in the subject matter, you might thoroughly enjoy it - and I admit, I did come home and start googling the real lives of all the characters, because they were exceptional thinkers with fascinating lives. But Cronenberg seems to be mellowing with age... and I wonder if he is losing the vigour that used to make his movies so haunting. But then again, he has always been hit and miss.
A Dangerous Method was directed by David Cronenberg, written by Christopher Hampton and stars Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightly and Viggo Mortensen.
A Dangerous Method is a film about Carl Jung, his relationships with Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein - and the beginnings of psychoanalysis.
It's an interesting piece of cinema. In fact, I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how to tackle this in a written review...
Perhaps I should start at the start - the opening is... confronting. It begins with a squealing, grunting and shrieking Keira Knightly (as Sabina Spielrein) being transported to her new home at a mental health clinic in Switzerland. Then Jung is introduced and suggests they try out this method of talking out the issues - i.e. psychoanalysis. Keira juts out her jaw to the edge of dislocation and stutters her way through sentences - really, she's channelling The Exorcist. I don't care how accurate it is to the nature of this patient's psychosis... her acting is so ridiculous it's distracting.
Thankfully, we move past Keira's demon days quickly enough, and we can get into the heat of the story. Her character, Sabina, is cured by Jung and begins university in the hopes of becoming an analyst herself. She eventually becomes Jung's lover, which somewhat threatens Jung's place as the successor to the psychoanalytical throne, currently held by his hero, Freud.
It's a very talk-oriented movie - which you can probably guess from the subject matter, not to mention that it was based on a play entitled "The Talking Cure" - which is not something I am opposed to, but unfortunately Cronenberg missed the mark of what was most interesting here. The best parts of the film were the conversations between Freud and Jung - and the subtle power battle that played out between them. But this basically appeared as a sub-plot to the love story between Jung and Sabina.
I'm not trying to say that Sabina Spielrein deserves to relegated to the appendices of psychology textbooks - she seems like a fascinating and strong woman. But give her and Jung their own movie, I liked where this one with Freud was going.
Perhaps that has to do with the performance - I'm the first person to get on the Keira Knightly train since I honestly do think she is talented, brave and varied in her choices -- and Pride & Prejudice is kind of the best ever. But either this role didn't fit her or she was trying too hard to prove her capabilities - it felt clunky. I couldn't take her demonic psychosis or her Russian accent seriously.
On the flip side of that - Cronenberg's darling, Viggo Mortensen (like Johnny Depp to Tim Burton) is flawless in his role as Sigmund Freud. He alone makes this movie compelling - it's impressive.
Overall, it sort of falls flat. If you have an interest in the subject matter, you might thoroughly enjoy it - and I admit, I did come home and start googling the real lives of all the characters, because they were exceptional thinkers with fascinating lives. But Cronenberg seems to be mellowing with age... and I wonder if he is losing the vigour that used to make his movies so haunting. But then again, he has always been hit and miss.
A Dangerous Method was directed by David Cronenberg, written by Christopher Hampton and stars Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightly and Viggo Mortensen.