A Dangerous Method (2011)

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  January 26, 2013

  xXGiNoBiLiPRXx

  Based on the true story of Jung, Freud and the patient who came between them.
  
  An Ok Film! I really expected more by this movie, I expected more pathos, but unfortunately it proved scarcely involving and too rational. Nothing to say against the perfect technical execution, and th... read moree good acting, but what is disappointing is the screenplay, which should have been, in my opinion, the most significant element of the picture. Dialogues are flat, too rationally aimed at conveying an encyclopedic definition of psychoanalysis, but incapable of conveying empathy towards any of the three main characters, Jung, Freud and Sabine Spielrein. It's a movie that seems to promise plenty, seems to be always on the verge of revealing something, but never takes off, as if the director wanted to keep a distance from the handled subject, as if afraid of being swept away by the abyss of the human complex mind. Or maybe because the complexity is too great to be thoroughly revealed? Overall, I feel like this film would have been better if it had been longer. If the film had a running time of even two hours, compared to one and a half, more character development could have been inserted, particularly for Freud. In addition, more focus on Jung's relationship with Freud, rather than his relationship with Spielrein, would have been nice to see.
  
  
  Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung who has begun using Dr. Sigmund Freud's talking cure with some of his patients. Spielrain's psychological problems are deeply rooted in her childhood and violent father. She is highly intelligent however and hopes to be a doctor, eventually becoming a psychiatrist in her own right. The married Jung and Spielrein eventually become lovers. Jung and Freud develop an almost father-son relationship with Freud seeing the young Jung as his likely successor as the standard-bearer of his beliefs. A deep rift develops between them when Jung diverges from Freud's belief that while psychoanalysis can reveal the cause of psychological problems it cannot cure the patient.

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• 
  
  January 2, 2013

  paulsandberg

  Taking place in the decade leading up to WWI, this period piece/historical fiction is as standoffish and mannered as the era it represents. Director David Cronenberg does not fail to show us sexual fetishes, and the "madness" of Jung's patient Sabina Spielrein, but somehow it al... read morel comes off as sterile as a psychoanalysis session (although a beautifully filmed one).
  
  I was originally taken by the intellectual arguments between Jung and his hero/mentor Sigmund Freud, but by the end of the film it all seemed an overblown bit of psycho babble for me - all self important and really coming down to nothing special at all.
  
  I blame the script and direction for this, as really the performances, especially that of Vigo Mortenson as Freud, were top notch; even if Kiera Knighly's Spielrein seemed too bi-polar for my tastes and her mad mannerisms didn't seem to fit her illness.
  
  Taking into consideration that a fair part of the story involves Jung's dream of feeling trapped by his wife and children, this still didn't give Cronenberg license to rinse and repeat - 2 years later another child is born. Followed by a scene marked as "a year later in Vienna", followed by "a year later another.... You get the idea.
  
  I'm truly vexed over what could have been here - and I really wanted this film to shine; but in spite of the fascinating subject matter concerning these two titans of psychoanalysis I'm left feeling that there was so much more to be had here than the story presented, and more so, the way it was presented.
  
  I'm also not completely sold in Cronenberg's depiction of Jung as some kind of psychic channelor - able to reach into the great beyond for portents of upcoming events. To me this seemed like an easy way to explore the differences in Freud's practices and the theorums that Jung was to later expouse. Add that the great schism between the two minds held very little drama and the interplay between doctor and patient (who later became a doctor in her own right) lacked any sense of urgency or pathos and you get a film that, while interesting in part, overall suffered from too much navel contemplation.

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  November 23, 2012

  MidnightMadwoman

  I can't honestly say that I was disappointed by this movie, because going in I didn't know what to expect. I don't think that David Cronenberg actually puts any stock in psychoanalysis, but he believes in sexual perversion, and how psychological and personal each person's deviant... read more little kink can be. I really like the way that sexuality underpins everything about the characters in this movie, just like it would if the world existed exactly the way Freud and Jung describe. No wonder they think it does. I should say that I have a bit of a soft spot for period pieces about repressed horndogs (a huge genre, it turns out), but this movie was neither stupendous nor terrible.

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  August 8, 2012

  SirPant

  At first I was surprised that this was a David Cronenberg film but then a film about sex and analytical psychology is actually very much a Cronenberg trend. This is an interesting piece of history beautifully told, it is an important, interesting and not particularly well known s... read moretory but this will always depend on your person level of interest in the subject. I think it's fair to say there are enough of us interested to warrant its existence and I for one appreciate it. I thought the acting was good, although I did wonder about Keira Knightley's performance, several other actresses who I think would have been more capable spring to mind. The script is fantastic, as are the sets and locations. I really felt like I was watching events as they would have been. Very impressed.

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  July 8, 2012

  cosmo313

  I must say, for a film about Freud, Jung, and psychoanalysis directed by David Cronenberg, this is really surprisingly reserved and low key. And, despite feeling a little disappointed by the end result, this is still a decent enough straightforward tale done with class and sophis... read moretication.
  
  Sometimes I really like getting something unexpected, since I figured this would go all out, but instead I'm left somewhat indifferent. In a way, this film is kinda boring, and I only learned somewhat more than I already knew aout the people and the subject matter, but the production values are top notch, the film looks great, and the performances are okay enough.
  
  Well, Keira Knightley kinda overdoes it with the hysterical shrieking, but when she's not doing that, she's fine. Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud and Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung however are awesome. Viggo wasn't initially who I wanted to see do the part, but he's good. I mean, he's never given a bad performance. Vincent Cassel has a couple of good moments, but I think he was misused or underused.
  
  Overall, even though this wasn't a total letdown, it really isn't as compelling or exciting as it should have been.
  
  Meh.

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  July 5, 2012

  Raajay

  Not as captivating as the trailer showed. The beginning seemed a bit forced and I didn't particularly like Knightley's portrayal. The acting wasn't bad but the plot could've been a bit more... oh I don't know. I just expected more complexity or something.

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  June 12, 2012

  paulkoh110

  I hate your acting Keira Knightly! Viggo and Michael carried you all throughout the film, enough said! The film had its beautiful moments between Freud and Jung but the romance falls flat and seems hollow at times.

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• 
  
  June 12, 2012

  MrsInsomnia

  True Story

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  June 4, 2012

  binky013

  Keira KnightlEy sucks -- and always has -- and so has and does Viggo Mortenson -- but I knew that before I rented this, so I am the ultimate sucks-er.I really am the proverbial glutton for punishment. Yeeeee gods . . .

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• 
  
  May 30, 2012

  fb619846742

  A riveting, extremely well-acted look at the brilliant minds of Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and how each gets caught up in a case involving a striking but emotionally unstable patient (Keira Knightley). This is not a typical gross-out, ultra... read more-violent David Cronenberg film, which is nice since this is a story that does not require that type of film-maker. Instead, this is a largely straight-forward look at two phenomenally gifted men, and how each was unable to sacrifice their ego to help develop their friendship, ultimately becoming fractured due to a large dose of narcissism and pride on each of their parts. Knightley is absolutely phenomenal in this film as the troubled patient, as her body motions and facial expressions capture a world of hell no person would want to reside in. Mortensen and Fassbender are also excellent in their respected parts. The film is largely a dialogue-driven fest with little action thrown in to spice things up once in a while, so at times it inescapably bogs down. However, it is still definitely a fine movie that is worthwhile due to the splendid acting and well-detailed story it contains.

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• Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein
• Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud
• Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung
• Vincent Cassel as Otto Gross
• Sarah Gadon as Emma Jung
• André Hennicke as Professor Eugen Bleuler
• Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey as Sándor Ferenczi
• Mignon Reme as Jung's Secretary
• Mareike Carriere as Food Nurse

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

• 
  My Name Was Sabina Spielrein (99%)
• 
  Freud: The Secret Passion (98%)
• 
  Freud (98%)

• • Sabina Spielrein: it's no good making yourself ill in the process.
• • Carl Jung: It's generally thought to be the man who should take the initiative.
  • Sabina Spielrein: Don't you think there's something male in every woman and something female in every man? Or should be?
• • Carl Jung: Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable just to be able to go on living.
• • Otto Gross: I can't understand what you're waiting for. Just take her to some secluded spot and thrush her to within an inch of her life. That's clearly what she wants. How can you deny her such a simple pleasure?
  • Carl Jung: Pleasure's never simple, as you very well know.
  • Otto Gross: It is. Of course it is. Until we decide to complicate it. What my father call maturity, what I call surrender
  • Carl Jung: Surrender for me would be to give in to these urges.
  • Otto Gross: Then surrender. It doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you don't let the experience escape. That's my prescription.
• • Otto Gross: I can't understand what you're waiting for. Just take her to some secluded spot and thrush her to within an inch of her life. That's clearly what she wants. How can you deny her such a simple pleasure?
  • Carl Jung: Pleasure's never simple, as you very well know.
  • Otto Gross: It is. Of course it is. Until we decide to complicate it. What my father call maturity, what I call surrender
  • Carl Jung: Surrender for me would be to give in to these urges.
  • Otto Gross: Then surrender. It doesn't matter what you call it, as long as you don't let the experience escape. That's my prescription.
• • Otto Gross: It seems to me the measure of the true perversity of the human race, that one of us have very few have lively pleasurable image of the subject of so much hysteria and impression.
  • Carl Jung: But not to repress yourself is to unleash all kinds of dangerous and destructive forces.
  • Otto Gross: Our job is to make our patients capable of feeling.
  • Carl Jung: I've heard it said that you helped one of your patients to kill herself.
  • Otto Gross: She was reasonably suicidal, I just explained how she could do it without watching it. Then I asked her is she didn't prefer the idea of becoming my lover. She opted for both.
  • Carl Jung: That can't be what we want for our patients.
  • Sigmund Freud: Freedom is freedom.

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