A Dangerous Method

After watching A Dangerous Method I hesitate to write a review because it may tell you more about me than the movie. This is the paranoia of the subject matter, our words and what they reveal about us. Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) considered the father of psychoanalysis, developed a form of therapy he called “the talking cure”. One of his followers, Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) began practicing this method and soon began formalizing theories of his own. When he contacted Freud to ask further questions about his work the two became friends and developed a father-son type relationship. This film is about that relationship and their subsequent falling out.

The film begins when Carl Jung takes on a hysterical female patient by the name of Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly). Her psychosis is tied to her sexuality and Jung is anxious to apply the talking cure developed by Freud.  The woman was a medical student and wants to be a doctor herself but her volatile and disturbing behavior landed her in an institution. Once she settles down, Jung takes her on as an assistant and her bright and questioning mind helps him advance his studies.

Once Jung develops a relationship with Freud, Freud sends him a colleague who has also been recently committed. The doctor, Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel) lost his practice because he kept sleeping with his patients and got several of them pregnant. While Jung was inside his mind, Gross was inside Jung’s. The ideas that were exchanged challenged Jung’s moral code and in a moment of weakness he had sex with Sabina. Jung wanted to challenge himself, and he experimented with the modern ideas of personal freedom but he could not escape his Protestant morals and views. This put him at odds with Freud who claimed his Jewish heritage, but did not practice the Jewish religion.

A Dangerous Method is an intellectual film about the exchange of ideas, sexual repression, and the truth of the subconscious. Freud wanted all psychological research to be kept purely scientific and Jung felt that religion, faith and the supernatural should not be ignored. He felt that our spiritual life was as important as our baser instincts and it was here that Freud and Jung diverged.

This film is brilliantly acted. Both Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender are excellent. And Kiera Knightly plays her role fearlessly. But as good as the acting is, if you are not interested in the subject matter I think that the average person would be bored. I, myself, as the daughter of a psychology teacher found the film fascinating, but it is not easy to follow. It is a great conversation starter though and will make for some interesting debates among family and friends. This film is about two great minds who changed the way we see ourselves. If that interests you, you’ll love this film.

Rating: First Run A story about two great minds