Video: Thought-provoking

By: Holley Sinn

Verdict: Approved

If you've had even a basic psychology class, then you are familiar with the names Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.  As the pioneers of psychoanalysis, or "the talking cure", these two men introduced a much less barbaric form of treatment into the practice of psychiatry.  However, their theories introduced some rather predictable complications into the doctor/patient relationship...especially since so many discussions tended to revolve around sexuality.  In David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method", the relationship between these two impactful doctors is played out over the course of a few years by Viggo Mortensen and Michael  Fassbender, centrally focusing on a particular patient of Dr. Jung's, played by Keira Knightley.  Needless to say, transference is a particularly menacing side effect of what was then just a budding psychological philosophy...

"A Dangerous Method" stars Michael Fassbender as Dr. Carl Jung, a psychiatrist in the late 1920s and early 1930s who is putting into practice the still experimental treatment of psychoanalysis.  His first patient to undergo this sort of therapy is a Russian Jewish woman named Sabina Speilrein, played by Keira Knightley.  Sabina is frequently taken by manic fits of hysteria, which, through discussion therapy are revealed to be the product of deviant sexual repression. 

Dr. Jung is so pleased with the results of Sabina's therapy, that he contacts Dr. Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, another pioneer in the realm of non-medication based psychological treatment.  Dr. Freud agrees to take Dr. Jung under his wing, but after lengthy discussion, the two men find that they differ on many points.  Dr. Freud contends that all psychosis can be traced back to sexual fixations, while Dr. Jung believes in parapsychology involving spirits and telepathy.  Through continued treatment, Dr. Jung and Sabina develop a relationship revolving largely around Sabina's rather violent deviant tendencies.  When Dr. Jung tries to end the affair and return to his wife, Sabina alerts Dr. Freud to Dr. Jung's indecent behavior, driving a wedge between the two men.

The story also explores the influence of another noted psychologist named Otto Gross, played by Vincent Cassel, who one might say was the first to introduce the "free love movement".  Sabina goes on to become a celebrated psychiatrist herself, and a mother of two daughters once her relationship with Dr. Jung is behind her.  This film meanders some, and certainly isn't reminiscent of any other Cronenberg work, but there is a simplicity to it that is in direct juxtaposition to the complex subject matter.  The acting makes up for the lack of style, but once again, this awards season presents us with another relatively boring film.  

As for me, I find this subject intensely interesting in and of itself, so I am approving "A Dangerous Method", but if you find psychology to be a bunch of hooey, then this film is probably not for you.  It is rated "R" for sexual content, partial nudity (yes, Keira Knightley) and some intense language and it is now playing in select theaters around the bay area.