A Dangerous Method (2012)
Sexual themes
| Director: | David Cronenberg |
| Actors: | Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Cassel, Sarah Gadon |
Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient in A Dangerous Method. Jung's weapon is the method of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina's spell.
| Status: | QuickPick |
|---|---|
| Run time: | 99mins |
| Origin: | UNITED STATES |
| Aspect Ratio: | 16:9 |
A Freud in need
by Simon Miraudo, 31/07/2012 9:56:00 AM
It's on for Jung and old in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, where pioneering psychoanalysts go head to head and discover that a Freud in need is a Freud indeed. If puns are the lowest form of comedy (a suggestion I dispute, but for argument's sake...) then letter writing must be the least compelling form of drama. Unfortunately, that is the primary way in which Cronenberg depicts the struggle between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), an experimental analyst, and his spurned father figure, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), who is desperate to find a suitable disciple to carry on his work. It's a surprisingly static piece from a formerly ferocious filmmaker, mercifully made watchable by its central actors. The cast includes Vincent Cassel as an incredibly ethically dubious doctor (I can...
It's on for Jung and old in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, where pioneering psychoanalysts go head to head and discover that a Freud in need is a Freud indeed. If puns are the lowest form of comedy (a suggestion I dispute, but for argument's sake...) then letter writing must be the least compelling form of drama. Unfortunately, that is the primary way in which Cronenberg depicts the struggle between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), an experimental analyst, and his spurned father figure, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), who is desperate to find a suitable disciple to carry on his work.
It's a surprisingly static piece from a formerly ferocious filmmaker, mercifully made watchable by its central actors. The cast includes Vincent Cassel as an incredibly ethically dubious doctor (I can't recall a performance of his that wasn't ethically dubious, but how can we be disappointed with this typecasting when he's so good at it?), as well as Keira Knightley, who astounds as the hysterical Russian Sabina Spielrein. She's a would-be therapist with a skeleton that seems to be quite literally engineering an escape from her skin; if she had completely morphed into The Fly mid jaw-jut, I would not have been surprised. Knightley goes for it. That point is not up for debate.
The really juicy stuff here is the increasing divide between Jung and Freud, whose varied interpretation of the same craft - as well as their raging egos - saw them splinter off and create opposing factions that still exist to this day. Screenwriter Christopher Hampton (adapting his own stage play The Talking Cure) wouldn't want to invent opportunities for them to argue and break ties in person; fastidious fact-finders would have a field day. However, the movie inevitably suffers by keeping the two of them nations apart while resentment festers. Fassbender and Mortensen can narrate dismissive, cutting communiqués with the best of them (and no one can scoff quite like Mortensen) but the final act is particularly lacking in dramaturgical drive.
Though the Canadian auteur continues to deviate from the world of body horror with this European jaunt, he can't quite shake off the shackles of deviance. Jung famously engaged in a scandalous affair - built on masochism, destruction, and general freaky-deakiness - with his patient and protégé Sabina Spielrein. The duo's doomed relationship takes center stage, and while that offers up the kind of creepy, carnal delights we usually enjoy in a Cronenberg flick, I found myself more intrigued by the matters of the mind that are more fleetingly addressed.
3/5
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Member Reviews (44)
44 Member
Reviews
says
Want to be in the mood for it. Different
TJ
says
Interesting movie if you have dabbled in psychology. Keira over acts at times!
Gregory
says
This is good but should have been better, I know Cronengberg likes a certain darkness but in this case it did not work. Knightley's seems to be over acting is not convincing with an unnecessary Russian accent. On my very basic DVD player the sound was very poor, it would be good if the sound quality was remixed for the living room not the theatre. Because of the sound I found it hard to get into the story line and dialogue. The cinematography was beautifully and simply shot.
SK
says
I thought this film was pretty good, not excellent but it held my attention for the duration of the time. Kiera Knightly acts very well it in, although at times her accent was a little off-putting. I didn't think the ending was great but it was something different from the norm.
says
Too dark! Acting ok. No consistency to story line. All in all would certainly NOT recommend the film.
Marg F
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Over the top acting by Keira & under acting by the young married psychiatrist .
Could not watch to the end slow & no substance
Cairo49
says
I mean, it was well acted but totally lacking something, maybe heart or warmth, or some sense of humanity maybe.
Daisy
says
Didn't find this movie as enjoyable as I thought I would be. It was too heavy on the psychology side of things. Great acting from Kiera Knightley.
says
Great acting in this film though overall you'd have to be really into drama and psychology to watch the whole thing.
Anna E, Coen-Phadtare
says
Very much enjoyed the DVD and learnt a great deal more than I knew
about these two extraordinary men.
Acting was superb, both stars really got into character and clothing very
well thought out in terms of the period.
Timbo
says
An interesting drama although slow in some parts. The acting is very good bu all the main actors, especially Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen.
Rob Bowker
says
I found this movie disturbing and I stopped watching after 20 minutes
says
Terrible terrible terrible. I'm a therapist and it was atrocious. Keira Knightley did ok but the English accents on Freud and Jung were just wrong.
peppaspetals
says
Watched this on the plane but was to tired to concentrate. Wanted to see it again.
Disappointing. If you don't know anything about Freud's theories you may be lost. The explored some interesting theories but these were horribly overshadowed by the Keira Knightley bad acting. She was totally unconvincing and ruined the whole movie for me.
E
says
I would have tried to watch this movie, even if it was boring, except I could not sit through Keira's 'mad' performance. She acted crazy very well but it made me cringe so badly (every time she stuck her bottom jaw out) that I had to fast fwd. Therein I lost the plot and fast fwd to the end to read the 'last page' as it were.
Don't watch this if you can't stand actors playing 'crazy' entirely too well.
says
In a word: Boring.
Nigel W
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Psychoanalysts Jung and Freud increasingly have differences over the direction of the method. Apart from the strained relationship between the psychoanalysts, the film focuses on the relationship between Freud and one of his neurotic female patients. Interesting rather than riveting viewing that a least gives some insight into the world of pre. WWI repressed society. A lot of what Freud expounded was twaddle but I guess he was a pioneer in that he opened the mind. 3.5 stars
alistair c
says
Seems like most Quickflix viewers have the attention span of a gnat! This movie was a tad slow, but it was anything but boring. Fascinating would be a fairer description. Never really knew much about Freud or Jung but found this story quite interesting. Settings were wonderful and characters interesting. Well acted also. Knightly gave a great performance. So long as you are capable of sitting still for an hour or so and listening to good dialogue and an interesting story then give this one a go.
Morgan
says
I agree with other reviews; didn't quite understand what the movie was actually about. Had a few good laughs with Keira's performance.
Janine
says
I found this movie very interesting and a little funny in spots - mainly the scenes showing Freud's jealousy of Jung. Not sure if it was great acting or not but Keira Knightley gave me the creeps in this, maybe she was that good. It's a little scary to think that while her character is never actually 'cured' she became a psychiatrist herself and was trusted with patients! What does that say? With more than a few parts in this story that were worrying so I prefer to think it was not actual truth, but dramatic license. The movie looked wonderful, I was particularly interested in the locations and details of interiors, which were marvelous. The cast did their job well - as it was set in Switzerland those who played other nationalities; Russian, Austrian, German etc. spoke in accents of those languages while the Swiss did not. I was just sorry that there were not extras on the disc - I do like to see a bit of the 'making of' and interviews. But, I felt it was an enjoyable Saturday afternoon's DVD watching. Psychiatrist anyone?
Sue
says
Not one of Kiera Knightley's best movies. Found this movie a little on the boring side.
Angellen
says
Bored.....bored....bored.
Smiles
says
Tedious, boring. No real insight into the relationship between Freud and Jung (which is supposedly the film was supposed to be about). Inconsistent direction (why do some characters speak with the accent relevant to their characters and others do not?)
Annie S
says
Being a fan of David Cronenberg movies and of the gorgeous Viggor Mortenson, who regularly work together, I was a little disappointed in this movie. Still a good piece of work but not up to Cronenberg's usual standard, although Viggor was as good as ever in his role as Sigmund Freud, who I would have imagined to be as astute, arrogant and self opinionated with a high intelligence as Viggor created him to be.
Kiera Knightly put all her efforts in but I found the huge transformation from being a mad woman to almost normality a bit unbelievable.
Yes this movie failed in many ways but was still engaging and "watchable".
rrenton
says
Disappointing. Keira Knighley overacts to the point of hamming it,
Razor
says
Flat movie. Assembly-line direction by Cronenberg. He is better directing exploding heads. Knightly's histrionic performance is quite remarkable.
cambob101
says
Though the performances are all good (Keira's especially) and the premise is intriguing, I felt ultimately like the film never really went anywhere. Sometimes that is a good thing, but the pay-off has to come at some point and I felt like it never did with this film. A bare pass - 2.5 stars
Liz W
says
Its not often I can't sit all the way through a movie but only managed just under 1/2 an hour of A Dangerous Method. Could not stand Keira Knightly's wriggling and writhing. Incredibly incredibly boring - it just left me not really caring about any of these characters.
Janette
says
A bit slow but Kiera Knightley's performance is amazing.
John
says
I liked it, Keiras russian accent was good but not great (and to be honest Im not sure she had the right accent but whatever it was it worked 87%). Fassbender has depth! Viggo was really good as Freud, just excellent. Im not a foloower of pyscho analysis, so I dont know the historical accuracy of the content. I thought it was a pretty well told story though. Worth a look. Keira getting spanked is kind of both disturbing and curious at the same time - which I guess is the point, so yeah, it has legs then
Bellbird
says
Boring... tried to watch twice & each time fell asleep. A movie about Jung, Frued & psychoanalysis doesn't make for stimulating watching even with Kiera Knightley.
Becky
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Based on a true story but very slow - never quite made it anywhere
nic
says
i have given it one more star than i normally would as Kiera does such a good job in her role, a fine performance
McLovin
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I found it quite a slow, boring movie mainly because I don't know much about Freud's theories and had never heard of Jung prior to watching. I walked away not really understanding what I'd just seen.
joffa
says
ok watch maybe a bit 'slow' in places but overall, interesting
gerd
says
Whether or not the method is dangerous is not actually established in this movie, which is much more about the relationships of the three famous psychoanalysts. Not surprisingly, these relationships are both interesting and complex. The film also provides a nice reminder that people once used to hand-write long letters to each other. These particular letters are shown to be in German, so it's a bit of a shame that when read out loud they magically become English. Using the language of the real people involved and of the exquisite locations of the story would have made for a far more authentic film.
says
Interesting subject matter and beautiful person piece. Characters a little inaccessible and heir motivation unclear.Worth watching.
Anita L
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In the early scenes, Keira acts the "crazy" part very well. Don't know any of the history behind the characters, so found it a bit boring.
Intellectually stimulating.
says
A good attempt at a fascinating subject. Freud, one of the most influential thinkers in history. Jung, his brilliant and problematic prodegy. "Moral" issues such as sexuality and patient/doctor relationships are explored with gentle insight. This is an "art-house" movie, by which I mean the budget, action and amusement quotient is subservient to the story, the writing and the acting. Knightley's character seems a little over the top at first although apparently she based it faithfully on film of patients with similar real problems. The emergence of her suppressed self, the reasons, why she was like this, issues of early feminism and a view into the psychoanalitic method in it's infancy are intellectually stimulating. There is an interesting and unusual love story, Mortensen is fine as Freud and Fassbender is an actor at the top of his game.
Stuart
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This was quite a good movie, very interesting and enjoyable
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I found it stupid and boring
Lyn
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I failed to find any of the characters sympathetic, so this was an hour and a half of self absorption by the leads. Vaguely interesting historically.
Phil
says
Am not sure how people not interested in Psychology and Psychoanalysis's early steps in particular might react to this movie. I have always been interested in Freud, the character and his theories however I found myself bored watching this. Freud's books are so interesting but the fact of making a movie about Psychoanalysis doesn't seem right. Talking heads type of movie. The actors are doing a great job and it's pretty well filmed. The storyline is more about Jung than it is about Freud, more about an affair Jung had with one of his patients and the end of the Jung-Freud relationship. So unless you are curious like I was about the subject, forget about it!