A Dangerous Method
David Cronenberg proves once again why he is one of Canada’s best filmmakers. This time he takes on Carl Jung’s early years of psychoanalysis and his relationship with Sigmund Freud. At the centre of the film, however, is Jung’s relationship with one of his early patients, Sabina Spielrein, who became a psychoanalyst herself.
A Dangerous Method boasts gorgeous cinematography, a good score and an intelligent provocative screenplay (focusing on sex of course). It also features outstanding performances by Michael Fassbender (as Jung) and Viggo Mortensen (as Freud). Keira Knightley plays Sabina and I was not as impressed by her performance, though it is likely just because I am not a Knightley fan.
All in all, A Dangerous Method was a fascinating film to watch and to think about (I have always enjoyed psychoanalysis). I wished it could have continued into Jung’s later years, but to catch a glimpse of the early years with Freud is a great start. A solid ***+. My mug is up.
P.S. I should mention that there are some rather disturbing scenes in this film.
Hi Vic, when are you going to give a film something other than a ***+ or an occasional ****? You seem to give ***+ to most films whether you like them or not! Come on, use the whole range, you've got 7 data points to play with!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I do believe I have addressed this problem in previous posts. I don't have the time (unfortunately) to watch all the films out there, so I rarely go to a film or purchase a film until I am fairly confident (based on critical reviews and my gut) that I am likely to give it ***+ or ****. I also don't have the time to write about all the films I watch, so those films which get *** or less are sometimes just not mentioned (though I did blast Horrible Bosses not that long ago).
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