Review 573: A Dangerous Method
Based on the stage play The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton (the films screenwriter) which is based on the 1993 non-fiction book A Most Dangerous Method: The story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein by John Kerr. In 1904 on the eve of WWI, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) is sent to the pre-eminent psychiatric hospital, the Burgholzli in Zurich due to suffering from hysteria begins a new course of treatment with begins a new course of treatment with Swiss doctor Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) who is at the beginning of his career and lives with his pregnant wife Emma (Sarah Gadon)
David Cronenberg's direction is The way his camera focuses on Knightley and Gadon's incredibly expressive and admitedly photogenic faces speaks volumes. The cinematography is winsome and captures the beauty and of Austria and Switzerland in the early 20th Century. The production design (recreating Austria and Switzerland in the early 20th Century) is tremendous, the costumes are majestic and elegantly reflect the times and the characters personalities (Jung mainly dresses in very smart, formal looking suits suggesting that he's a man who commands respect; whereas Sabina Spielrein and Emma Jung dress in virginal whites to reflect (or in Spielrein's case) contrast her innocent status. The score by Howard Shore is grand and evocative,
Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender and Keira Knightley are fabulous in this film playing Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Sabina Spielrein respectively. Knightley in particular is mental. Her body language and facial expressions are off the chart in conveying Spielrein's mental state. Her accent is a little spotty in places but for the first 40+ mins of this film that doesn't really matter when the role doesn't require a lot of dialogue.
Jung and Freud's conversations are riveting They were incredibly intelectual, charasmatic and passionate people for their time.
4.5/5.
The Anonymous Critic.
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