A Dangerous Method
Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud became famous for their psychoanalysis of others. But how would they dissect and find meaning in their own dreams and passions?
That’s one of the questions at the heart of A Dangerous Method, a deliberately paced but emotionally complex period piece from veteran Canadian director David Cronenberg.
The film essentially is a three-character piece that begins in early 20th century Austria, where Jung (Michael Fassbender) is treating a hallucinatory Russian woman named Sabina (Keira Knightley), using methods of psychotherapy that were considered breakthroughs at the time. After Sabina makes sufficient progress and develops an interest in his work, Jung gives her a part-time job on his staff while retaining her as a patient.
What results isn’t exactly a love triangle, but rather a low-key thriller of sorts about sexual obsession in which those who specialize in analysis are the ones whose behavior is being analyzed. Jung develops romantic feelings for Sabina, which threatens his relationship with his mentor Freud (Viggo Mortensen), whose methods differ from those of Jung as each tries to gain widespread credibility.
The performances are solid, with Fassbender (Jane Eyre) playing Jung as a man whose calm exterior masks a repressed lust and passion that places him on the brink of madness. Knightley is less assured with a Russian accent and a character whose insanity is never clearly defined and its cure not pinpointed. Mortensen, reuniting with Cronenberg after his Oscar-nominated turn in Eastern Promises (2007), is effectively understated as Freud.
The script by Christopher Hampton (Atonement), which he adapted from his own play and the John Kerr book A Most Dangerous Method, seems to respect Freud’s accomplishments but isn’t a fan of his psychology. The film portrays him as a pompous, sex-crazed loon whose conclusions are suspect.
Cronenberg has a few dark twists up his sleeve, but it’s a relatively demure entry on the resume of a filmmaker who might have taken this material in a different direction in his younger days. Visually, the film struggles to break free from its stagebound roots.
Instead, A Dangerous Method is straightforward but consistently compelling, and it’s thought-provoking enough to turn moviegoers into amateur psychologists.
Rated R, 99 minutes.