Would you be willing to turn your back on your own set of principles –– even if those beliefs were the framework of your profession? This key question is the focal point of A Dangerous Method, a film directed by David Cronenberg that reaches into the mind of world-renown psychiatrist Carl Jung during his descent into adultery, in the midst of trying to find the secrets to human desire himself.
Adapted from the stage play The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton, the film focuses on Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), a psychiatrist who is hired to take in the mentally ill Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient. He uses “the talking cure method” adapted by neurologist Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortenson) to connect with Sabina. This connection, however, ends up being toxic to Jung, as the married man ends up infatuated with Sabina and pursues a violent, sexual relationship with her. She becomes his mistress, and the thrilled Jung suffers barely any repercussions from them other than a guilty conscience.
Cronenberg, who is an expert in psychological horror with flicks like Scanners, Video Drome and Naked Lunch, creates a film that soaks in the early 20th century German countryside with the beautifully shot environment, taking in every lake, field and forest. The music composition also helps set the mood of the film. Provided by Howard Shore, composer of the Lord of the Ring movies and many other Cronenberg movies, the music seamlessly blends into the scenes.
Knightley’s performance is terrifying, as her voice, face and body start contorting when she, as Sabina, is overwhelmed with her illness. Admittedly, her performance does take some getting used to, as her fake Russian accent, and how she tried to portray Sabina’s illness were at times distracting amid the rest of the film’s otherwise-calm atmosphere. It seemed even more out of place that as the affair begins, she sounds almost too formal, and there’s barely any sign that she had anything wrong with her aside from anger issues, when her earlier symptoms seemed too extreme to recover from that easily.
Fassbender is very charming as Jung, and does a wonderful job at capturing the parallel between his professional behavior and his uninhibited desires. One performance that was very impressive was Viggo’s, whose Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of Freud is one of the best depictions of the neurologist with his more egotistic side fueling his sense of superiority. The film even has some humorous moments as Freud’s stern, no-nonsense attitude plays off of Jung’s more casual, laid back personality.
The film does have its fair share of weaknesses as there is a lack of concern and severity to Jung’s issues because his wife never finds out about Sabina. Jung only feels guilt when it would have been more satisfying to see his wife lash at him for his multiple affairs. In fact, save for one or two scenes of Jung “showing he cares,” he really has no interest in his wife aside from her purity, and even that doesn’t stop him from getting intimate with two mistresses. The film doesn’t care to show us his other mistresses, which erases even more of the reality of Jung’s cheating that gave Hampton’s screenplay for Dangerous Liaisons a thrilling bite.
Despite its flaws, A Dangerous Method successfully shows how the three pioneers of psychoanalysis had been both with and against each other throughout the early 20th century. It focuses more on the eroticism than the danger in Jung’s actions, but the film is a must-see for anyone interested in the studies of Jung and Freud, as well as anyone who wants to enjoy a compelling film and feel smart at the same time.
A Dangerous Method is playing at the Living Room Theater on FAU’s Boca campus everyday at 4:45 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.
