A Dangerous Method

I didn't know what to expect when going into see A Dangerous Method. The collaboration is such a eclectic fusion of talent.  At the helm there is director David Cronenberg, renowned for his visceral films that veer into the horror genre.  Then we have Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender, two actors who come from the school of method.  Then the limp noodle of the bunch, I have to be honest, was the mention of Kiera Knigthtley.  Though a previous Oscar nominee, Knightley has never astounded or transfixed on screen, she works with what she has but had so far demonstrated little range.

Now back to the plot, the gloriously tense plot.  It begins at the dawn of  psychoanalysis, focusing primarily on Carl Jung (Fassbender), his observations, opinions, and relationship with Sigmund Freud (Mortensen, who soaks up the screen with a measured but relaxed turn as the original shrink).

Freud takes a shine to the younger, less experienced Dr. Jung, taking him under his wing as they delve into the uncharted field of psychoanalysis.

When Jung takes on the case of Sabina Spielrein (Knighley) the Jung and Freud dream team is thrown into jeopardy.  Spielrein is, for all intents and purposes, the guinea pig of the operation.  Spielrein's condition conforms to Freud's theories of sexual repression being central to the experience of psychological anxiety.  Jung resists this notion, though this resistance may stem from denial for when he embarks on an affair with Spielrein his own repressive habits are highlighted, and he would prefer to develop a psychological study that is not so centralised in the realm of sexuality.

First of all, my problem with this film is how it was advertised.  Sure, lunacy and spanking are part of the story, but only initially.  The trailer makes it out to be a fetishistic, psycho-orgy.  To me Cronenberg is more interested in looking at the tensions evolving between Jung and Freud as psychoanalysis develops.  The tension, the diverging opinions, the father-son, possibly underlined sexual attraction between the two.  (Who knows though, maybe I'm just taking Freudian theme and getting ahead of myself).

Spielrein is the foil and catalyst by which the cogs turn in the movie, which is why I was (shockingly) impressed with Knightley's performance.  She did hysteria without being caricature, she has mastered the physical tics and bulging eyes thus denoting that paranoid fear that comes out of repressed anxieties.  These all sound a little stereotypical sure, but she does this in such a subtle way, contradictory I know, a lunatic being subtle.  Maybe it's because my past opinions of Knigthley veer on the side of can't stand, this was almost poetic.

A must see for performances alone.  I have heard others say the story line lagged, or something to that effect, but the slow, defined unfold of the plot reflect the tension between the three leads as well as underlining the conservatism of the society they were a part of.  Radical thinking such as their's wouldn't have been accepted overnight.