A Dangerous Method (2011)
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The film explores the turbulent and complex relationships between the pioneers of psychoanalysis and analytical psychology.
The story
In August 1904, Sabina Spielrein arrives at the pre-eminent psychiatric hospital in Zürich suffering from hysteria. She begins treatment with the young Swiss doctor Carl Jung, who utilizes word association and dream interpretation. Jung and chief of medicine Eugen Bleuler recognize her intelligence and allow her to assist in their experiments. As she provides empirical data for psychoanalysis, she discovers the science is founded on the doctors' own observations. Jung and Freud begin a long-distance correspondence, sharing dreams and analyzing each other, with Freud eventually adopting Jung as his heir and agent.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1904, Sabina Spielrein begins treatment with Carl Jung for hysteria. Jung discovers her condition was linked to childhood sexual trauma and eventually allows her to assist in his experiments. As Spielrein provides empirical data, she realizes the new science of psychoanalysis is built on the doctors' own self-observations. Jung and Sigmund Freud begin a deep correspondence, sharing dreams and analyzing one another, with Freud taking Jung as his agent. Jung develops a deep attraction to Spielrein, eventually beginning an affair that includes rudimentary bondage and spanking, despite his initial resistance to breaking the taboo of sex with a patient. The relationship becomes complicated as Jung publishes her treatise while she seeks to conceive a child. After Jung refuses to leave his wife, Spielrein appeals to Freud for help, forcing Jung to confess their relationship. The two men eventually travel to America but experience growing friction over the scientific limits of psychiatric inquiry. Following Freud's collapse, they continue to correspond but eventually end their relationship due to increasing hostilities. The film concludes with a footnote detailing the fates of the four analysts: Gross starved to death, Freud died of cancer, Spielrein and her daughters were shot by Nazis, and Jung became the world's leading psychologist before dying in 1961.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 99
- Production countries
- Canada; Germany; United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Cronenberg
- Writers
- Christopher Hampton · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Keira Knightley · Sabina Spielrein; Viggo Mortensen · Sigmund Freud; Michael Fassbender · Carl Jung; Sarah Gadon; Vincent Cassel; Julie Chevallier; Katharina Palm; Marc Engelhard
- Genres
- historical drama
- Themes
- Psychoanalysis; Sexual Repression; Scientific Inquiry; Transference
- Tone and mood
- Clinical; Tense; Historical
- Premise and plot tags
- Historical Drama; Biographical; Psychological Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Talking Cure (2002 stage play) based on A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein (1993 non-fiction book)
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, many praising the performances of Mortensen and Fassbender and Cronenberg's direction. It appeared on several critics' year-end lists.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 76 · scale: 100 · review count: 41
- Awards and nominations
- Golden Globe · Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film's structure is based on the structure of the Siegfried opera.; Christoph Waltz was initially cast as Sigmund Freud but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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