A DANGEROUS METHOD – SLIFF Review

Psychoanalysis is arguably still as polarizing in today’s society as it was a century ago when Sigmund Freud first conceived it. The very idea of all human neurosis being derived from a primal sexual foundation has controversy written all over it, which is what makes it such a fitting topic for David Cronenberg. Cronenberg’s career has spanned from RABID (1977) to A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005) and most vividly with VIDEODROME (1983) and NAKED LUNCH (1991) – all of these films have one thing in common; sexually charged, taboo subject matter.

A DANGEROUS METHOD tells the story of Carl Jung, a protégé of Freud’s, and his triangular relationship with him and patient Sabina Spielrein during the emergence of psychoanalysis. Jung and Sabina go through a sort of symbiotic metamorphosis. Cronenberg focuses on the shift in character that occurs in Jung, which occurs in conjunction with his treatment of Sabina. They’re relation begins as strictly doctor-patient but transgresses into a sexual enlightening experience for both parties, leading to events to affect the professional relationship of all three characters.

For Cronenberg, A DANGEROUS METHOD is impressively subdued. The film is far less visually graphic and the events are far more cerebral than visceral. Regardless, the thematic elements of sexual taboo, fear and perversion are still very much in play. The film is adapted from the book of the same name by John Kerr, which lends the film its historical relevance. This is most likely the primary reason for a more restrained approach, but the film still works remarkably well.

Michael Fassbender (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) plays Carl Jung, a highly educated and passionate follower of Freud’s theories, the first to apply these concepts in treating a patient. That patient in Sabina Spielrein, played with remarkable intensity by Keira Knightley (NEVER LET ME GO). Freud is played by Viggo Mortensen (THE ROAD). Each character carries a specific level of emotional intensity throughout the film, allowing the dialogue-driven story to convey peaks and valleys to further engage the audience. Vincent Cassel (BLACK SWAN) plays Otto Gross, a small character with a significant purpose as a catalyst for Jung’s metamorphosis. Cassel also provides the sole source of crucial comic relief as the morally uninhibited and sexually obsessed doctor turned patient in Jung’s reluctant care.

Mortensen, playing a somewhat older character, is the calming element of the triangle. Freud rarely steps away from his levelheaded, perhaps stubbornly confident roots. Freud is very much a supporting character, a vessel through which Jung and Sabina channel their destructive yet therapeutic behavior. Fassbender strips away the confidence of Jung’s youthful ambition, breaking his psyche down into its conflicting parts from which he rebuilds himself. He shows the most range within his single character. But its Keira Knightley who outdoes herself in A DANGEROUS METHOD, showing an entirely new depth to her range, an extreme not similar to but far beyond her performance in DOMINO.

Easily the most exhilarating and profound moment in A DANGEROUS METHOD is during Jung’s initial session with Sabina. The film begins with Sabina being carried, kicking and screaming, into the hospital where Jung will attempt to treat her. In this long, boldly static scene the camera remains stationary. Cronenberg composes the frame carefully, creating a geometrically aggressive shot with Sabina in the foreground and Jung seated just off to the side and behind her, just slightly out of focus as he proceeds to dissect Sabina’s condition through a series of questions. Knightley’s performance is at first intimidating, even off-putting as she virtually assaults the viewer with her interpretation of Sabina’s physically manifesting psychosis. However, after a very short period of time, as I began to be drawn into the intricacies of her acting I began to realize the brilliance of the scene. Cronenberg set up the shot, and then allowed Knightley to carry the scene and she does with spellbinding conviction.

A DANGEROUS METHOD is a sexual film, without being blatantly graphic and direct with that sexuality. Cronenberg works so comfortably within this context that it never feels awkward or forbidden, but rather like the logical progression of such relatively fringe science to the time. Psychoanalysis is a science that feels much more like an art, a curious juxtaposition that really doesn’t occur in any other branch of the sciences. Cronenberg successfully presents a portrait of two maverick minds in a way that humanizes them, instead of placing them infallibly on pedestals. A DANGEROUS METHOD suggests the human animal is not greater than its primal instincts, but has the power to accept itself for what it is and in turn discover freedom from blindly imposed sexual morals.