Review: A Dangerous Method (2011)

This holiday weekend I saw a very un-holiday film, A Dangerous Method, directed by David Cronenberg.  Two of the main characters are men whose work has penetrated our subconscious and certainly our vocabulary in the modern world, yet I think I’m not alone in knowing little about their lives.

Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender

The film follows two separate storylines that intersect through one of the lead characters, Carl Jung, played by Michael Fassbender.  In 1904 Jung takes on a young woman patient at a Swiss clinic, Sabina Spielrein, played by Keira Knightley.  Spielrein is a brilliant but extremely troubled woman who plans on becoming a doctor.  Jung decides to try Freud’s talking cure with her, the first time he has done so with a patient.  He is successful in returning her to a productive life and encourages her studies to become a doctor and psychoanalyst.  The two eventually become more than doctor/patient and friends, a relationship that complicates life for the very married Jung.

Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen

The second story is the relationship between the older founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, and Jung, the younger and ambitious colleague. The two men finally meet and initially become close friends.  Freud becomes Jung’s mentor and convinced he’s found his heir apparent to carry on his work after he’s gone. Jung first sees Freud as a father figure and collaborator and cultivates the relationship.  As the film progresses it focuses more on Jung’s disagreement with Freud’s theories, and the development of his own school of thought. Their relationship is ruptured and yet always connected by their personal and professional relationships with Sabina Spielrein.

There are some great performances in this film from the leads and supporting actors.  Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung goes from self-contained doctor and perfect family man to out-of-control lover so perfectly you are riveted any time he is on screen. Viggo Mortensen gives one of his best performances as the “legend” that is Sigmund Freud and brings to life this brilliant man with very human failings.  The scenes between Fassbender and Mortensen are the best in the film.  Supporting actor kudos goes to Vincent Cassel as Freud protégé and Jung patient Otto Gross.  Sarah Gadon is also convincing in a small role as Emma, Jung’s rich and respectable wife.      

Vincent Cassel

Less successful is Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein.  Knightley as an actor lacks subtlety and this makes her performance more than a bit over the top.  She’s a bit more convincing in her final scenes in the film as she reins in her performance and becomes more believable as the character.  I also felt there was not enough chemistry between her and Fassbender to make us believe the inevitability of their relationship, though Fassbender is excellent at portraying passion and sexual obsession.

Michael Fassbender and Sarah Gadon

I highly recommend this film though it is definitely not for everyone. It deals with very uncomfortable and very human subject matter.  Thanks to two very good actors and good performances Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung come down from their pedestals and become people living with the same temptations and shortcomings as the rest of us.  

A Dangerous Method is based on the play The Talking Cure by Christopher Hampton, with wonderful music by Howard Shore.  Method was filmed in Vienna, Zurich, and other beautiful locations.  The film is rated R.   


Update: "Bonus" Interview about the film with Viggo Mortensen.