Mar 9, 2012

A dangerous method [2011]


My David Cronenberg mini marathon continued with "A dangerous method" and I was pleasantly surprised, for I saw some interesting differences between his earlier movies and this one.

First of all, the beginning was much more intense and its pace helped get into the story very quickly and start understanding the characters and the situation right away. But, I still knew it was a Cronenberg movie when I realised 16 minutes have passed, but it felt like an hour- how does he do that?

Second of all, the script was better and more diverse, featuring some very introspective and thought-provoking subjects, as expected, since the movie is about the evolution of psychoanalysis. I loved the conversations between Freud and Jung and the experiments, and it was nice to see the interaction between the two doctors, especially when they realised they have opposite opinions, which of course, led to friction and interuption of their friendship- Jung wanted to move forward and research daring topics, whilst Freud never dared to question the wonders of the world around him.

One of the highlights of this film, for me anyway, was Vincent Cassel- his character, Otto Gross, was, by far, one of the most complex and interesting, and his charming presence made the story even more fascinating and appealing. Otto had a great take on monogamy, as he considered it to be a stressful concept and his motto was "Never repress anything" (case in point, his suicidal patient); he also comes up with the brilliant explanation of why Freud is obsessed with sexuality ("He is not getting any"). But, some great things never last long, so he dissapperead rather quickly.

Viggo Mortensen, as Freud, is good, and surprisingly unrecognisable; I wasn't very keen on his performance, mainly because his character doesn't evolve, and his strict mind holds him back. I thought Michael Fassbender was great, but I never stoped to analyse him or think about what he is doing- it felt like he was a driver for the story and for the other individuals, and maybe that is a very good thing. As for Keira Knightley, I still don't know what to think of it- was it exceptionally good or bad? I can't really tell, but overall, she delivered and it fitted the situation; special mention goes to Jung's wife, wonderfully played by Sarah Gadon.

"A dangerous method" is a good movie and one that raises many interesting questions, and for people interested in psycology and psychoanalysis, it will be a treat, but I think most will think of it as being quite boring. I don't recommend it to everyone, but if you have the patience and the willingness to see a movie about these topics, go for it!

12 comments:

  1. I watched the movie last month and I wrote something on my blog too, unfortunately its in Turkish so you cannot read it I guess :))

    Anyway I think it was a good thing that they came up with a movie about Sabina Spielrein, an important woman (and also forgotten) I like watching films about these kind of strong women.

    Film gave me the feeling "something is missing". In the beginning Jung is so naive and cute, at the end he's not charming at all, he changed his ideas but we couldn't see why. If you know a little about Jung's life, film is more understandable and interesting.

    by the way, good post :)))

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  2. @maledisant: Thank you so much, I am so happy to see new commenters and it's even nicer that you are from Turkey, I love the country and one of my friends is Turkish! As for the movie, I am, too, interested in Jung's life, especially on what he thought about dreams, and I am currently looking for some books on the topic! Thanks for dropping by, hope to see you soon!

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  3. I've been meaning to see this movie. Great review!

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  4. Great review Diana.

    I loved Cassell's character in this, he was so interesting that I found myself wishing the film was about him instead of Jung and Freud.

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  5. @Alex: Thanks, nice to have you around! I hope you will get to see it soon, it's good!
    @BT: I agree; like i said in my review, I was very intrigued by and attractive to his character, he stole the show!

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  6. Lovely article, I didn't like the movie and Knightley was noghtmarish but Mortensen and Cassel were indeed great.

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  7. @Sati: Thanks, glad you liked my review!

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  8. Nice that you liked the movie. I wasn't really into it though. Maybe I'm just not a fan of Cronenberg. By far the least role of Fassbender that I like haha. Nice review.

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  9. @Andina: I can see why you didn't like the movie, but why no love for Fassbender? at least he tried :) Thanks for dropping by!

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  10. Good review Aziza. The performances are good, even though Knightley may be over-acting quite a bit, and it looks great, but the film also just feels like a series of vignettes with no real feeling or drama to it. Basically what I’m trying to say was that I was bored and this story just never really got off the ground.

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  11. @Dan O: I get what you're saying; I felt that at times, too, but overall I enjoyed it! Thanks for dropping by!

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  12. I liked it. Interesting change of pace for Cronenberg. My highlights were Mortensen and Cassel. I wanted more of Cassel!

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