A Dangerous Method ☆☆☆

When I first started watching this film I thought "Yes, this is going to be a four or four and a half star review I get to write, or very least it will be a little more than 'worth the watch'".


It totally had me at the start, but lost me about halfway through. The problem? I'm not entirely sure, its as though the story had so much momentum at the beginning that when it got to the middle it just ran out of steam, floundering a little in the failing relationship of Freud and Jung. It was also edited quite badly (IMHO), as I found it to jump from one thing to the next without much in the way of storytelling.

I know Cronenberg has his own unique style, as all good directors do, but I found this film a little flat compared to the other films of his I have seen.

Perhaps it was due to the fact I know very little about Freud or Jung, apart from their work in psychoanalysis and anything remotely sexual in conversation is often called a Freudian slip. I knew nothing of Sabina Spielrein, the Russian patient of Dr Jung's with whom he has an affair.

The film follows the early years of Jung and Freud's relationship and the impact of Spielrein upon it. It is beautifully acted by all involved, how Keira Knightley wasn't nominated for an Oscar or BAFTA is slightly beyond me because she was incredibly convincing. Michael Fassbender is wonderfully repressed as Jung, his stilted marriage and stiff mentality proved a great dilemma when faced with Spielrein's need for sexual punishment - he couldn't resist. He portrayed Jung as this man who was not unfeeling, but also didn't realise quite how much his wealth affected his relationship with Freud.

Freud was excellently played by Cronenberg's favourite, Viggo Mortensen, whose lack of money compared to Jung was obviously quite a sting for his ego. He was also authoritative but evidently felt hi mini-me was not quite living up to the clone he had hoped for.

This is going to be a terribly short review as there's not much more I can say except: it was all very well acted, the scenery and costumes were gorgeous, it had a great build up but just didn't hold my interest the whole way through.

I'd love to hear from others who have seen it, whether or not they agree or hold an entirely different opinion.