A Dangerous Method

This is the story of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein. A book was written about these people by John Kerr, and Christopher Hampton wrote in 1997 a screenplay based on the book and intended as a vehicle for Julia Roberts. This never came to fruition, and Christopher Hampton adapted his screenplay to a play, The Talking Cure, which had great success at the National Theatre in London, starring Ralph Fiennes and Johdi May. In 2002 David Cronenberg made, with Ralph Fiennes, the film Spider and, through his acquaintance with Fiennes, Cronenberg became interested in The Talking Cure. Christopher Hampton adapted his play back into a screenplay which became this film, A Dangerous Method. So - Is it a book? Is it a play? Is it a film? You decide.

Spielrein, played by Kiera Knightley, acting for all she's worth, was initially Jung's patient. The film recounts how she became his lover and subsequently became a psychiatrist. Jung was married with an increasing number of children, and whether there was ever a physical relationship between him and Spielrein is pure speculation, but it makes a good story. Jung is here played by the ubiquitous Michael Fassbender, and Freud is played by Vigo Mortensen. Freud in this film is really a spectator on Jung's antics, and these do lead to split between them because of Jung's deceptiveness.

This is a period film with some tendencies towards the worst of period films - idealisation of imagined past manners, immaculate interiors, beautifully-maintained old cars, scenes set in front of beautiful old buildings with immaculate grounds. etc. For Cronenberg this represents a considerable step towards the middle of the road. This film is dialogue-bound and not very cinematic. Worst of all, despite having been written by a respected playwright, it has some terrible lines. Cronenberg has said that he was drawn to this project. My only question is: what was he thinking?

I am not a fan of Keira Knightley but here she acquits herself well, with much effort and commitment. I couldn't understand why she was given a bath with her clothes still on, but I'm not worrying too much about that, although it was a bit disappointing. Mortensen has the best part as Freud while Fassbender's Jung seems young, one-dimensional and uninteresting. The story is really a romance dressed up in the paraphernalia of psychiatry and, although the film is not long, I found myself looking at my watch several times. There are some BDSM scenes which, I suppose, were useful when the trailer was made.