From one of Canada’s most revered film directors comes A Dangerous Method starring Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, and Canadian actress Sarah Gadon. Helmed by the legendary David Cronenberg from a script by the famed playwright Christopher Hampton, A Dangerous Method tells the story of the birth of psychoanalysis at the dawn of the twentieth century and the tumultuous relationship between its two greatest figures – Sigmund Freud (Mortensen) and Carl Jung (Fassbender) – as they attempt to treat the greatly troubled, burgeoning psychoanalyst Sabrina Spielrein (Knightley).
An adaptation of Hampton’s own 2002 play The Talking Cure, David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method is a unique and skilfully executed look at two of medical history’s most important and controversial figures. It is a haunting and dynamic film that boasts awe inspiring performances from some of Hollywood’s best actors and holds up well in the larger cannon of Cronenberg’s work.
Known for his visceral, graphic, and sublime directorial style, David Cronenberg hardly disappoints his followers with A Dangerous Method. It is a dark tale of lust, desire, and social deviance that leaves man and woman alike undone. Perfectly at home with the psycho-sexual dynamic at the heart of Freudian psychoanalysis, the film uncompromisingly deconstructs the lives of Jung and Spielrein in typical Cronenberg style.
Their romance is a savage one – a hyper-sexual, painful love that is both violent and tender, and as a result, sickens as much as it evokes awe. But, in true psychoanalytical fashion, it is through the exploration of these carnal elements that the characters come to understand themselves and become whole. Like Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, in itself being a slight of hand while focusing on magic, A Dangerous Method is a perfect Freudian exploration of the psyche of one of psychoanalysis’ most important theorists. It is a film about Jung’s psychological journey more than anything else and is a blissfully executed one at that.
But there is more to A Dangerous Method than high concept; the story itself is an engaging tale of love, loss, and inner turmoil in which all the players are damaged goods. Thankfully, those major players are all able to handle the roles thrust upon them. Michael Fassbender’s restrained portrayal of Carl Jung is simply brilliant – in a single mannerism, he is able to capture the hope, despair, and self-loathing within the great psychologist. It is an interesting juxtaposition to Knightley’s Spielrein, whose suffering and very existence is so over the top. Fassbender is quickly proving himself to be one of Hollywood’s most versatile actors, and his arc in A Dangerous Method is one that is beautifully sad.
And then there is Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud. Every scene Mortensen is in is simply owned by his character, and in many ways, this is to be expected as A Dangerous Method marks the third collaboration between Cronenberg and Mortensen. Like Scorsese with De Niro decades before and Burton with Depp in the modern context, it would seem Cronenberg has found “his” actor in Viggo Mortensen. Thankfully Mortensen is always up to the task as he is one of cinema’s most dynamic character actors. Intellectually seductive, psychologically calculating and emotionally distant, Mortensen’s Freud is a wonderful interpretation of the famed father of psychoanalysis.
His scenes with Fassbender’s Jung are without a doubt the absolute highlight of this film. Their intellectual exchange and shift from mutual admiration and respect to emotional distance and disdain is beautifully laid out in this film and is actually quite heartbreaking. In reality, Freud and Jung did have quite the storied (intellectual) father-son bond and never has that bond and its eventual severing been more profoundly illustrated than in A Dangerous Method. Both the actors and the director do a tasteful and faithful job in portraying this split, a fault that changed the course of medical history.
Another noteworthy performance is that of Vincent Cassel as Freud’s contemporary Dr. Otto Gross. As another one of Cronenberg’s go-to actors, Cassel’s role may be small, but as a voice of challenge and temptation to Jung’s restraint and moral chastity, he is one of the films conceptual fulcrums. Like Edgar in King Lear, he is the fool, but he also completely embraces who and what he is – he may be a junkie and a social deviant, but he is truly free, which is the ultimate goal of psychoanalysis. Cassel’s portrayal of the famed psychologist is debaucherous, seductive, and layered with subtlety and conceptual depth and is the standout performance of the support cast.
Beyond the cinematic conventions and outstanding performances, perhaps the most worthwhile part of A Dangerous Method is the story itself. This is the seldom-told story of one of the twentieth century’s most important medical and scholastic advances and the tale of two of its greatest intellectuals. But it is also a violent love story that – despite its sublime character – will resonate with almost anyone on some level. Quite possibly the best Canadian film of 2011, A Dangerous Method is a visceral take on the historic-piece genre like only David Cronenberg could produce and is a film that will definitely haunt and linger within your mind long after the final credits cease.
