Despite being made by Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg, A Dangerous Method was only just released in the Great White North. It was one of my most anticipated films of the fall, and yet another film I missed out on at TIFF (here's an early wish that Cosmopolis will have more than two screenings when it gets announced later this year). So as you can guess, I did not wait very long to see it this past weekend. Unfortunately, I may not have truly considered why it was put off for so long.
Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) is an upcoming and coming psychologist who has begun to use a newly developed method of analysis on hysterical patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). As he starts to understand her troubles and their overt sexual nature, he begins conversations with another celebrated psychologist, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). As his relationship with Spielrein begins to take a sexual turn, his conversations with Freud start to breathe life into what we now know as psychoanalysis.
Cronenberg has always evaded definition as a filmmaker, and his work here in A Dangerous Method is no different. You can see the intense close-ups as well as the lure and gaze of a master, but he seems to have been dialed back here. Instead of brutal violence or grotesque body horror, we get a very intimate story that seems very well out of his realm of typical filmmaking. He allows the performances and the dialogue to tell the story, and never lets the sexual elements become too overreaching. I was surprised by just how quiet the film was, and how it felt so un-Cronenbergian (I am certain that is a word by now). It shows his maturity as a filmmaker, and also shows how he continues to challenge himself – never making the same movie, and always flip-flopping on his genres.
But as much as I appreciate the effort Cronenberg put forth, I feel the material is the biggest hurdle holding the film back from the awards glory it should have deserved. Much like War Horse and Carnage, the film is based on a play. And because of this, A Dangerous Method feels very constricted and forced to stay within the confines already set out during the writing. It zips along conversationally through a period of around ten years, never stopping to really examine what is going on with the characters. We get small tidbits along the way, and nothing more. It is bad enough that the film feels like it starts and ends in the middle of the story (not unlike other small films from last year like Martha Marcy May Marlene and Fassbender's breakout film Shame), but it is deeply unsatisfying for scenes to begin leading to one thing, ending, and then starting again in a whole different year or time period. It feels very jumpy in this respect, and incredibly difficult to gauge. It is easy to follow along, but frustrating to try and decipher the "why this" and "why not this".
Neither Fassbender nor Mortensen deliver their best work here, but manage to be downright fascinating when they are facing off against each other on-screen. Their chemistry is intense, and watching them spar through psychoanalysis is the clear highlight of the film. Without raising their voices or their fists, you can tell these two are locked in a vicious battle, and it only lets up when they are away from each other. While Mortensen has the benefit of being low-key and an almost background figure within the film, Fassbender is front and centre for its majority. He carries the film well, but you can see he is struggling. We know from Shame and X-Men: First Class that he is a powerful talent, and is destined for the Hollywood elite. So why does he seem to flounder here? Is he having just as much trouble gauging and defining the material as Cronenberg seems to be? I found myself consistently baffled by someone whose performances just seemed to get better and better. But here, he sadly underwhelms.
It surprisingly is Knightley who picks up the slack and delivers the film's best performance. From her initial introduction right until her final scene, she is a force to be reckoned with. Her vivid shifts between being hysterical and being in control are spectacular. I originally thought she was overdoing it with her bizarre facial gestures, but as the film went on, they felt tame in comparison to how deep she goes with her performance. She may be the object of the most sexual ambivalence (one of the few Cronenberg-isms within the film), but she is also the most well developed and constructed character. Where Fassbender fumbles, she recovers and carries the film between the portions without Freud/Jung sparring. This is quite likely her best work to date, and an early example of some of the brilliant material she may have in store for the future.
Supporting turns from Sarah Gadon as Jung's wife Emma and an all too small appearance by Vincent Cassell are well done, but both feel entirely underused. Both are important in the grand scheme of things, but evidently not important enough to not feel like mere plot devices.
In the end, I managed to be fascinated by A Dangerous Method, but disappointed at the same time. I can continue blaming the material, but it feels like of the three leads, only Knightley really brought her A-game. After the glorious double-header of A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, I think I had come to expect too much of Cronenberg. He is a man who became famous for his disgusting other- worldly work in the realm of horror and fantasy. But then, a disappointing Cronenberg film still manages to be a worthwhile endeavor anyway when compared to the rest of the dreck Hollywood pumped out last year.
7/10.
Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) is an upcoming and coming psychologist who has begun to use a newly developed method of analysis on hysterical patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). As he starts to understand her troubles and their overt sexual nature, he begins conversations with another celebrated psychologist, Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). As his relationship with Spielrein begins to take a sexual turn, his conversations with Freud start to breathe life into what we now know as psychoanalysis.
Cronenberg has always evaded definition as a filmmaker, and his work here in A Dangerous Method is no different. You can see the intense close-ups as well as the lure and gaze of a master, but he seems to have been dialed back here. Instead of brutal violence or grotesque body horror, we get a very intimate story that seems very well out of his realm of typical filmmaking. He allows the performances and the dialogue to tell the story, and never lets the sexual elements become too overreaching. I was surprised by just how quiet the film was, and how it felt so un-Cronenbergian (I am certain that is a word by now). It shows his maturity as a filmmaker, and also shows how he continues to challenge himself – never making the same movie, and always flip-flopping on his genres.
But as much as I appreciate the effort Cronenberg put forth, I feel the material is the biggest hurdle holding the film back from the awards glory it should have deserved. Much like War Horse and Carnage, the film is based on a play. And because of this, A Dangerous Method feels very constricted and forced to stay within the confines already set out during the writing. It zips along conversationally through a period of around ten years, never stopping to really examine what is going on with the characters. We get small tidbits along the way, and nothing more. It is bad enough that the film feels like it starts and ends in the middle of the story (not unlike other small films from last year like Martha Marcy May Marlene and Fassbender's breakout film Shame), but it is deeply unsatisfying for scenes to begin leading to one thing, ending, and then starting again in a whole different year or time period. It feels very jumpy in this respect, and incredibly difficult to gauge. It is easy to follow along, but frustrating to try and decipher the "why this" and "why not this".
Neither Fassbender nor Mortensen deliver their best work here, but manage to be downright fascinating when they are facing off against each other on-screen. Their chemistry is intense, and watching them spar through psychoanalysis is the clear highlight of the film. Without raising their voices or their fists, you can tell these two are locked in a vicious battle, and it only lets up when they are away from each other. While Mortensen has the benefit of being low-key and an almost background figure within the film, Fassbender is front and centre for its majority. He carries the film well, but you can see he is struggling. We know from Shame and X-Men: First Class that he is a powerful talent, and is destined for the Hollywood elite. So why does he seem to flounder here? Is he having just as much trouble gauging and defining the material as Cronenberg seems to be? I found myself consistently baffled by someone whose performances just seemed to get better and better. But here, he sadly underwhelms.
It surprisingly is Knightley who picks up the slack and delivers the film's best performance. From her initial introduction right until her final scene, she is a force to be reckoned with. Her vivid shifts between being hysterical and being in control are spectacular. I originally thought she was overdoing it with her bizarre facial gestures, but as the film went on, they felt tame in comparison to how deep she goes with her performance. She may be the object of the most sexual ambivalence (one of the few Cronenberg-isms within the film), but she is also the most well developed and constructed character. Where Fassbender fumbles, she recovers and carries the film between the portions without Freud/Jung sparring. This is quite likely her best work to date, and an early example of some of the brilliant material she may have in store for the future.
Supporting turns from Sarah Gadon as Jung's wife Emma and an all too small appearance by Vincent Cassell are well done, but both feel entirely underused. Both are important in the grand scheme of things, but evidently not important enough to not feel like mere plot devices.
In the end, I managed to be fascinated by A Dangerous Method, but disappointed at the same time. I can continue blaming the material, but it feels like of the three leads, only Knightley really brought her A-game. After the glorious double-header of A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, I think I had come to expect too much of Cronenberg. He is a man who became famous for his disgusting other- worldly work in the realm of horror and fantasy. But then, a disappointing Cronenberg film still manages to be a worthwhile endeavor anyway when compared to the rest of the dreck Hollywood pumped out last year.
7/10.