In 1901, Sabina Speilrein(Keira Knightley) is admitted into a Swiss medical institution after being judged mentally insane. There, she is put under the supervision of Carl Jung(Michael Fassbender). At this phase of his career, Jung is interested in findings of Sigmund Freud(Viggo Mortensen). At the same time, Jung is unhappy about how his career is shaping up. But all this changes due to Sabina, Freud and an unexpected catalyst in the form of Otto Gross(Vincent Cassel).
Directed by David Cronenberg, this movie focuses on the life of Carl Jung from the start of the 20th century to a few years before the beginning of First World War. The movie tries to capture the relationship between Jung, Freud and Sabina. Sabina forms the link between the two. For a viewer who has not read Freud or Jung (like me), the movie becomes a tale of man experiencing challenges on both personal and professional fronts. On personal front, the man is caught between the a beautiful wife and a mistress, never letting go of both. On the professional side, he is at loggerheads with his mentor. But is the man brilliant? This question is never answered in the movie. As a result, the movie is extremely slow with characters with no depth and flashes of brilliant acting.
Out of the performances, Viggo Mortensen stands out as Freud, mainly because of the way he delivers his lines and mannerisms. Keira Knightly as Sabina shows promise in the beginning and that is it. Michael Fassbender plays the victim here and he reacts as Jung to all the actors around him. He reacts well. But then, there is nothing more to this role. Vincent Cassel makes us laugh in a small role.
Sans the violence associated with the usual David Cronenberg movie, this one lacks the usual excitement. If you are too lazy to check out on the net for the friendship and the rivalry between Jung and Freud, then this is a good learning board. Otherwise, skip it.
Directed by David Cronenberg, this movie focuses on the life of Carl Jung from the start of the 20th century to a few years before the beginning of First World War. The movie tries to capture the relationship between Jung, Freud and Sabina. Sabina forms the link between the two. For a viewer who has not read Freud or Jung (like me), the movie becomes a tale of man experiencing challenges on both personal and professional fronts. On personal front, the man is caught between the a beautiful wife and a mistress, never letting go of both. On the professional side, he is at loggerheads with his mentor. But is the man brilliant? This question is never answered in the movie. As a result, the movie is extremely slow with characters with no depth and flashes of brilliant acting.
Out of the performances, Viggo Mortensen stands out as Freud, mainly because of the way he delivers his lines and mannerisms. Keira Knightly as Sabina shows promise in the beginning and that is it. Michael Fassbender plays the victim here and he reacts as Jung to all the actors around him. He reacts well. But then, there is nothing more to this role. Vincent Cassel makes us laugh in a small role.
Sans the violence associated with the usual David Cronenberg movie, this one lacks the usual excitement. If you are too lazy to check out on the net for the friendship and the rivalry between Jung and Freud, then this is a good learning board. Otherwise, skip it.
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Rating: **
Tags: Movies,Michael Fassbender,Viggo Mortensen,Keira Knightley,Vincent Cassel,David Cronenberg,Drama
Never mind Freud and Jung and Sabina, or even the fact that you wrote such a nice review. I'll watch it just for viggo mortenson :-)
ReplyDelete@Sudhagee- :) I forgive you. :)
ReplyDeleteI think skipping this will be a good option.
ReplyDelete@Harish - That is right! :)
ReplyDeleteViggo slightly disappointed me, but Keira is doing an incredible performance.
ReplyDelete@Mael - I'm surprised you found the time to see the movie. :p
ReplyDelete