In a week of cinematic riches raining down from all directions, it’s tough to grab a turn at the mic for a moment. A.O. Scott turns our attention to A Dangerous Method by setting it on the pedestal of NYT’s Critic Pick.
“A Dangerous Method” is full of ideas about sexuality — some quite provocative, even a century after their first articulation — but it also recognizes and communicates the erotic power of ideas. There are scenes of kinky activity between Sabina and Jung that will no doubt enjoy long life in specialized corners of the Internet, but the most unsettling aspect of “A Dangerous Method” may be the links it suggests between sex and thinking. The mind is both slave and master of the body’s appetites, and the absurd and terrifying task of stabilizing that dynamic, in theory and in practice, is embraced equally by the film and the fragile, serious historical figures who inhabit it.
Mr. Cronenberg is, of course, one of the great living practitioners of the horror genre, with a history of bringing fears both primal and contemporary — about sex, dreams, technology, the media, the grossness of the body — to vivid, shocking and grotesquely funny cinematic life. After the brilliant and nightmarish creepshows of the ’80s (including “Scanners,” “Videodrome,” “Dead Ringers” and “The Fly”), he has recently worked in a more classical and at least superficially less extreme mode. Given its long stretches of earnest and erudite scientific talk, “A Dangerous Method” might seem to be his calmest and most cerebral film yet.
It is and it isn’t. The ambient quiet allows you to pick up tremors of deep dread, and Mr. Cronenberg’s fastidious and elegant compositions hum with the latent possibility of chaos and destruction. Jung, with his neatly trimmed mustache and his studious Protestant politesse, seems to embody an ideal of upright Germanic propriety. He is serious, attentive and curiously passive, becoming aware of his own feelings only when other people point them out to him.
…Ms. Knightley’s performance might at first seem grotesque and overdone. She twists her arms together and extends her lower jaw like a demented snapping turtle, stammering (in a thick Russian accent) and making her already prominent eyes pop out of her skull. But what looks like willful freakishness is crucial to the film’s logic, which depends partly on the contrast between Sabina’s hysteria and the respectable reserve of Carl and Emma’s domestic life, and partly on Sabina’s growing ability to understand and express herself.
Ms. Knightley’s facial expressions and bodily contortions seem deliberately drawn from the 19th-century iconography of hysteria. But if she is a revenant from an age before Prozac, Sabina is also an uncannily modern spirit, whose torments are as recognizable as her symptoms are outlandish. And Jung, as he gropes after ultimate meanings and obscure symbols, is surely one of us, an ambivalent inhabitant of the country Freud discovered. “A Dangerous Method” is so strange and unnerving precisely because the world it depicts is, in the end, for better and for worse, the only one we know.
Another wonderful interview with DC on the Tavis Smiley show, about ADM http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/filmmaker-david-cronenberg/#.Ts1KlhDx4bk.twitter
Another wonderful interview with DC on the Tavis Smiley show, about ADM http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/filmmaker-david-cronenberg/#.Ts1KlhDx4bk.twitter
Contrary to rumor, the reviews are actually pretty good. ADM has a 75 at Metacritic with 2 perfect scores so far; 83% at Rotten Tomatoes; still waiting on the BFCA score. Cronenberg has a Gotham Tribute coming up on Nov. 28, and it’s entirely possible that the NYFCC will honor the film in a major category, seeing that most of its raves have been from New York critics.
In any case, I can’t wait to see it. Cronenberg doing Freud and Jung and Spielrein… oh my!!
Contrary to rumor, the reviews are actually pretty good. ADM has a 75 at Metacritic with 2 perfect scores so far; 83% at Rotten Tomatoes; still waiting on the BFCA score. Cronenberg has a Gotham Tribute coming up on Nov. 28, and it’s entirely possible that the NYFCC will honor the film in a major category, seeing that most of its raves have been from New York critics.
In any case, I can’t wait to see it. Cronenberg doing Freud and Jung and Spielrein… oh my!!
Deena Jones’ wig
Good comment I must mentioned as well. I guess people just judge to hasty or they were not a fan of her in the first place. I didn’t doubt it myself since she has proven to be a really capable actress and working with Cronenberg and the rave of her performances I hope she has a good shot at a nomination for Best Supporting Actress
Deena Jones’ wig
Good comment I must mentioned as well. I guess people just judge to hasty or they were not a fan of her in the first place. I didn’t doubt it myself since she has proven to be a really capable actress and working with Cronenberg and the rave of her performances I hope she has a good shot at a nomination for Best Supporting Actress
Great comment Deena! Thanks
Great comment Deena! Thanks
I was shocked at the mediocre notices this movie has been getting. One of the very best movies this year, in my opinion. Fassbender, Knightley and Mortensen are all in top form. It’s probably the best performed, best directed Cronenberg film yet, and this is coming from a major fan.
I was shocked at the mediocre notices this movie has been getting. One of the very best movies this year, in my opinion. Fassbender, Knightley and Mortensen are all in top form. It’s probably the best performed, best directed Cronenberg film yet, and this is coming from a major fan.
I’ll be honest, I was less than impressed with A Dangerous Method when I saw it at TIFF. When it comes out on DVD, I’ll give it another viewing – it was just a tad too ho hum and slow moving for me.
I’ll be honest, I was less than impressed with A Dangerous Method when I saw it at TIFF. When it comes out on DVD, I’ll give it another viewing – it was just a tad too ho hum and slow moving for me.
Where’s a ‘like’ button when I need it? Anyway, great post there Deena Jones, I completely agree with you.
Where’s a ‘like’ button when I need it? Anyway, great post there Deena Jones, I completely agree with you.
Crockett
The over the top argument is baseless because the people who are making it have refused, vehemently refused to do their research. I mean if you are going to review a movie which opens with a teenager suffering from hysteria in the 1900s, the least you can do is do your research.
I have seen clips of women suffering from “hysteria”, as the illness was known, in the 1900s and trust me, Keira is nothing even close to over the top in those early scenes. Even Cronenberg has acknowledged during his numerous interviews that they decided to tone the hysteria down. The real clips of these women are even more grotesque, haunting and ultimately more shocking. Everything Keira did was in accordance to the recorded symptoms of “hysteria.” Yes! hysteria was actually considered a real disease and mostly manifested itself among women. Once the culture of suppressing women’s sexual desires began to vanish, less and less women suffered from “the disease” hence the correlation between hysteria and sexual repression as evidenced in the movie.
I’m sorry for the rant but I am really getting sick of people using the over the top card to dismiss a highly complex performance. The least you can do is some research. Besides, the hysteric scenes only last about 10 minutes. For the rest of the movie, Ms. Knightley demonstrates remarkable acting chops as Sabina grows into a somewhat sane and accomplished psychoanalyst. Even if you are going to discard the symptoms of hysterics (which no one should because it is crucial in understanding the movie) her performance as a “cured” patient is subdued and just as riveting.
Crockett
The over the top argument is baseless because the people who are making it have refused, vehemently refused to do their research. I mean if you are going to review a movie which opens with a teenager suffering from hysteria in the 1900s, the least you can do is do your research.
I have seen clips of women suffering from “hysteria”, as the illness was known, in the 1900s and trust me, Keira is nothing even close to over the top in those early scenes. Even Cronenberg has acknowledged during his numerous interviews that they decided to tone the hysteria down. The real clips of these women are even more grotesque, haunting and ultimately more shocking. Everything Keira did was in accordance to the recorded symptoms of “hysteria.” Yes! hysteria was actually considered a real disease and mostly manifested itself among women. Once the culture of suppressing women’s sexual desires began to vanish, less and less women suffered from “the disease” hence the correlation between hysteria and sexual repression as evidenced in the movie.
I’m sorry for the rant but I am really getting sick of people using the over the top card to dismiss a highly complex performance. The least you can do is some research. Besides, the hysteric scenes only last about 10 minutes. For the rest of the movie, Ms. Knightley demonstrates remarkable acting chops as Sabina grows into a somewhat sane and accomplished psychoanalyst. Even if you are going to discard the symptoms of hysterics (which no one should because it is crucial in understanding the movie) her performance as a “cured” patient is subdued and just as riveting.
It’s funny, I thought people was in agreement that Knightley was over-the-top, especially in the beginning of the film. I doubt that myself but then again I haven’t seen the film. It’d be good though if they push her for the Best Supporting Actress category instead, she’d have more chances there.
It’s funny, I thought people was in agreement that Knightley was over-the-top, especially in the beginning of the film. I doubt that myself but then again I haven’t seen the film. It’d be good though if they push her for the Best Supporting Actress category instead, she’d have more chances there.
I was blown away by Ms. Knightley’s performance and, frankly, her omission from awards talk has been frustrating. I honestly can’t believe performances like Mulligan in Shame and Olsen and Michelle Williams and Viola Davis and Charlize Theron are getting more award press than Ms. Knightley. Truly shameful.
I was blown away by Ms. Knightley’s performance and, frankly, her omission from awards talk has been frustrating. I honestly can’t believe performances like Mulligan in Shame and Olsen and Michelle Williams and Viola Davis and Charlize Theron are getting more award press than Ms. Knightley. Truly shameful.
I totally agree with what Tye-Grr said.
I totally agree with what Tye-Grr said.
OT:
Just curious, but since you guys have added Asa Butterfield to the contenders list, why not add Chloe Grace Moretz to the Supporting Actress category? She’s been getting great reviews for ‘Hugo’, much stronger than Butterfield, with several saying that she carries the scenes they share together. I think she’s terrific, and I don’t doubt for a second that she’s as good as they say.
Now, back on topic, I’ve been wanting to see this film pretty much since it was announced as being in development. I’m especially curious now to see Knightley’s divisive perf as well as Mortensen’s third collabo with Cronenberg and Fassbender’s ever growing filmography, especially in this breakout year for him. Looks good.
OT:
Just curious, but since you guys have added Asa Butterfield to the contenders list, why not add Chloe Grace Moretz to the Supporting Actress category? She’s been getting great reviews for ‘Hugo’, much stronger than Butterfield, with several saying that she carries the scenes they share together. I think she’s terrific, and I don’t doubt for a second that she’s as good as they say.
Now, back on topic, I’ve been wanting to see this film pretty much since it was announced as being in development. I’m especially curious now to see Knightley’s divisive perf as well as Mortensen’s third collabo with Cronenberg and Fassbender’s ever growing filmography, especially in this breakout year for him. Looks good.
A very good review from Peter Travers of Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/a-dangerous-method-20111121
I miss the ‘Like’ button too. It got disabled in the efforts to streamline the site this week. Hope we can find a way to get it back.
Meanwhile, I agree with you, tombeet. That’s a really smart comment from Deena Jones’ wig. More insight like that, please. Thanks.
A very good review from Peter Travers of Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/a-dangerous-method-20111121
I miss the ‘Like’ button too. It got disabled in the efforts to streamline the site this week. Hope we can find a way to get it back.
Meanwhile, I agree with you, tombeet. That’s a really smart comment from Deena Jones’ wig. More insight like that, please. Thanks.