"A Dangerous Method" Movie Review

"A Dangerous Method" movie poster.

"Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) who has begun using Dr. Sigmund Freud's (Viggo Mortensen) talking cure with some of his patients. Spielrain's psychological problems are deeply rooted in her childhood and violent father. She is highly intelligent however and hopes to be a doctor, eventually becoming a psychiatrist in her own right. The married Jung and Spielrein eventually become lovers. Jung and Freud develop an almost father-son relationship with Freud seeing the young Jung as his likely successor as the standard-bearer of his beliefs. A deep rift develops between them when Jung diverges from Freud's belief that while psychoanalysis can reveal the cause of psychological problems it cannot cure the patient." Written by garykmcd (Link below.)

Keira Knightley (L) and Michael Fassbender.

An absolutely brilliant movie about not two, but three brilliant minds of the psycho-analytical world, Sabina Spielrein, played by Keira Knightly, Sigmund Freud, played by Viggo Mortensen, and Carl Jung, played by Michael Fassbender. It was quite fun to watch Mr. Mortensen act like Freud, although I can't entirely explain why.

There is something that was a bit absent during the movie, but it's a good thing. Freud and Jung had many discussions together concerning the interpretation of their dreams and analysis of their patients (in particular, Spielrein) but they didn't discuss it overmuch. I know a few people (psychologist majors and alike) who don't usually walk into a movie theatre expecting to learn things, might, for some idiotic reason, think that will be different in the case of this movie. I didn't really learn more than what was already floating around in the ether of common knowledge these days. But I did learn that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were not immune to life and its issues, like jealousy, prejudice or submitting to a forbidden relationship.

The only thing that I had a problem with the movie was the stupid tagline they put on the poster: "Based on the true story of Jung, Freud and the patient that came between them." That's not exactly what happened, if anything she tries to patch things up between them. And the tagline also makes one think that (if one does not know the story of Freud and Jung) that they had both slept with her and it caused a rift between them. No, it was all their own fault. They couldn't get over certain ideas, so they ignored each other like they ignored those ideas.

Viggo Mortensen.

Overall, I enjoyed it and thought the performances were all phenomenal. I think they all should've gotten nominated, like Viggo Mortensen has said. The only person I didn't like was Vincent Cassel and that's because his character was a despicable person aptly named Otto Gross. The only actor I thought wasn't performing was Sarah Gadon who played Jung's wife, Emma Jung. Was their relationship really that unpassionate? I'm ill-informed about these people so I can't really judge her performance alongside Mr. Fassbender, but she also seemed unfeeling and aloof as far as her family was concerned as well. I know back then they didn't show their feelings or affection as much as people do now, but even in the privacy of her own home she seemed very distant from everything. I just don't know enough to say for sure.

Also, a side note: I imagine doctors having illicit affairs with their patients probably wasn't as improbable as they make it seem in the film, although very damaging to a career if you want to be taken seriously. It probably happened a lot and still does to a certain degree.

Script available here: http://www.sonyclassics.com/awards-information/screenplays/adangerousmethod_screenplay.pdf.

Favorite Lines:

Sabina Spielrein: [to Jung] I want you to punish me. 

Carl Jung: Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable... just to be able to go on living. 

Sigmund Freud: Experiences like this, however painful, are necessary and inevitable; without them, how can we know life? 

Otto Gross: It seems to me the measure of the true perversity of the human race, that one of its very few reliably pleasurable activities should be the subject of so much hysteria and repression. 

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222/

"Love Actually" Movie Review

"Love Actually" movie poster.

"Set almost entirely in London, England during five frantic weeks before Christmas follows a web-like pattern of inter-related, loosely related and unrelated stories of a dozen or more various individuals with their love lives, or lack of them. The central character is the new bachelor prime minister David (Hugh Grant) who cannot express his growing feelings for his new personal assistant Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). The prime minister's older sister Karen (Emma Thompson) slowly grows aware of her husband Harry's (Alan Rickman) flirtation with an office worker named Mia (Heike Makatsch). Karen's friend Daniel (Liam Neeson) is a recently widowed writer whose 11-year-old son (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) asks for love advice about a girl he has a crush on. Meanwhile, Jamie (Colin Firth) is another writer who leaves his girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) after catching her cheating on him and travels to France to write a novel where he pursues a possible romance with his non-English speaking Portuguese maid Aurelia (Lucia Moniz). Also, Harry's American secretary Sarah (Laura Linney) questions a romance she pursues with the office hunk Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), but her personal family problems get in the way. Other secondary characters involve a photographer (Andrew Lincoln) who pursues his best friend's new wife Juliet (Keira Knightley); a pair of movie stand-ins, named John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page), who grow closer after their simulated love scenes; a libidinous chum (Kris Marshall) who wants to travel to Wisconsin, USA to score with women; and a burned-out former rock star named Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) who is the main connection between all stories involved." Written by Matt Patay (Link below.)

Rowan Atkinson.

I love this movie! It has everything in it! It is witty and funny yet realistic and it covers all aspects of any relationship: the cheating spouse, the awkward first meeting (specifically if you work as a sex-scenes body double), loving someone you can't have because she's in love with your best friend, loving someone whom you don't understand because you don't speak the same language, and the finding of a new love after the death of an old one.

Written and directed by Richard Curtis, it has a splendid cast of the best British actors around: Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson/Mr. Bean, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Thomas Sangster, Kris Marshall, etc. Oh, and Billy Bob Thorton does his best impression of Bill Clinton as he is playing the president.

Between wrapping the presents, taking the kids to the Christmas pageant (where there is more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus Christ!) and pulling your hair out in frustration, you should sit down with some hot cocoa and watch this great movie!

Script can be read here: http://withmusics.blogspot.com/2008/12/love-actually-script.html.

(Back row, L to R) Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, and Liam Neeson.
(Front row, L to R) Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, and Emma Thompson.

Favorite Lines:

Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

Juliet: I thought I might be able to swap it for some pie or... or maybe Munchies?
Mark: Actually, I was being serious. I don't know where it is. I'll have a poke around tonight...
Juliet: Mark, can I say something?
Mark: Yeah.
Juliet: I know you're Peter's best friend and I know you've never particularly warmed to me. Look, don't... don't argue. We've never got friendly. But I just wanted to say, I hope that can change. I'm nice. I really am. Apart from my terrible taste in pie and... It would be great if we could be friends.
Mark: Absolutely.
Juliet: Great.
Mark: Doesn't mean we'll be able to find the video, though. I had a real search when you first called and couldn't any trace of it, so...
Juliet: Well, there's one here that says "Peter and Juliet's Wedding". Do you think we might be on the right track?

Jamie: Er... Would you like the last, uh...?
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Thank you very much, but no.
Jamie: No?
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] If you saw my sister, you'd understand why.
Jamie: That's all right, more for me.
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Just don't go eating it all yourself, you're getting chubbier every day.
Jamie: I'm very lucky, I've got one of those constitutions where I never put on weight.

[John is rehearsing a raunchy sex scene with his hands on Judy's breasts]
John: It's Junction 13 that's just murder, isn't it? Total gridlock this morning.

Prime Minister: I'm very jealous of your plane, by the way.
The President: Oh, thank you. We love that thing, I'll tell ya.

Daniel: Tell her that you love her.
Sam: No way! Anyway, they fly tonight.
Daniel: Even better! Sam, you've got nothin' to lose, and you'll always regret it if you don't! I never told your mom enough. I should have told her everyday because she was perfect everyday. You've seen the films, kiddo. It ain't over 'til its over.
Sam: Okay, Dad. Let's do it. Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/quotes.