A DANGEROUS METHOD

An artist's responsibility is to be irresponsible. As soon as you start to think about social or political responsibility, you've amputated the best limbs you've got as an artist. You are plugging into a very restrictive system that is going to push and mold you, and is going to make your art totally useless and ineffective…   - David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg, one of the most prolific and daring filmmakers of modern times, popularly known as the King of venereal horror or the Baron of blood, has come up with an intense drama ‘A Dangerous Method’ inspired from the real lives of renowned psychoanalysts of 20^th century Carl Jung, Sabina Spielrein and Sigmund Freud. The movie portrays how the intense relationship between these people gives birth to psychoanalysis. This is one of the very rare films of David Cronenberg in which he has tried to break away from his usual format of filmmaking and venture into another while being equally productive and impactful. This is a very rare work of Cronenberg on many reassuring grounds. To start with, this is the first reality based drama he has directed so far whereas most of his previous works were largely horror based thrillers portraying carnage and commenting upon modern humanity and apathetically altering society. Secondly, besides having a different approach and format, this movie has almost no blood or gore unlike his previous works [Naked Lunch (1991), Existenz (1999), A History of Violence (2005)] nor does it have any hardcore sexual violence. But it doesn’t mean that the movie is not at all violent. It is indeed violent but in a very unusual manner. The movie is violent at a cerebral level. It tends to damage and invert the pre-formed notions as it stresses the conscious mind to unearth the sub-conscious one in order to comprehend the actual purpose of human life. In a way it is not physically but surely psychologically destructive. Thirdly, with this movie Cronenberg for the first time in his entire cinematic career endeavours to look for answers rather than highlighting the problem itself. He tries to generate hope out of human relationships in this movie unlike the previous ones where he portrays a sad and violent end to this hollow world [Rabid (1977), Videodrome (1983)]. He claims that as humans we do have solutions to our problems but they have always been repressed by our consciousness. Therefore, we need to dig into our subconscious to be really free and happy. Fourthly, rather than being a victim of uninhibited sexual violence, this movie portrays man woman relationship operating at a level of creative transformation. As shown, Sabina Spielrein meets Carl Jung as a sick, depressed and vulnerable girl but over a period of time their relationship turns her into an imaginative person incredibly capable of having independent opinions and existence of her own. From being a victim of her own circumstances she becomes a healer herself. Not only does this association cures her but it also lays the foundation of psychoanalysis. Furthermore, rather than being repulsive, pervert and pornographic [Crash (1996), Eastern Promises (2007)] this beautiful man woman association discovers analogy between sex instinct and death instinct. It stresses that erotica is actually a fusion, losing oneself into another and destroying one’s own individuality. It proposes that true sexuality demands the destruction of ego. This depiction of vast untapped possibility of creativity in a man woman relationship and for that matter in any relationship is very rare of Cronenberg’s cinema. In a nutshell, this movie is more about psychological exploration of human contradictions and idiosyncrasies rather than being merely a physical exercise involving perversion and sadism. Lastly, the movie manages to demonstrate that human relationships and human lives are very intricate. They are not like simple arithmetic equations. They tend to change their form and become multifaceted with time and circumstances. In the movie, Sabina comes in Carl’s life as a patient but with passage of time the equation changes numerous times as she becomes a mistress, a friend, a colleague, a healer and finally a sad but beautiful memory in his life. Similarly, Carl and Sigmund Freud too share a complex association with each other and so do Sabina and Freud. Carl and Freud meet each other as professionals working on almost similar issues of psychoanalysis. But over a period of time their creative differences start escalating and they become averse to each other’s philosophy. Instead of colleagues, they become professional rivals. As the time progresses further, Freud assumes the position of a special counselor in Carl’s private life when his relationship with Sabina gets complicated. And finally they end up becoming friends to each other. Likewise Sabina and Freud too have been shown to consist of many professional and personal overtones in their relationship. The movie establishes that the equation between two human beings is completely unpredictable as it may take any course depending upon a number of unconsidered factors.

Therefore ‘A Dangerous Method’ is a very rare and significant movie by Cronenberg in his entire career as a filmmaker. It may not be an exceptionally well written and executed work of the director but philosophically it is nothing less than a masterpiece of recent times. This movie would certainly continue to be remembered for its intent and content for many many years to come.