3.5 stars out of 5
I think about Keira nightly. What? Oh, sorry, it’s spelled Knightley. I’ve been an admirer since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but I guess I’ve only seen her in that, Bend It Like Beckham, Pride & Prejudice, and now this. And maybe she’s not the greatest actress of her generation, but you know what, she’s pretty darn good.
As Sabina Spielrein, she has a bit of a moose-und-squirrel Russian accent, and the mentally-unbalanced tics and moans of an actor thinking “ooh this is the role that gets me nominated again.” But she doesn’t overdo it and thus is quite effective in the part, nicely balancing madness, intellect, and sexuality.
And sex comes up a lot here. I don’t know too much about Sigmund Freud (despite reading his Civilization and Its Discontents and Character and Culture in a great college course). And I know even less about Carl Jung. And I’d never even heard of Spielrein. So, first off, there was fascinating history in this for me. And amazing that the psychological analysis of sexual urges that we take for granted now was first seriously discussed not much more than a century ago. Freud is sexualizing everything, Jung is getting mystical, and in between them steps this kooky Russian Jew who has some compelling notions of her own. Talk about a beautiful mind!
Viggo is solid as Freud but it is Michael Fassbender-like-Beckham who really impresses. Whether he is standing up to Father Figure Freud or fighting a losing battle against temptation, Fassbender makes us feel for Jung. (“You make me feel so Jung….”) This is not the sort of film that gets a sequel, but apparently Jung’s life gets even more interesting later. I was hungry for more.
David Cronenberg frames things beautifully in what is a fairly talky movie. (Well, it is the “talking cure” after all.) I must say, a lingering shot on some polygraph-esque machinery did make me long for the twistedness of Dead Ringers, etc. Still, a very worthwhile entry in his canon. Which I would word-associate with cannon, which Freud would say is…
Keira Knightly – right up there with Natalie “Never Knowingly Well Acted” Portman in the gormless stakes.