A Dangerous Method Page #7

Synopsis: Suffering from hysteria, Sabina Spielrein is hospitalized under the care of Dr. Carl Jung who has begun using Dr. Sigmund Freud's 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.
Director(s): David Cronenberg
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 18 wins & 27 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
77%
R
Year:
2011
99 min
$5,702,083
Website
1,489 Views


"But a man like you,

who behaves quite abnormally"...

"and then stands there

shouting at the top of his voice"...

"how normal he is, does give

considerable cause for concern".

"For a long time now, our relationship

has been hanging by a thread".

"And a thread, moreover, mostly consisting

of past disappointments".

"We have nothing to lose

by cutting it".

"You will be the best judge

of what this moment means to you".

"The rest is silence".

So good to have met you

at last, Dr. Spielrein.

We did meet once before,

when I was your husband's patient.

I think you're right.

Your children are glorious.

Thank you.

You must let us know

when yours arrives.

- I expect you want a boy.

- No.

No, my husband and I both think

we would prefer a girl.

Really?

I wish you could help him.

Why?

What's the matter?

He's not himself.

He's very confused

and bogged down with his book.

He's not sleeping.

He's not taking on any new patients.

He still hasn't recovered from the violence

of his break, with Professor Freud.

What you're describing

is very unlike my memory of him.

If you were staying in town, I'd try

to persuade him to let you analyze him.

I know he... always set

great store by your opinion.

You are taking patients now?

I've... pretty much decided

to specialize in child psychology.

I'm not sure if it's a...

a field he approves of.

I haven't...

discussed it with him, but...

You better go and talk to him.

No one can help him more than you.

I hope you're right.

Your children are beautiful.

So you're married.

Yes.

He's a doctor?

Yes.

His name is Pavel Scheftel.

Russian.

Yes, a Russian Jew.

What's he like?

Kind.

Good...

good.

Are you all right?

Yes.

I haven't been sleeping very well and

I keep having this apocalyptic dream.

A terrible flood

from the North Sea to the Alps.

Houses washed away.

Thousands of floating corpses.

Eventually it comes crashing...

into the lake in a great tidal wave.

And by this time, the water...

roaring down,

like some vast avalanche...

has turned to blood.

The blood of Europe.

What do you think it means?

Have no idea.

Unless it's about to happen.

What're your plans?

We've been thinking

of going back to Russia.

As long as you leave Vienna.

I spoke to him last week.

I can't believe...

- there's nothing to be done.

- There's nothing to be done.

The day he refused to discuss

a dream with me on the grounds...

that it might risk his authority,

I should've known.

After that,

for me, he had no authority.

It was a blow, when I discovered

you'd chosen his side.

It's not a question of sides.

I have to work in the direction my instinct

tells me intelligence is the right one.

Don't forget,

you cured me with his method.

What he'll never accept is that

what we understand has got us nowhere.

We have to go into uncharted territory.

We have to go back...

to the sources of everything we believe.

I don't want to just

open a door...

and show the patient his illness,

squatting there like a toad.

I want to try and find a way,

to help the patient reinvent himself.

To send him off on a journey

at the end of which is waiting...

the person he was always

intended to be.

It's no good, making yourself ill

in the process.

Only the wounded physician

can hope to heal.

I'm told you have a new mistress.

Is that right?

What's her name?

Toni.

Is she like me?

No.

She's an ex-patient?

- Yes.

- Jewish?

Half Jewish.

Training to be an analyst?

Yes.

But she's not like me?

Of course she makes me think of you.

How do you make it work?

I don't know.

Emma, as you've seen,

is the foundation of my house.

Toni is the perfume in the air.

My love for you was the most

important thing in my life.

For better or worse...

made me understand who I am.

This should be mine.

Yes.

Sometimes you have to do

something unforgivable...

just to be able to go on living.

Rate this script:2.5 / 2 votes

Christopher Hampton

Christopher James Hampton, CBE, FRSL (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement. more…

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