Movie review: A Dangerous Method

Unless you've been living under a rock - an iceberg, you probably are well aware that this is an exciting month for psychology: a feature film featuring Freud and Jung comes out on November 23rd nationwide. At THSP we're excited to feature this review of A Dangerous Method from our special correspondent, fellow psych teacher Kimberly Patterson:

With the succession of “psychological movies” out there, and an endless list of theatrical ventures of historical figures from psychology, I was surprised at the film that bubbled up at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) 2011. On Friday evening, a colleague and I went to see A Dangerous Method – a film advertising itself as a historical account of Carl G. Jung and Sigmund S. Freud and their shocking friendship. This familiar camaraderie sets out with a bold woman who confesses her hysteria and becomes sexually involved with Jung, a Russian Jew named Sabina Spielrein. Multiple books exist about Spielrein, one of the first woman psychoanalysts.

I was stunned by the poignant dialogue and although I had many “what on earth?” moments, I found the film touching, lovely, and antiquely impulsive. Although this glance at the Jung-Spielrein story is solely alleged, the film captured viewers with the efficacy of talented actors, an eye-catching set, and costumes of the period.

If, by happenstance, the film makes it to your area, I encourage you to check it out. Lord knows we watch all types of movies for a $10 movie ticket – at least this one is entertaining in regards to the character portrayals.

And of advice from a nomadic character – “Never repress anything”. Enjoy!

Kimberly C. Patterson teaches AP Psychology at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, Florida.

[If the trailer does not appear above, it is available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ7JKmcLTsI



--posted by Steve

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Jung's The Red Book coming soon

Thinking of updating your wish list? You might want to consider adding this one: in October WW Norton will publish Carl Gustavus Jung's The Red Book for the first time. Featured in a lengthy article in the New York Times Magazine earlier this month and referred to by the publisher as "the most influential unpublished work in the history of psychology," the book is from a journal written and illustrated by Jung over a 15 year period. It was been hidden from the public view by Jung's heirs until they very recently made the decision to publish it.

What's the book about? Here's a quote from the NYT article to get you started:

The Red Book is not an easy journey — it wasn’t for Jung, it wasn’t for his family, nor for Shamdasani, and neither will it be for readers. The book is bombastic, baroque and like so much else about Carl Jung, a willful oddity, synched with an antediluvian and mystical reality. The text is dense, often poetic, always strange. The art is arresting and also strange. Even today, its publication feels risky, like an exposure. But then again, it is possible Jung intended it as such. In 1959, after having left the book more or less untouched for 30 or so years, he penned a brief epilogue, acknowledging the central dilemma in considering the book’s fate. “To the superficial observer,” he wrote, “it will appear like madness.” Yet the very fact he wrote an epilogue seems to indicate that he trusted his words would someday find the right audience.

At the bargain price of $105 (at Barnes and Noble -- Amazon appears sold out and now has a delivery date of December for new orders) I'm guessing this one will be a perfect present for others to give you!

Finally, as a geek I personally love the fact that "a 10,200-pixel scanner suspended on a dolly clicked and whirred, capturing the book one-tenth of a millimeter at a time and uploading the images into a computer." Below are some of the images for you to enjoy.

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