A Dangerous Method Log

Knightley displaying a deceivingly
calm exterior. The first 30 seconds of the
film have her violently kicking
and screaming.

On the surface, A Dangerous Method would appear to be a stifling departure for David Cronenberg, seeing as there is nothing particularly surreal nor horrifying  on the surface of the film - a previous trademark of Cronenberg's, seen in his films Videodrome, Crash, Eastern Promises and most others.

Rather unusual then, that his 2011 produce is a period drama concerning the works and lives of Carl Jung, portrayed with a disconcerting lack of emotion by Michael Fassbender, his patient-turned-mistress  Sabina Spierlein, Kiera Knightley more than compensating for Fassbender's stiff performance as she contorts and gyrates every limb and facial feature on her road to recovery from the the then fledgling trend of hysteria in women, and Sigmund Freud, the upright, bourgeois scholar with near frightening psychoanalytical ideas on life's mysteries played by Viggo Mortensen.

Freud and Jung presumably swapping
facial hair grooming techniques.

Upon watching the film however, it increasingly became more and more evident that this was a Cronenberg feature, with his infamous 'body horror' concept appearing throughout: Knightley's character Spierlein frequently shows physical malfunctions, her jaw protruding and retracting in hesitation to prevent an outward flow of guilt, as she struggles to cope with her inner afflictions. Jung too, as he descends into a predominantly dominating sexual relationship with Spierlein, perhaps to avert his anguish at being held as second best behind Freud's leading, Father-like figure and retain some dominance in his life.

This concept of body horror, particularly in A Dangerous Metho, was reaffirmed by Cronenberg in a post-release interview with Sight and Sound, printed in their March 2012 issue, in which he states "The way a mental state manifests itself in a body has always been of interest to me. To me there is no separation between them." This therefore provides somewhat conclusive evidence,  however contrived and flexible, that A Dangerous Method is not so much as a significant change in direction for Cronenberg, but rather a change in set and scene.

Grotesque imagery needn't always be present for a Cronenberg film to to thrive on character development and physical manifestations of the mind. I'm looking at you, exploding scene (Scanners).