A dangerous Method, 2011

A dangerous Method, 2011
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen



Stage: Kino Šiška, Liffe


A dangerous method in short: In his latest film, the iconic director David Cronenberg goes back in time to the dawn of of psychoanalysis. A look at the intense relationship between the fathers of psychoanalysis, Jung and Freud, and their patient to whose charms they both succumb.


On the eve of World War One, Zurich and Vienna are the settings for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, the film takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships among fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein – the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Their personal exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit drive Jung, Freud and Sabina to challenge and forever change the nature of modern thought.




Preps: Well, apart from relationship Jung/Freud, I don't know much other things about this piece. But I am eager to find out.



Reality: The movie strikes me with its energy which draggs me into this world of Jung and Freud - from its beginning to the end. I am thrilled to see how scientists once exchanged their ideas and how once life was. Writing letters for real, not emails as nowadays. Seeing each other once per a month or even longer. Having a relationship for the sake of a marriage and kids, on the other hand, having mistresses and letting everyone know you are pure and prudent.

Plus, an excellent way to describe the turbulence between two friends, in some cases caused by two dividing paths they chose to take, sometimes driven by Sabina, a deluded woman, excellently played by Knightley. I was excited to see her in an unusual not Hollywood-like piece and she did an excellent job. The mimic she used to depict the illusions and horrors inside her soul is extremely good and it gives me shivers. On the other hand, I am sure she must have done hell of a job just trying to get under the skin of this role. I am surprised how well the three characters interact with each other and the viewer can almost smell the fear and anxiety when they show it, can feel the love when it's on the stage and can most definitely take position in disputes Freud and Jung have between each other. The sexual analysis that Freud is pursuing can be a bit annoying (you cannot explain everything in sexuality, or can you?)

What is real love and is something you have at home (just for the sake ofhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif being there and make you a man to admire, because you are a family man)? Do you take what's on the plate in front of you or do you stay clean in front of yourself? This is one of the dilemmas, depicted in this movie and not solved in favour of the young Sabina. She is betrayed, although deep inside aware that she cannot have more than just a romance. On the other hand, Jung doesn't want to get involved, yet he gets involved and he regrets it on the outside, on the inside he would repeat it in a second, and so he does. The love story is sad, because both parties get wounded and not find a way out to make both or at least one happy. As Trier would said.. no true love unless you suffer greatly.


My personal rate: 9.0 (a splendid piece, filled with documentary facts and things that will make you think about this long after you leave the cinema).


A dangerous method on IMDB

Les Amours Imaginaires - Heartbeats, 2010

Les Amours Imaginaires - Heartbeats, 2010
Director: Xavier Dolan
Cast: Monika Chokri, Niels Schneider, Xavier Dolan



Stage: Movie theatre Cankarjev dom, Life - movie festival

Heartbeats in short: A story about three close friends who are involved in a love-triangle and the obstacles they have to face when trying to get along with each other.


Preps: Seeing the description of the movie makes me believe that this will be one of the more preminent movies of the festival. Plus, the director of my personal favourite from last year - J'ai tue ma mere - makes this belief even stronger.


Reality: The story about love, deception, rejection, jealousy, trading friendship for love or vice versa. A unique way of showing how a person can enter your life and posess your thoughts. A modern approach in terms of philosophy, accepting different views of sexuality in an individual.
The lovely thing about the movie are the distortions from the main story. The main love triangle story is broken down in four parts, each defined by three individuals that are not a part of triangle, saying realistic experience with their spouses, couple or love breaking. Funny sit-com ironical scenes with a lot of reality that can break your heart, because you will feel involved with the story or be part of it instantly.

There are some backdrops in the movie, as it get a bit statical or unbelievable. Is it really the way it would go, goes on and on in my mind. Baring in my head, that it's the director's cut and his point of view, I find myself in many occasions, feeling hard to believe this is real and this might be alternative truth the viewer might find in the movie. Nevertheless, the story is unique and very classy for this present we live in. The topic highly neglected in cinemography, now gets its place in the universe. Dolan, however, dissappoints me a bit, because in my opinion, his last year's work exceeded my expectations on a very high and barely reachable level. Well, this year the expectations were set higher, but overall achievement seems on a lower level. Plus, I wasn't aware that he also did the act of young Adonis - I only see it when reviewing the cast and thinking about the movie a lot. In some sense, this is what a movie should trigger, thinking about it or the topic it represents. In this case, a fine job. But nothing more than that.




My personal rating: 6,0 (worth seeing in philosophical view - if you want to think about possibilities in a relationship and how to involve third person might not be such a great idea for the initial couple. However, the script is somehow poorer than this topic deserves, also the direction)


Les Amours on IMDB

The home page

Mary and Max, 2009

Mary and Max, 2009
Director: Adam Eliott
Cast: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Eric Bana


Short summary: A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York.

Stage: home theatre
Preps: none whatsoever - I have this for some time, downloaded it at a point and it has been waiting in queue. Why not see this on a rainy Sunday, right?


Reality:
It's an animated movie, made with a strong and modern technique. I love the expressions of these characters (the way they designed them), as well as the fact that the director (and the writer in the same person) decided to focus on a deep topic of distant friendships, pen pal friendship.

The relationship between Mary and Max evolves with the time and has a lifetime cycle. From what it seems a bit naive and shallow at the beginning, evolves a strong friendship of two lonely and misunderstood people (within their own worlds).

The way, in which the world of Mary and world of Max is described, is absolutely brilliant. With a smooth touch of irony or black humour, most of modern problems of modern families are depicted precisely in the lives of these two individuals. The representation of internal fears, some of them still immature (in the shape of Mary) and some of them reflected even years after the traumatic events happened (the psychology of Max, mentally disoriented man in his last third of life).

Also, the nature of the friendship is interesting - it happens because of a coincidence in which Mary selects one person to write to and it just so happens that this lonely man responds. From this point on as they write to each other, they reflect their souls. This is just what makes this piece special. It is a rare occasion that we express our feelings so directly and so personal, however, it seems that it's more likely that we do that to someone we don't know in person. Which is precisely the case here.

I recommend this one strongly as I feel I need to think about this movie hours after I have seen it. And this is what makes a good piece in my opinion. If it doesn't touch my soul, it's not worth recommending it or seeing it again. I believe it fed my ironic soul and mind with deep truths each one of us carries with him or her.


One of the best things in this piece: Do you have a favourite-sounding word? My top 5 are ointment, bumblebee, Vladivostok, banana and testicle. (Max Horowitz in one of his letters)

Such a great thing, to have five words selected to be your top favourite ones for any reason at all. I have thought whether I have such a selection, and in my language, I actually don't. But the movie gave me the idea to do that. Or to select favourite expressions.



And another one, that burst the laughter out of me: Unfortunately, in America, babies are not found in cola cans. I asked my mother when I was four and she said they came from eggs laid by rabbis. If you aren't Jewish, they're laid by Catholic nuns. If you're an atheist, they're laid by dirty, lonely prostitutes.





My personal rating: 8,0 (a very deep story about this friendship touched me in several ways and on different levels. I am sure it will touch you).

Mary and Max on IMDB

Official Site of Mary and Max