Opening Weekend: €438,556
(Italy)
(2 October 2011)
(121 Screens)
Gross: $5,199,783
(USA)
(19 February 2012)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
According to Keira Knightley, at first she didn't know how to play her character's hysteria. When she read some of Spielrein's notes she noticed the woman described her condition as being like "a demon or a dog". Knightley then started to pull faces and contacted David Cronenberg through Skype to show him the results until they both agreed on one.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
The sailboat that Jung's wife gives him is clearly very modern with Dacron sails, nylon rigging and stainless steel cleats, none of which existed at the time.
Quotes: Carl Jung:
Sometimes you have to do something unforgivable... just to be able to go on living.
User Review
There's Something Missing Here...
Rating: 6/10
I must admit, going into this film, I was rather excited; I've enjoyed
both of David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen's previous collaborations
and my interest in both Freudian psychology/psychoanalysis and Michael
Fassbender practically guaranteed that I would be seeing this film. I
fear now, however, that my expectations may have been a bit too high.
I must admit, however, that I thought that Michael Fassbender and Viggo
Mortensen played their roles very well, although Mortensen definitely
didn't receive as much screen time as he deserved. Vincent Cassel
definitely shone in his extended cameo as Otto Gross. I did have some
issues with Keira Knightly's acting, however. I feel like she may have
over exaggerated her actions, particularly in the beginning scenes
where she is in the midst of hysteria.
However, my real problem with this film is that, for lack of a better
term, it all seems a little too shallow. Events that should be
important are skimmed over and not explained; to be honest, it doesn't
particularly seem like anything of real importance happens in the film.
The characters have little depth; despite the fact that they are all
playing rather well known persons, there simply isn't anything to them
other than a name. On top of this, despite what the taglines of the
film and trailer seem to suggest, the relationship between Freud and
Jung is hardly explored. For the most part, their scenes involve
reading letters from the other. This is hardly compelling viewing.
Overall, I feel like this film would have been better if it had been
longer. If the film had a running time of even two hours, compared to
one and a half, more character development could have been inserted,
particularly for Freud. In addition, more focus on Jung's relationship
with Freud, rather than his relationship with Spielrein, would have
been nice to see.
Here's hoping that any future collaborations between Cronenberg and
Mortensen pack a bit more of a punch.
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