---
product_id: 18902565
title: "A Dangerous Method"
price: "€ 20.80"
currency: EUR
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.at/products/18902565-a-dangerous-method
store_origin: AT
region: Austria
---

# A Dangerous Method

**Price:** € 20.80
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** A Dangerous Method
- **How much does it cost?** € 20.80 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.at](https://www.desertcart.at/products/18902565-a-dangerous-method)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

With a lucid analyst's eye, director David Cronenberg turns his steady gaze toward a trio of brilliant people in the early, and somehow defining, years of the 20th century. In Zurich, a young psychoanalyst named Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes on an intellectually gifted but deeply neurotic young woman, Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), as a patient. Through the course of a lengthy analysis, their relationship takes a turn for intimacy, despite professional policy against such encounters. Meanwhile, Jung is entwined in another important relationship, with psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen), whose enthusiasm about Jung being the golden boy of the science will eventually dim. What's bracing in Cronenberg's keen reading of this situation, based on Christopher Hampton's script, is that no aspect of this situation is more important than any other; the sexual tumbling between Jung and Spielrein might provide a few hotsy moments, but the careful lines traced between Freud's pragmatic wisdom and Jung's idealistic ventures into the mystic are equally significant. The tenor of the acting is similarly well judged; Fassbender and Mortensen are finely drawn, while Knightley's explosions are necessary for uncomfortable contrast. (Vincent Cassel contributes a few memorable scenes as the rule-breaking Otto Gross, a talented but unbalanced analyst himself.) If you go to movies to turn your brain off, go somewhere else; there are enough ideas loose in this superb film to keep you up at night, in a good way. --Robert Horton Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly) as his patient. Jung's weapon is the method of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina's spell. Based on a true story.

Review: Intellectual film on sexual repression and desire - I think this was an exceptional and brilliant film and give it 5 stars, but I have been reading the work of Freud and Jung for thirty years and I think that many people unfamiliar with the history of psychoanalysis would find this film too complex and dense to be enjoyed. That is a shame since the themes explored are fascinating and the acting was first rate. But the bottom line is that this is a film that will appeal to a limited audience of intellectual viewers. The primary focus of the film was divided between the psychological struggles of a brilliant young woman and the sexual and intellectual struggles of a brilliant psychologist attempting to forge a model of human consciousness and unconsciousness while at the mercy of his own desires and impulses. A secondary theme was the professional scientific and personal relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carol Jung over a 7 year period critical to the development of the field of psychoanalysis. Carl Jung was very familiar with the work of Sigmund Freud and began writing to him about there mutual interests in abnormal psychology. But the two men were very different in many ways and these differences eventually lead to tension in their relationship. The film does a credible job of contrasting Freud, an Austrian Jewish physician, and the wealthy Jung, a privileged Swiss psychiatrist. Early in the film Jung begins to use Freud's method of analysis whereby the psychiatrists sits behind the patient so as to reduce projection onto the psychiatrist and to create a more ambiguous sensation for the patient so that they can actually focus on their own projections and images without looking to the therapist for approval or disapproval. Jung complains that Freud writes much about the intellectual side of the analysis without giving many details as to the actual implementation of the methodology, thus early in the film Jung's independent thought is demonstrated. Freud saw Sabrina Spielrein as a patient when she was 19 years old and published her case history as the case of Sabrina S. It is Emma Jung in the film who tells the viewer that surely this Sabrina S written about by Freud is the same Sabrina Spielrein who has been admitted to the psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Jung. Michael Fassbender does an outstanding job as he plays Carl Jung. The character of Jung is pivotal in this film and Jung is a brilliant but conflicted human being. Jung was an outstanding genius, comparable to the genius of Freud, but he loses his bearings when he begins an affair with Sabrina Spielrein. His attempts to gain control of himself and the relationship reveal his cold determination which Fassbender plays very well. Fassbender's athletic sexual physique appears to be ready to explode out of the tight Victorian clothing that binds him much as Jung's sexuality is exploding out of his overly controlled intellect. Jung may appear overly harsh, controlled and rejecting as he ends the affair with Spielrein but he was becoming unhinged from the ground upon which he had built his personal, intellectual and professional life. Kira Knightly does a superb job of playing Sabrina Spielrein. Spielrein has neurotic tics that manifest when painful or conflicting memories emerge. The early scenes where Spielrein relates to Jung how often her father whipped her naked behind and then forced her to kiss his hand after the whipping are very powerful. As a child Spielrein would sometimes urinate in fear while being whipped and her father would whip her again for the urination. She now dreams of a catlike creature whispering into her ear as a slug like creature crawls on her lower back. Jung is able to connect that Spielrein would masturbate to images and memory of physical punishment and that pain had thus become eroticized for her. Knightly was able to portray mental illness, repressed eroticism and intellectual acuity in one outstanding performance. Vincent Cassel deserves mention for the part he plays as Dr. Otto Gross, another brilliant but unstable mind in an addict. However it is in conversation with the way-out Gross that Jung comes to terms with his passion for a brilliant and beautiful patient. Viggo Mortensen plays Sigmund Freud with careful understatement. Freud believed that in Jung he had finally found the champion, the heroic son, who would carry his theories forward. Much of their relationship in the film vibrates between a father-son relationship, a mentor-mentee relationship, and a professional competition. Of course the scene is included where Freud and Jung share dreams on the voyage to America and Freud tells Jung that one dream he can not reveal since he would lose his `authority' which Jung relates as the point where Freud lost all authority for him. It is to the film's credit that it includes the discussions between Freud and Jung on strategy whereby Freud wished their work to remain focused, concentrated, demonstrable, and repeatable whereas Jung was becoming more expansive, overly inclusive, and willing to explore paranormal experiences that are almost impossible to demonstrate or repeat under controlled conditions. Both strategies may advance scientific thought but the tensions eventually disrupt their personal and professional relationships. Eventually the tables turn as Spielrein emerges from her neurosis and becomes a brilliant psychoanalyst in her own right, mentored and complimented by Sigmund Freud. Thus this 99 minute films is about two complex themes; the development, expression, and repression of sexual desires as demonstrated in the relationship of Spielrein and Jung and the creation, translation and re-creation of complex scientific ideology as demonstrated in the relationship of Jung and Freud.
Review: "Hanging by a thread" - I think this film was rather kind to the splintered relationship of Freud and Jung. It was also kind about Freud's massive and mysogonistic ego he supposedly had in real life. Although, most male physicians at that time could be described as the same, so I suppose Siggy was not abnormal, he was just very famous and jewish and some older history books do not flatter him. He did earn his fame, but most of his notable first patients were females suffering from "hysteria." Later on he was called out from those early cases as not proven "cured" because he didn't comply with the standard scientific technics by using several other variables, like placebos, to prove it was his technic that cured. It was also anti-semitism and intellectual jealousy that literally declared war within this new field during and after WWI. He had great fame as being the father of psychoanalysis during his lifetime and he used it for doing good. Freud contributed so much and so did Jung. Yet, Freud is still the contender. Viggo is a wonderful actor and I think he did something excellent here with his role as Freud. His quiet way of questioning, suggesting, active listening and his fatherly chuckles, especially the one he delivers while reading the scathing letter from Jung towards the end of the film. Knightly, held nothing back in her performance as Sabina Spielrein. A sexually frustrated hysteric that finds freedom and eventually her own fame as a child psychologist. Forced to strip naked as a young girl and through spankings and humiliation from her father, she developed sexually in a neurotic and repressive way that contradicted with church, society and medicine at that time. She is a patient of Jung, and because of her high intelligence from a university education in medicine, is allowed to participate in some experiments. Vincent Casteel makes a brief, yet compelling performance as the unbalanced, psychoanalyst Otto Gross, needing treatment for himself. Otto is a referral patient from Freud sent to Jung for treatment by the demands of Otto's father. Jung tells him he heard he helped a patient commit suicide. Otto offhandedly responds that she was suicidal and he merely told her how to do it without botching it and gave her the option of becoming his lover. He follows up with a resigned "she opted for both." Casteel plays this role of Otto, with such a beautiful contradiction of reckless indifference and human grace. He is wonderful in the scenes with Michael Fassbende, in shocking and baffling him with his philosophy, and explaining Freud's theory of transference between physcian and patient in a wicked way. He looked like lucifer sitting outside in that garden enjoying his cigarette, with that slight grin on his face, and taking control over the conversation between himself and Jung. I loved him! Casteel could have played the part of a shorter Jung, but we would have missed him as that poor, deranged physician and his shenanigans. Jung starts to give in to the transference and experiments with Spielrein, that crosses boundaries. When news leaks out about Jung's affair with her, he breaks it off and asks Freud to help soften the blow by writing to her. This brings about some dramatic moments between Jung and Spielrein where Spielrein wields some power to get justice or payback, however you want to see it. Both come out with gain at the end of the film, but in real life, Spielrein was later murdered by Nazis back in Russia during WWII and Jung lived a long, full life. This intervention from Freud eventually leads to her working for him and becoming a child psychologist. Freud's refusal to give any credence to Jung's theories into mysticism is the wedge that breaks their working relationship apart. Fassbende is excellent with Knightly as he restrains and gives tension from himself at the right moments that brighten Knightly's performance...he does this really well with all of the actors. I love his sober restraint when Knightly is helping him on an experiment with the actress Sarah Godon playing his wife. His coldness allowed Godon's subtle awkwardness feel more intense, without Godon having to over due it. The scene with Viggo in Freud's study, when wood is snapping from the bookcases and Fassbende is in a lather, telling Viggo he knew it would happen and predicted the second one snapping, and goes on about mysticism all agitated, while Viggo's reaction is fatherly as he scoffs at it. Viggo is a tad condicending to him, but not cruel in his reaction. Yes, this film plays with history, but I haven't seen a feature film about historical figures be any where in the ballpark when it comes to accuracy.This is a good one if you've ever had to study a little bit of Freud and Jung a long time ago, and don't mind a little salt in your sugar. It's a fun movie, not a documentary.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Contributor | David Cronenberg, Jeremy Thomas, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Gadon, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel Contributor David Cronenberg, Jeremy Thomas, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Gadon, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel See more |
| Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 2,202 Reviews |
| Format | Blu-ray |
| Genre | Drama, Thriller |
| Initial release date | 2011-11-23 |
| Language | English |

## Product Details

- **Format:** Blu-ray
- **Genre:** Drama, Thriller
- **Initial release date:** 2011-11-23
- **Language:** English

## Images

![A Dangerous Method - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/819kGBWKneL.jpg)
![A Dangerous Method - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Mg-TnsCCL.jpg)
![A Dangerous Method - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81NO4-PNyyL.jpg)
![A Dangerous Method - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81QZ2z0NbpL.jpg)
![A Dangerous Method - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Uv2YSnaML.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Intellectual film on sexual repression and desire
*by C***S on October 14, 2012*

I think this was an exceptional and brilliant film and give it 5 stars, but I have been reading the work of Freud and Jung for thirty years and I think that many people unfamiliar with the history of psychoanalysis would find this film too complex and dense to be enjoyed. That is a shame since the themes explored are fascinating and the acting was first rate. But the bottom line is that this is a film that will appeal to a limited audience of intellectual viewers. The primary focus of the film was divided between the psychological struggles of a brilliant young woman and the sexual and intellectual struggles of a brilliant psychologist attempting to forge a model of human consciousness and unconsciousness while at the mercy of his own desires and impulses. A secondary theme was the professional scientific and personal relationship between Sigmund Freud and Carol Jung over a 7 year period critical to the development of the field of psychoanalysis. Carl Jung was very familiar with the work of Sigmund Freud and began writing to him about there mutual interests in abnormal psychology. But the two men were very different in many ways and these differences eventually lead to tension in their relationship. The film does a credible job of contrasting Freud, an Austrian Jewish physician, and the wealthy Jung, a privileged Swiss psychiatrist. Early in the film Jung begins to use Freud's method of analysis whereby the psychiatrists sits behind the patient so as to reduce projection onto the psychiatrist and to create a more ambiguous sensation for the patient so that they can actually focus on their own projections and images without looking to the therapist for approval or disapproval. Jung complains that Freud writes much about the intellectual side of the analysis without giving many details as to the actual implementation of the methodology, thus early in the film Jung's independent thought is demonstrated. Freud saw Sabrina Spielrein as a patient when she was 19 years old and published her case history as the case of Sabrina S. It is Emma Jung in the film who tells the viewer that surely this Sabrina S written about by Freud is the same Sabrina Spielrein who has been admitted to the psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Jung. Michael Fassbender does an outstanding job as he plays Carl Jung. The character of Jung is pivotal in this film and Jung is a brilliant but conflicted human being. Jung was an outstanding genius, comparable to the genius of Freud, but he loses his bearings when he begins an affair with Sabrina Spielrein. His attempts to gain control of himself and the relationship reveal his cold determination which Fassbender plays very well. Fassbender's athletic sexual physique appears to be ready to explode out of the tight Victorian clothing that binds him much as Jung's sexuality is exploding out of his overly controlled intellect. Jung may appear overly harsh, controlled and rejecting as he ends the affair with Spielrein but he was becoming unhinged from the ground upon which he had built his personal, intellectual and professional life. Kira Knightly does a superb job of playing Sabrina Spielrein. Spielrein has neurotic tics that manifest when painful or conflicting memories emerge. The early scenes where Spielrein relates to Jung how often her father whipped her naked behind and then forced her to kiss his hand after the whipping are very powerful. As a child Spielrein would sometimes urinate in fear while being whipped and her father would whip her again for the urination. She now dreams of a catlike creature whispering into her ear as a slug like creature crawls on her lower back. Jung is able to connect that Spielrein would masturbate to images and memory of physical punishment and that pain had thus become eroticized for her. Knightly was able to portray mental illness, repressed eroticism and intellectual acuity in one outstanding performance. Vincent Cassel deserves mention for the part he plays as Dr. Otto Gross, another brilliant but unstable mind in an addict. However it is in conversation with the way-out Gross that Jung comes to terms with his passion for a brilliant and beautiful patient. Viggo Mortensen plays Sigmund Freud with careful understatement. Freud believed that in Jung he had finally found the champion, the heroic son, who would carry his theories forward. Much of their relationship in the film vibrates between a father-son relationship, a mentor-mentee relationship, and a professional competition. Of course the scene is included where Freud and Jung share dreams on the voyage to America and Freud tells Jung that one dream he can not reveal since he would lose his `authority' which Jung relates as the point where Freud lost all authority for him. It is to the film's credit that it includes the discussions between Freud and Jung on strategy whereby Freud wished their work to remain focused, concentrated, demonstrable, and repeatable whereas Jung was becoming more expansive, overly inclusive, and willing to explore paranormal experiences that are almost impossible to demonstrate or repeat under controlled conditions. Both strategies may advance scientific thought but the tensions eventually disrupt their personal and professional relationships. Eventually the tables turn as Spielrein emerges from her neurosis and becomes a brilliant psychoanalyst in her own right, mentored and complimented by Sigmund Freud. Thus this 99 minute films is about two complex themes; the development, expression, and repression of sexual desires as demonstrated in the relationship of Spielrein and Jung and the creation, translation and re-creation of complex scientific ideology as demonstrated in the relationship of Jung and Freud.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Hanging by a thread"
*by B***. on April 13, 2012*

I think this film was rather kind to the splintered relationship of Freud and Jung. It was also kind about Freud's massive and mysogonistic ego he supposedly had in real life. Although, most male physicians at that time could be described as the same, so I suppose Siggy was not abnormal, he was just very famous and jewish and some older history books do not flatter him. He did earn his fame, but most of his notable first patients were females suffering from "hysteria." Later on he was called out from those early cases as not proven "cured" because he didn't comply with the standard scientific technics by using several other variables, like placebos, to prove it was his technic that cured. It was also anti-semitism and intellectual jealousy that literally declared war within this new field during and after WWI. He had great fame as being the father of psychoanalysis during his lifetime and he used it for doing good. Freud contributed so much and so did Jung. Yet, Freud is still the contender. Viggo is a wonderful actor and I think he did something excellent here with his role as Freud. His quiet way of questioning, suggesting, active listening and his fatherly chuckles, especially the one he delivers while reading the scathing letter from Jung towards the end of the film. Knightly, held nothing back in her performance as Sabina Spielrein. A sexually frustrated hysteric that finds freedom and eventually her own fame as a child psychologist. Forced to strip naked as a young girl and through spankings and humiliation from her father, she developed sexually in a neurotic and repressive way that contradicted with church, society and medicine at that time. She is a patient of Jung, and because of her high intelligence from a university education in medicine, is allowed to participate in some experiments. Vincent Casteel makes a brief, yet compelling performance as the unbalanced, psychoanalyst Otto Gross, needing treatment for himself. Otto is a referral patient from Freud sent to Jung for treatment by the demands of Otto's father. Jung tells him he heard he helped a patient commit suicide. Otto offhandedly responds that she was suicidal and he merely told her how to do it without botching it and gave her the option of becoming his lover. He follows up with a resigned "she opted for both." Casteel plays this role of Otto, with such a beautiful contradiction of reckless indifference and human grace. He is wonderful in the scenes with Michael Fassbende, in shocking and baffling him with his philosophy, and explaining Freud's theory of transference between physcian and patient in a wicked way. He looked like lucifer sitting outside in that garden enjoying his cigarette, with that slight grin on his face, and taking control over the conversation between himself and Jung. I loved him! Casteel could have played the part of a shorter Jung, but we would have missed him as that poor, deranged physician and his shenanigans. Jung starts to give in to the transference and experiments with Spielrein, that crosses boundaries. When news leaks out about Jung's affair with her, he breaks it off and asks Freud to help soften the blow by writing to her. This brings about some dramatic moments between Jung and Spielrein where Spielrein wields some power to get justice or payback, however you want to see it. Both come out with gain at the end of the film, but in real life, Spielrein was later murdered by Nazis back in Russia during WWII and Jung lived a long, full life. This intervention from Freud eventually leads to her working for him and becoming a child psychologist. Freud's refusal to give any credence to Jung's theories into mysticism is the wedge that breaks their working relationship apart. Fassbende is excellent with Knightly as he restrains and gives tension from himself at the right moments that brighten Knightly's performance...he does this really well with all of the actors. I love his sober restraint when Knightly is helping him on an experiment with the actress Sarah Godon playing his wife. His coldness allowed Godon's subtle awkwardness feel more intense, without Godon having to over due it. The scene with Viggo in Freud's study, when wood is snapping from the bookcases and Fassbende is in a lather, telling Viggo he knew it would happen and predicted the second one snapping, and goes on about mysticism all agitated, while Viggo's reaction is fatherly as he scoffs at it. Viggo is a tad condicending to him, but not cruel in his reaction. Yes, this film plays with history, but I haven't seen a feature film about historical figures be any where in the ballpark when it comes to accuracy.This is a good one if you've ever had to study a little bit of Freud and Jung a long time ago, and don't mind a little salt in your sugar. It's a fun movie, not a documentary.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Dangerous Method. Life with father.
*by N***N on October 4, 2025*

Great film, loved it! I'm a huge fan of all three stars and now Cronenberg. The film goes into a lot of cultural, sociological, economic context enough to give a sense of importance of it's subject matter as uncharted territory without burdening it's viewers, making complex ideas easy to grasp by a wider audience and at the same time making the material relavent to our times through a modern lens. At the time it was made, could anything shock audiences anymore? Just about everything has been shown in film to the public by now, so that it's easy to be jaded but this still has the ability to shock, causing me to ask 'Was this real?'! I witness more films since this one that touch on the same subjects outside the context of psychology and far more understated too. The salient part of this film for me was the expended energy to keep this new science, a science. One not mixed up with religion, philosophy, politics and in this case, metaphysics, because much effort nowadays is in blurring if not obliterating the boundaries between them, as attractive as that can be. The supplemental material included in disc 2 reveals how attention to detail was lovingly applied for it's authenticity. Profound, influential. Loved it!

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.at/products/18902565-a-dangerous-method](https://www.desertcart.at/products/18902565-a-dangerous-method)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Austria*
*Store origin: AT*
*Last updated: 2026-04-28*