Freud - L'ultima analisi

Now, I was pleasantly surprised last week by the film 'La fille de nulle part' by French director Jean-Claude Brisseau. I was particularly struck by the depth of the dialogues and realized that I am not used to that at all anymore: a director who assumes that his audience has read a book before. It seems like films increasingly take the dumbest of the bunch as a starting point; everything has to be spoon-fed and explained.

Freud's Last Session could have been a fantastic opportunity to create a film that intellectually grabs you and keeps you intellectually engaged. Why is there not a deeper exploration of the father-daughter relationship? Why is there no real dialogue between Freud and the professor? Why is there no character development? Why don't we get real insight into the psychology of the three main characters? It's about Freud, for goodness' sake! He is the founder of psychoanalysis! The levity of the production completely hinders the subject. It's like making a cowboy film without cowboys.

A missed opportunity.