Freud

I saw this film 40 years ago and see that no VHS is available,

which is a pity. It is much better than "The Young Freud" which has

recently been showing on PBS. It captures in some depth the

creativity and uniqueness of Freud's early discoveries, which were

amplified by him and others throughout the 20th century and into

the 21st. We see him doggedly and devotedly looking for the root

causes of a psychological illness which masqueraded as a

physical (neurological) illness for centuries. His discoveries,

stemming from this time, have greatly influenced modern thinking,

such that we call our times "The Age of Anxiety." They have led to

the appreciation of childhood sexuality and abuse and have taken

psychological abuse out from under the carpet, where these

pivotal events have been hidden for centuries. Freud was able to

see the classic appeal of the Greek tragedies and interpret why

they retain their power and are performed today, 3000 years later!

What happened to the dream scene? This film is now at long last available on DVD. Unfortunately this new DVD version is still missing the dream scene that I clearly remember seeing on the films cinema release back in 1962. It occurs when Freud can't follow his fathers funeral into the cemetery. Instead he faints and then we are plunged into his famous dream - the one about "the eyes shall be closed". (Freud recounts it I believe in The Interpretation of Dreams). In the film the only remnant of the dream remaining is a night time shot of noisy train pulling out of a railway station. Thats the tail end of the dream for anybody wondering what it is. Then Freud describes to Breur what the dream was about. Why this scene is repeatedly cut from the few bootleg versions available and now the new DVD version I have no idea. Its a pity because like the other dreams in the film it was impressively filmed by Huston.

It's always interesting to see how the art of cinema... a form of expression which much too often suffers under an audience and financial backers who demand simple entertainment, easily taken in and processed... deals with topics that are more complex and intricate than can be explained to the common movie-goer in a limited space of time, that being between an hour and a half and about three hours(in recent years, there has been a return of the longer running times... for better or for worse, and with ranging success). Psycho-analysis was also dealt with by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock... in Spellbound, in 1945. He, as Huston does here, gave it a fair treatment, though oversimplifying it some. What's interesting is that Huston, while his film seems to be the lesser known, is actually the better representation of the subject(though, mind you, not necessarily the better film). This deals with Freud and his discoveries, following him for half a decade, giving what may be a fairly accurate account of his first work with hypnosis and psycho-analysis. We see a few of his patients, and the film focuses on him as he works on one particular patient... whose symptoms strongly resemble some he, to a (considerably) lesser degree has himself, and we experience how he develops and presents(and is met with strong protest and outrage, as he indeed was in real life) one theory which would become a cornerstone of his psychological writings and his view on man. I will not reveal what it is here, but anyone should know what he believed before watching this, since it is a rather provocative idea(and it is somewhat glorified in this film... Freud comes across as more of a misunderstood genius than the hopeful man(who did yield some important and interesting discoveries) that he was in real life). The cinematic values of the film are fine... the pace could have been more consistent(it should be noted that I watched a cut that was 120 minutes, not 139, long), and there are one or two scenes which seem obsolete, but there's little else that stands out, neither positively nor negatively. The film's score is dramatic, but that is not uncommon for a movie of that period. There are several nice touches in the film, in regards to who it is about... among them the Freudian slip in a scene with a patient. I recommend this to anyone interested in psychology, regardless of their view on Freud... it's interesting to watch, and fairly nicely done, to boot. Just keep in mind that it's neither a documentary nor a proper biographical film. 7/10

Hypnosis, hysteria, moody B/W photography, beards and a haunted Montgomery Clift combine in a fascinating movie.

I have seen this film a few times and each time I appreciate it a little more. It concentrates on the years in Sigmund Freud's life around 1890 when he made his groundbreaking studies on the nature of sexuality.

Although I had the impression Freud was more of a solo act, the film shows that after a falling out with the head of the Vienna Hospital, Dr. Theodore Meynert (Eric Portman), friend and mentor Dr. Joseph Breuer (Larry Parks) played a big role in his discoveries.

As Freud deals with one intriguing case after another, he encounters Cecily Koertner, played by a sexy Susannah York, who has a disturbing father hang-up and enough problems for a battalion of pioneering psychiatrists. This was relatively early in Susannah's career and she just about steals the show. Sadly she is gone now, a bit young at 72.

Montgomery Clift's performance has a quality of suffering that he didn't have to fake. Director John Huston pieced together Clift's performance because the actor's life was pretty well out of control by this stage. However, a recent documentary, "Making Montgomery Clift", gives another side to the story with more blame levelled at Huston for the problematic production. That aside, what a presence Monty still had, he was probably the only actor who ever remotely intimidated Brando.

Insights come when Freud deals with the troubled Carl von Schlossen who has savagely attacked his father. Schlossen was played by David McCallum a few years before "Man from Uncle" fame. When Freud deduces the attack was over the younger Schlossen's jealousy of his mother, Freud is shocked into the realisation that his own infantile feelings for his mother may well have gone beyond love of her strudel.

Huston approached all this as a mystery thriller, especially when the treatment of Cecily reveals to Freud that just about all repressed emotional disturbances are based on conflicted feelings toward mum and dad.

Jerry Goldsmith's score helps drive the film; it's as atonal as they come, but it grows on you. Again, like many of the stars, it was early in the career of the great film maestro.

The film mixes in dream sequences with plenty of symbolism reminiscent of the films of Ingmar Bergman. In fact the whole thing has a Bergmanesque quality. And talk about the id and the ego, John Huston delivers God-like narration at key points.

Huston made many great films as well as a couple of duds, however "Freud" was a bold idea; it's challenging, but beautifully made and deserves to be ranked among his best.

According to the Citadel Film Series book about the films of John Huston, he was interested for about 20 years in bringing Sigmund Freud's life and work to the big screen. When he finally got a script from philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre it was an eight hour epic which he finally trimmed down to less than two and half hours. A manageable length and it only covers the years 1885 to 1891 when Freud developed his theories about infant sexuality and the Oedipal complex.

Just the mere fact that when you mention psychology and ask who is the person most associated with the field and Freud is the answer 99% of the time qualifies him to be the first man of his field. Those theories which he expounds have been challenged down through the years, but more often than not his peers are building on what he started and not just outrightly dismissing Freud.

The subject is probably too complex a one to bring to the screen for the lay person, but Huston makes a valiant effort. Huston also had Code parameters to deal with in 1962. Huston is also helped along by a great performance he coaxed out of Montgomery Clift and God knows Clift was a man by that time beset with his own demons of the mind and had seen enough of psychology as well as more addicting methods of pain control. Huston had the devil's own time with Clift, but Clift responded greatly. It was a miracle this film was finished at all.

This was Montgomery Clift's last really great film. He did a rather pedestrian spy novel The Defector four years later as his last film. That was like a tune up film for him to do before he was to start Reflections In A Golden Eye. Monty was way too gone by then and essentially just walked through that one. He should have gone out with Freud.

There are a couple of other performances of note. Sussanah York as the girl who Clift treats that really gets him thinking along the lines of sex and David McCallum as well as a mental patient who shows some interesting subliminal sexual behavior under hypnosis. Larry Parks also makes an appearance as Freud's colleague, friend, but critic in the end Joseph Breuer.

Essentially Freud is Clift's show all the way and a grand show it is. And this review is dedicated to my father Leonard S. Kogan who was most prominent in this field and had a bust of Freud along with Einstein and Washington among the bric a brac in our house as people he admired.