Community Corner

This Week at the Movies

'A Dangerous Method' is a cerebral story set during the early days of psychoanalysis, while 'Hugo' and 'The Artist' pay loving homage to cinema's past.

There were no cinematic turkeys this Thanksgiving weekend. Instead, three terrific new films that looked to the past for inspiration debuted to well-deserved accolades.

David Cronenberg’s latest picture, “A Dangerous Method,” is a riveting story set in austere rooms, madhouses and gardens in Switzerland, where a young Carl Jung attempts to prove worthy “the talking cure,” and Vienna, which is home to Sigmund Freud.

At the center of the duo’s tumultuous friendship is Sabina Spielren (Keira Knightley), a Russian Jew who is not only undergoing treatment for psychosis brought on by childhood sexual humiliations, but also wants to be a psychiatrist.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Michael Fassbender, one of Europe’s best actors, portrays Jung as a man torn between two belief systems on sexuality: Freud’s hands-off and facts-only methods and cocaine sniffing doctor Otto Gross’s libertine approach. Viggo Mortensen plays Freud as an authoritative father figure with a sly sense of humor, while Vincent Cassel hilariously channels his inner vulgarian as Gross.

And if there is justice at the Academy Awards, Keira Knightley will receive a nomination for her extremely physical performance as the disturbed Spielren.

Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Cronenberg’s films have long been noted for their artful presentations of the perverse, so his decision to direct a movie about Freud and Jung would seem a likely fit.

But while the director’s focus in “A Dangerous Method” is the lengths to which humans go to repress their basic urges, the film also provides a devastating historical context that is fully realized during a final sequence in which Jung analyzes a dream that envisions a flood turning into “the blood of Europe.”

This scene is set on the eve of World War I. A final postscript relays the fates of all the film’s characters throughout the two World Wars.

Cronenberg’s cerebral film is among this year’s best.

The same could be said for two wonderful new movies – Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” and Michel Hazanavicius’s “The Artist” – that imaginatively pay tribute to cinema history.

“Hugo” is one of the few films of recent years to successfully utilize 3D technology. Scorsese’s picture, which is visually gorgeous, uses the medium to compliment his story, rather than drive it.

The movie’s first half is a Dickensian fantasy set in a French train station during the 1930s.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an orphan who lives behind the station’s numerous clocks and survives by stealing baguettes and croissants from merchants, much to the chagrin of the station’s inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen).

Prior to being killed in a fire, Hugo’s father (Jude Law) taught his son to fix clocks and numerous other gadgets, including an automaton, which the boy believes contains a secret message.

A plot twist I will not reveal leads him to the doorstep of the station’s toymaker, who just happens to be cinema pioneer George Melies (Ben Kingsley), director of the landmark short “A Trip to the Moon.”

The picture’s second half is an emotionally involving paean to the importance of film preservation – a cause Scorsese has long championed - but also an appreciation for great books and works of art.

Some of the film’s references to classic cinema may go over the heads of young children. But I have no doubt that this lovely film would still enchant them.

“The Artist,” which delighted audiences at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and nabbed a Best Actor award for Jean Dujardin, also tips its hat to the films of yesteryear.

The silent film, which is shot in black and white and set in 1927, follows the travails of movie star George Valentin (Dujardin) as he struggles to cope with the birth of the “talkies.”

Dujardin plays Valentin as a charmingly arrogant actor, who is frequently accompanied by his adorable Jack Russell terrier and takes leading man roles in pictures that might have starred Rudolph Valentino or Errol Flynn.

But Valentin is soon to be a relic as the silent film era makes way for sound. A particularly inventive dream sequence finds Valentin unable to speak as he stumbles around a loud movie set.

Of course, there must be a love interest and, in this case, it’s Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a young fan whom Valentin discovers at the debut of one of his films. Peppy’s star rises as Valentin’s falls, but “The Artist” does not follow the path of “All About Eve.” The young ingénue attempts to resurrect Valentin’s career, rather than ride on his coattails.

Hazanavicius, whose previous pictures include the “OSS” spy spoofs (unseen by me), is a filmmaker to watch. “The Artist” is a work of great imagination and joy.

Dujardin has a wonderfully expressive face and a knack for comedy. A sequence that involves multiple takes of a dance scene for a spy movie is especially funny.

Critics are already placing their bets that “The Artist” will be a serious contender at this year’s awards shows. This comes as no surprise – the picture takes a romantic view of Hollywood’s glory days and tells a time honored rise and fall story.

But while the film’s narrative embraces clichés, its delivery is thrillingly inventive. “The Artist” is a crowd pleaser in the best possible way.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Bayside-Douglaston