In this podcast we talk about the way Freud has been depicted in the movies, particularly the 1962 John Houston film 'Freud: The Secret Passion'. Ian discusses Houston's complicated relationship with the star, Montgomery Clift, Sartre's early involvement with the script, the film's 'film noir' feel, Jerry Goldsmith's music, with a detour into avant garde composers work on horror films. Ian characteries the film as a big game movie about the unconscious and we go on to discuss the 2011 David Cronenberg film 'A Dangerous Method' about Freud's rift with Jung, and the struggle of Jung's patient and subsequent lover to forger her own career in psychoanalysis. This leads to the 2023 film Freud's last session that includes Freud's daughter Anna and is based on an imagined conversation with CS Lewis, which lead to a conversation about Atenborough's film about Lewis, 'Shadowlands. To conclude, we discuss three movies inspired by ideas from psychoanalysis, 'Secrets of the Soul' (Pabst, 1926), Spellbound (1945) and particularly 'Under Capricorm' (1948), the latter two from Hitchcock. Ian discusses Freud's unwillingness to advise on movies, before concluding with a consideration of Fellini's use of his dreams as a source of movies. Great conversation.
Participants:
Ian Christie, Professor of Film and Media History, Birckbeck, University of London. www.ianchristie.org
Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist: http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk
The movies:
Freud: The Secret Passion(1962): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055998/
A Dangerous Method(2011):https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571222/
Freud's Last Session (2023): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt20420628/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
Under Capricorn (1948): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042004/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1
The Dali designed Spellbound dream sequence from 'Spelbound': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ITPLLIcPSM
GW Pabst's 'Secrets of the Soul' (1926): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYoXy3bYD1k
The Italian movie podcast mentioned: 'Capolavoro!: https://open.acast.com/networks/6452b6516dd22500113dc7d2/shows/67ab6f20c6f97f89d80e2d26/episodes/681cbfbe5acb8b715f1b5b17
Brainland the podcast website: https://shows.acast.com/brainland
Opening and closing music: Prelude to the opera Brainland, composed by Stephen Brown.
Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk
Sketch by KB.
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