Freud - Além da Alma

John Huston does a great job telling the story of Freud's discovery of the subconscious and the Oedipus complex -- and turning the plot into a mystery -detective story.

Clift gives a sobering, troubled performance as Freud -- perhaps because Clift, like Freud, was haunted by his own demons.

The film is in black and white which is very effective, especially in the night and dream sequences. The music and atmosphere suggest vintage TWILIGHT ZONE. This is a fascinating film which reveals Freud in a new light and makes us look at ourselves also in a new light.

The very underrated 1962 picture "Freud" shows again why its director John Huston was a masterful biographer and adapter of the works of others. As much as a movie is able to, he captures the slightly mad, intense world of psychoanalysis using its father as his dramatic subject. In fact, the film is a perfect and popular introduction into this the most personal of sciences. The film puts me in mind of Hitchcock's "Spellbound", Bergman's "Wild Strawberries", Lynch's "The Elephant Man" and Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" - all of which deal with the stuff of which nightmares are made.

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!

I agree with most of the positive reviews here at IMDb, so I will concentrate on another aspect of the film.

Hollywood legend contends that during the shooting of FREUD, John Huston gleefully and sadistically brutalized poor, trusting Montgomery Clift, both physically and emotionally. The story took hold and has been repeated countless times by Clift biographers down to this day, despite the lack of any corroborating witnesses, plus no other actors ever came forward to say that Huston was so cruel to them on other shoots.

For the most part, John Huston didn't care what people said about him, but this story actually did damage to his reputation. It is the only negative story about Huston that he felt the need to respond to. In his 1979 memoirs, AN OPEN BOOK, Huston gives a detailed account of the shooting of FREUD, and addresses the specific allegations against him. We may never know the whole truth, but Huston does quite a credible job of defending himself. Naturally, his side of the story never got as much attention as the original charges. You should find the book and read it.

More trivia: After Jean-Paul Sartre's death, his admirers published much of his original, unused screen treatment, and predictably condemned John Huston for not filming Sartre's eight-hour screenplay (as if anyone would have tolerated an eight-hour movie).

Because of Sigmund Freud's theories, FREUD was arguably the first motion picture to deal, even briefly, with the subject of incest. In real life, Freud contended that many adolescents go through a phase where they have sexual feelings for their parents of the opposite sex, and then go into denial that they ever felt such things after they get older. If Freud was correct, the denial is very strong, for he is reviled for this theory to this day. But readers, can you HONESTLY say that, as a young teen, that you never once cast a glance at mom's legs or her cleavage?

FREUD is a good biographical film, and it is a shame that it has never been pleased on VHS or DVD. One has to wonder why---maybe Freud's theories still hit that raw of a nerve?

While this film would never set the box office on fire in today's world, there still remains a place for serious, intelligent, albeit talky ventures such as this. Plot is presented as a series of case studies, none of which are particularly convincing. Montgomery Clift's portrayal reveals just as much about the troubled actor himself as it does about Freud. If you've ever wondered what happened to Susan Kohner after her knockout performance in "Imitation of Life," she turns up here in her final film appearance in a very low-key minor role as Freud's wife. Too much attention is paid to Susannah York's character, plagued with a host of psychological ailments. David McCallum's Oedipus complex is far more compelling. The dream sequences are artfully conceived and photographed, adding a spark of excitement to the proceedings. Kino Lorber DVD transfers contain some truly awful commentaries, but this time film historian Tim Lucas' fact-filled narration is as interesting as the film itself.