A Dangerous Method ****

In 1906, Karl Jung (an elegant and controlled Michael Fassbender), then 30, was a rising psychiatrist in Switzerland, working at a mental hospital and developing his own theories about the mind and the unconscious. He sent his book "Studies in Word Association" to the famous Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (a cerebral Viggo Mortensen), which kindled an intense professional relationship for the next six years. "A Dangerous Method," adapted from the book of the same name and the play "The Talking Cure," concentrates on this fertile period in Jung's thinking and development, along with his personal life, principally with a patient who became his mistress and protege, Sabina Spielrein (a beautiful and fiery Keira Knightly).

"A Dangerous Method" is at once a captivating story of love and desire, an immaculate period piece, and a convincing portrayal of the collaboration and final rift of the two leading lights of psychiatry and psychology. It's heady stuff, and works, fittingly, on a number of levels. The screenplay is comprehensive and unflinching, the acting superb, the direction sure footed (by David Cronenberg), the look sumptuous and engrossing. In a sea of insubstantial special-effects popcorn I found it a satisfying full meal.