A batch of new images have come to light from David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, starring Michael Fassbender as Carl Jung, Viggo Mortensen as Sigmund Freud and Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, a woman who is a patient of both and the lover of one.

A Dangerous Method, with a screenplay by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liasons, Atonement) is just the latest in a long line of Cronenberg’s psychosexual explorations (Rage, Videodrome, Dead Ringers, The Naked Lunch, Crash, eXisTenz, Spider) and his third film with Viggo Mortensen (A History of Violence, Eastern Promises), although Christoph Waltz was initially cast as Freud. This one deals with the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud that gives birth to psychoanalysis. Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case given to him by his friend and mentor Sigmund Freud, the driven Dr. Jung (Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Spielrein as his patient  using the methods of his master. Both men fall under Sabina’s spell.

I have to wonder if the film will address the issue of Spielrein’s contributions. For decades she was little more than footnote in psychiatric history, even though she herself actually went on to become one of the world’s first psychoanalysts. As this is a fictionalized account, I suspect they will probably emphasize the sexual nature of both her psychosis as well as her supposed relationship with Jung. I definitely plan to see it to find out!

Here’s another look at the mesmerizing trailer:

A Dangerous Method  is scheduled to screen at the Venice and the Toronto International Film Festivals and will be released by Sony Pictures Classics in the UK on 10 February 2012. Still no official date for the US.