Time is closing in on the production start for David Cronenberg’s next feature film, The Talking Cure. The big news from Deadline is that Christoph Waltz dropped out in order to take a role in Water for Elephants, which lead Cronenberg to now-frequent collaborator Viggo Mortensen as his replacement. Vincent Cassel, another returner from Eastern Promises, has also joined the cast according to the French distributor. I believe this will make Mortensen the most used lead actor by Cronenberg, and in three straight films to boot, beating out the two films with Jeremy Irons.
The Talking Cure is based on a play by Christopher Hampton. Here’s the premise:
Overshadowed by portents of the coming wars, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for this tale of emotional vicissitude and intellectual debate. The Talking Cure is an intimate picture of the birth of psychoanalysis and of two intense and inextricably interwoven relationships. Carl Jung uses Sigmund Freud’s “talking cure” on Sabina, a young Russian hysteric with whom he will fall in love. Impressed with Jung’s results, Freud anoints him his successor, but when Jung develops his own theories they part ways. Sensitive and intelligent, The Talking Cure illuminates the origins of one of the twentieth century’s most influential schools of thought.
Mortensen will portray Sigmund Freud, with Michael Fassbender playing Carl Jung and Keira Knightley as Sabina. The nature of Vincent Cassel’s role isn’t clear. Production is scheduled to kick off on May 17th for 10 weeks in Germany.
It’s Cronenberg, so needless to say I’m psyched. I’ve got my fingers crossed for an end of the year release date.
