Freud: The Secret Passion: Movie Essay

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The film, Freud: The Secret Passion, directed by John Huston gave a clear representation of the evolution of Freud during his earlier work. The film script was based off of Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Freud Scenario. Jean-Paul Sartre is known as a existentialist philosopher and an acclaimed playwright. This movie was insightful in understanding the trials that Freud went through in developing his theories. First we see Freud leaving his position at the hospital to study with Charcot, who has been using hypnotism to treat patients. Hypnotism is used to treat patients that suffer from neurosis, and under the hypnotic trance patients can be placed into a state of remission. Freud marries Martha, then begins to start his own research and treatment with the help of Breuer. Breuer offers Freud monetary help and sends patients for Freud to study. Breuer introduces one of his cases to Freud in which he has been using hypnosis as treatment, but Freud does not actually meet the patient till later on. …show more content…

Freud uses the end of a cigarette to hypnotize the patient, in which Freud reveals the young man hated his father, due to his love for his mother. Freud was so distraught by his finding he tells the patient not to remember anything that had been revealed. After this encounter Freud becomes distraught, which is shown through his urgency to leave the patient’s home and his later disturbing dreams, involving a mother-son relationship. Freud becomes physically and mentally sick, due to his discovery of this sort of relationship. The transformation of Freud into his own neurosis was necessary to show how he was conflicted with his own

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