Freud’s Last Session – REVIEW

Two of the greatest minds of the 20^th century, C.S Lewis and Sigmund Freud, have a fictional meeting in London on September 3rd, 1939, two days after German forces invade Poland. They discuss many subjects, the focus always reverting to the progressive discussion on religion and God.

“Why would you come to see me if you passionately disagree with all my views?” Freud asks Lewis. “We speak different languages!”

During the course of the movie they discuss, sometimes highly tempered, many thought-provoking topics that should leave audiences pondering about their respective responses long after leaving the cinema.

Why does religion make room for science and yet science refuses to make room for religion? Is the suffering of man the fault of man or God? Do scholars have an obligation to tell the truth? Is homosexuality immoral and what is the source of lesbianism in women?

Through flashbacks, audiences revisit the darker times in the characters’ earlier years – their respective father/son relationships, Lewis’ combat veteran as a WWI soldier, and what propelled Freud to leave Vienna and travel to London.

The relationship between Lewis and his daughter, who was pathologically dependent upon him, is also detailed, along with the ironic fact that she had a lesbian lover. Also, the relationship he had with a deceased soldier’s mother; was the relationship platonic or immoral?

“Why would you abandon truth then embrace a ludicrous dream and insidious lie?” Freud asks Lewis when the subject of God re-emerges. “What if it isn’t a lie?” Lewis responds.

The movie is based on the stage play of the same name, and stars Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, and Matthew Goode as C.S. Lewis, a British writer and literary scholar.

Hopkins never ceases to amaze. Just when you think it’s safe to assume that he’s delivered his career defining performance, his latest excels all his previous work, as is the case in Freud’s Last Session.

However, as remarkable as Hopkin’s interpretation of Freud is, it must be noted that his performance is highly complemented by that of his co-star Matthew Goode who seems to have slipped into Lewis’ character quite comfortably.

The majority of the movie is set in Freud’s study and the flashback scenes, which are a welcomed change in scenery, offer a glance at the futility of war and the precarious nature of relationships.

The script is astutely written. All the dialogue delivered by the characters C.S Lewis and Freud is compelling, fluent, and coherent – precisely the high-levelled vocabulary these two distinguished scholars would be expected to utilize in deliberations.

This is a powerful and dramatic art house movie that should appeal to all decerning cinephiles who demand high quality movies for ‘thinking’ audiences.

Last word: “Just as no one can be forced into belief, so no one can be forced into unbelief.” – Sigmund Freud.

★★★★

In Cinemas now.