Series Review: Freud. Director: Marvin Kren.
Modern day diagnosis focuses on physical as well as mental health of men, women and all others. Yog (Yoga) practitioners are often quoted saying "90% of diseases are psychosomatic". Modern day diagnosis is more meticulous and has a higher chance of being accurate, thanks to savants like Freud, who went beyond the usual and brought about a synthesis between the physical symptoms of a patient and collated as well as co-related it with his/her/their mental condition.
The meaning and definition of ''proper'', especially for women has changed overtime. In the times of yore, a thinking, feeling woman with an empathetic soul was labelled a witch. In the times of Patriarchal Monarchies, a woman who would laugh loudly and embrace her feelings was labelled hysterical, as if something was wrong with her. It is however, pertinent to note the irony in all of this: what a woman should be/what she should represent was idealized and conceptualized by men. This led to a lot of suppression of the feelings, thoughts, urges and more importantly, the mental health of women.
In such times, someone who would avow the ignored was sure to be hated, condemned and looked down upon. Freud was no exception to this type of fate. Ancient philosophers like Plato opposed change because in their opinion, change was the first step to revolution and revolution was a portent of the upcoming cataclysm.Freud's method of hypnosis and diagnosis and the very act of linking physical symptoms with the mental state of the patient was nothing short of a blasphemy to his profession, which then only focused on the former, and turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the latter.
'Freud' streaming on Netflix is a psycho-thriller historic crime fiction where the young, broke and condemned Jewish Doctor Sigismund Freud comes across Fleur Salome, a woman who could communicate with the dead and goes on to diagnose her, using his much hated and unconventional methods. While the story may be fictional, the trials and tribulations Freud had to endure were correctly and aptly portrayed. There are many accounts as to how Freud rose to fame, and many controversial opinions regarding his career, scope of work and his mastery of his pursuit. To many in his time, he was just a pseudo-doctor and tantamount to a quack or a soothsayer.
Freud was a feminist way before his time. He was the first professional in his pursuit to acknowledge that women are beings, not objects. Their thoughts, feelings and urges are stronger than, and if not stronger than, then the same as that of men. He normalized many taboos and cured many of his patients, especially women affected with ''hysteria''. Another reason for Freud's condemnation was the Nazi uprising in Austria and Germany. Freud's extraordinariness along with his Jewish faith did not go well with his colleagues and superiors. This was also one of the reasons why Freud clashed with his junior Carl Jung, who belonged to the Nordic Race, as was portrayed in the Michael Fassbender film 'A Dangerous Method' (2011).
Freud's time was unkind to intellectuals and averse to change. He was destitute for a long time, earned a pittance and everyone around him loathed him, hated him and some even pitied him. Freud was not the only Austrian doctor to face condemnation for his recalcitrance. Dr. Ingel Semmelweiss, a gynaecologist had a similar travesty. In his time, the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) of women who parturitioned in hospitals in Austria was soaring, because of which many women preferred midwives and no amount of research was able to determine why. Dr. Semmelweiss came up with a simple solution relevant to the current times: washing hands. The reason behind the deaths of pregnant women in hospitals was that doctors would discharge their duties in the morgue, and report for duty in the maternity ward forthwith, leaving no time for the washing of hands. Consequently, the lethal chemicals used in the mortuary would enter the bodies of the pregnant women, resulting in their death. Dr. Semmelweiss was condemned to the extent of being diagnosed with hysterics and admitted in the mental ward of a hospital.
The West always took centuries to find out what was already existing in the more beautiful and the more peaceful East. India had Yog, India also had 'Kama Sutra' and India had long ago normalized taboo, recognized the importance of bodily urges and the medical faculty in India was more advanced than her Western peers. Aldous Huxley, in his book 'Island' lauds the Eastern peripatetic intellectual rather than the sedentary Western one, and goes on to make a bold remark saying, "an intellectual is someone who has discovered something more interesting than sex".
'Freud' on Netflix is a mildly successful story and spans across eight episodes, each episode being labelled as a part. The direction of the series is neither breath-taking, nor abysmal. It's average. The direction of the first four parts is catchy, addictive and abounded by dodged-bullets. The direction of the middle parts is shoddy and full of unnecessarily profane and vulgar scenes, and is slightly less relevant, but this is compensated in the direction of the penultimate and the last part which is quite good and the audience would feel that the time invested in watching the series did not altogether go waste.
'Freud' portrays Vienna poetically. Her beautiful nights, swarthy taverns, the Elite Seances and the extremely superstitious Austrians in a larger than life panorama. It showcases opulence as well as destitution in Vienna and how Freud made his way from the latter and marched towards the former. Robert Finster and Ella Rumpf who play the leads (Freud and Fleur Salome respectively) in addition to Georg Friedrich who played Police Inspector Alfred Kiss have all done a great job.
Overall, 'Freud' should be watched for the unconventionality it brings on, the good script and mainly to understand Freud's approach towards women. Though not a must watch, it is definitely a recommended series.
MY TAKE: 7/10.
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Wonderfully written review , as rightly said in Ayurveda it is already mentioned that origin of most od the diseases lies in mental stress, dissatisfaction , physical symptoms are mere representation of that hidden stress. Freud philosophy has its own status in medical field. Will definately watch this series.
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