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Review: Freud - From the weird to absurd in 8 episodes


Freud 2020 show



Freud is a bizarre Austrian-German show about the beginning of Sigmund Freud's career. It puts a young Sigmund Freud in the middle of a social-political conspiracy. Were you expecting a biography? Sorry to disappoint you.

The main idea is, no doubt, weird. I'm not exactly sure about what I saw there. Only in the last couple of episodes, you can make some sense of a few things. A FEW.

Entrance


I could not ignore the entrance of the show as it is one of the best things about it. It is very curious. If you pay attention, Freud's (Robert Finster) bust changes at each episode. Each change represents the different topics or issues approached — the integration and disintegration of the self, so crucial in Freud's theory.  

Mysticism


Everything seems fine until the story begins. It is not about psychology - not as we understand it - but rather about mysticism. It is focused on local folklore, mystical stories, and supernatural beings. 

The main plot is around the Hungarian couple's plans. The Countess (Anja Kling) wants revenge. We understand that. Her means are the problem. Were all those people hypnotized? 

It is difficult to ignore the lack of realism when the show claims to be talking about a real person. Yet, if you can ignore that, you may make some sense of what you're watching. All those people are tools in their hands. For what? We only learn that in the last episode, and while it remains mysterious for some time, it becomes annoying.

It wasn't all terrible, though. The highest point of the show happens in episode 7 - a trip to the unconscious. It is the closest you get to Freud's concept. A real one. The analogy of the dark house with a few (small) points of light is one of my favorites.  

Hypnosis


Hypnosis is the central topic of the show, but you probably won't see that right away. It's all about its power.

I found no reference to the main story of the Hungarians, so I must believe it was made up for the show. That makes sense if you focus on some details. How can Fleur (Ella Rumpf) be hypnotized so easily? And all the others? What does the Countess do to them? Why don't they wake up? Why is her hypnosis so constant? Scientifically, it doesn't make any sense!

Philosophically, though, the show raises a question. How far can the manipulation of the unconscious take you? How dangerous would it be?

Trauma


Trauma seems to be the center of all the patients' problems. 

I found Inspector Kiss (Georg Friedrich) quite an interesting character. He has PTSD and a problem with his hand. The hand he used to kill enemy soldiers. Unarmed men. Surrendered men. He obeyed an order he didn't agree with, and his hand represents his regrets.

Then, you have Clara (Zuzana Zvonícková). She seems to have been tortured and can't speak. What exactly happened to her?  Her mom takes her out of the hospital (which makes her the most intelligent character at the point) and then… Nothing. We would like to know what happened next. Would she recover? Would she talk?

Artistic design Vs. Credibility


Freud starts weird and then becomes absurd. Many parts had no sense at all. Are they supposed to represent some sort of hallucinations due to his abuse of cocaine? Taltos was a metaphor for the monsters hiding in our unconscious mind? We are never sure.

And the end? What's that supposed to mean? Does Taltos live in the Inspector? Is he still hypnotized? Does he really have a monster inside him? It's all quite ambiguous. Very artistic, but with doubtful interest. 

The Power of Hypnosis


The show ends up with Freud burning the book he wrote. A book that, as far as I know, never existed, or perhaps it did, and it was forbidden, like in the show. 

"Your time will come, one way, or another," Kiss says to him, and he is right. Freud leaves the hospital and starts working on what he truly believes. 

Freud is a curious show. Not necessarily interesting. Especially if you are looking for something else, such as a bio, the name might give you that idea. It's the wrong idea.


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