
Hollywood has tried over the years to perfectly capture onto celluloid the peculiar brilliance of Austria’s favorite son, Sigmund Freud. Whether or not they’ve ever quite succeeded in summarizing the life and times of the celebrated father of psychoanalysis is up for debate and perhaps a from beyond the grave analysis by the ghost of Freud himself. No less than a master thespian than the great Montgomery Clift (A Place in the Sun, From Here to Eternity) threw himself into a portrayal of the man in John Huston’s 1962 film Freud: The Secret Passion. If that portrayal didn’t quite whet your whistle, then might we direct you to Rod Loomis and his guffaw-inducing work as the Good Doctor in 1989’s Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure where Freud time-hopped through history all for the good of a pair of lovable stoners. These are two of the better known movies which have attempted to bring Freud back to life for moviegoers, but there’s a might big chasm between those two cinematic forays which might be ripe for the picking of any industrious and very adventurous filmmaker and studio that might want to go on sabbatical from producing yet another horror or superhero flick. Such a questing soul belongs to director Matthew Brown who, according to our couch-loving, bib-wearing compatriots over at The Hollywood Reporter, is set to dive into the final days of Sigmund Freud with a lot of help from one of the very best actor’s in the history of cinema…
Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins (The Remains of the Day, The Silence of the Lambs) is slotted in to bring to life the final days of Sigmund Freud in director Matthew Brown’s period film Freud’s Last Session. Set in the dark days leading up to the second World War, the film will follow Freud’s final days which will encapsulate, among other things, a theological debate between Freud and his friend and author C.S. Lewis on whether or not such a being as God exists; heady stuff, to be for sure.
“Beyond my own intellectual curiosity and inclination towards this piece, there is a deep recognition of how incredibly timely and important this film is,” Brown said in a press release announcing the film. “We live in an age that is so ideologically polarized, where everyone is stuck in their own tribes, with no real dialogue. I want to make a film for all audiences that is emotional, thought-provoking and creative. A film that asks the big questions, while investigating what is at the heart of the human condition: love, faith and mortality.”
Set to begin filming in the fourth quarter of 2022 in the merry old city of London, look for Freud’s Last Session sometime in 2023!