Arts

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Two’s company, three’s a battle for the psychosis

Is Cronenberg’s latest as effective as its subjects’ methods?

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

Cte

s I’m beginning to write
this piece, it’s occurred
to me that I’ve seen most

of David Cronenberg’s films. His
work reaches such extreme feats
in just about everything taboo that
it’s been a huge catalyst in my
being able to (albeit just barely)
understand symbols in film.
Although I’m more familiar with
his low-budget horrors than his
Oscar-winners, his reputation in
both cases has been well earned.
With that comes A Dangerous
Method, Cronenberg’s latest film,
and yes, it is taboo as all hell—but
it’s also quite refined.

The film opens as Sabrina
Spielrein (Keira Knightley), a
beautiful Russian Jewish woman,
is dragged kicking and screaming
to the office of psychiatrist Carl
Jung (Michael Fassbender).

Jung takes in Spielrein as his
patient whom, despite great
intelligence, is mentally unstable
and frequently struggles to
speak. Through Sigmund Freud’s
(Viggo Mortensen) psychosexual
methodology, Jung is able to cure

Notable notation

   

Mi ;
Spielrein—through psycho and
sexual means, of course. Over the
course of several years, Jung’s
relationship with Spielrein and,
for a time being, Freud grows to
be more intense. As these two

 

established minds attempt to
cooperate with each other, Spielrein
finds herself coming between them.
There’s a heavy amount of
emotion poured into this film on the
actors’ parts. Jung, who is married

 

The first of Douglas’ Student Showcase series is A Major success

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

s we enter the final weeks
Ae the fall semester, many

of Douglas’ arts events are
wrapping up. Such includes the
Arts at One series, which offers a
number of musical presentations
and performances throughout the
year. Artists ranging from outside
performers to school faculty have
provided us with some of the finest
entertainment in New Westminster.
Now, after an ample amount of

classical pieces.

First was Stefani Yap,
particularly of note due to her being
the only female performer in the
Showcase. Yap opened the show
with the chipper Chopin piece,
“Waltz in E-flat Major, Op. 18, No.
1.” Yap was followed by Christian
Bideau, who covered Maurice
Ravel’s eerie second movement,
“Oiseaux tristes (“Sad Birds”),”
from the five-movement piece
“Miroirs.” Raphael Zhao then came
on to perform two pieces, the first

“,..after an ample amount of hard work from those in Douglas’
various music programs, it’s the students’ time to shine”

hard work from those in Douglas’
various music programs, it’s the
students’ time to shine.

The Arts at One performances
that took place last Thursday were
the first of the Student Showcase
series. The Student Showcase takes
select students who have exhibited
both understanding and strength in
their craft, and places them on the
stage to perform on their respected
instrument. This week’s focus was
on those who have shown mastery
in piano, performing various

8

being a section of Tchaikovsky’s
“The Seasons Op. 37, No. 1,” known
as “October” (“The Seasons” is

a 12-piece set that covers each
month of the year). The next piece
was another of Chopin’s, “Etude
in c-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4,”
presenting a challenge due to it’s
dizzyingly fast tempo. Williams
Budhiharto then performed the
sixth movement from Franz Liszt’s
difficult yet beautiful adaptation of
“Grandes études de Paganini in a
minor.” Closing off the show was

@ B- Andy Stevens, Tim Zacharias

F - Joy Ollen, Christina Hicks, Christran,Bi
Photo by Tamara Letkeman .

Konstantin Klimov, who was also
given the opportunity to perform
two pieces, the first being a cover

of the first movement in Schubert’s
“Sonata in A Major, Op. 120.” After
a quick correction in the lineup, the
final piece performed that afternoon
was Alexander Scriabin’s “Etude in
d-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12.”

The entire event ended with a
brief awards ceremony presented
by Joy Ollen, Coordinator of
the Douglas College Music
Department, and Christina Hicks,
the Assistant Manager of Education
for B.C., Long & McQuade. Long

to a woman he legitimately cares
for, has only truly found himself
in the company of Spielrein. Then
there’s Freud, who Jung claims

to be his father figure; these two
clearly have a great deal of respect
if not adoration for each other,

but that begrudgingly shatters as
well (it’s not a spoiler if it’s part of
history!).

While there’s certainly no
body horror going on in this film,
Cronenberg’s emphasis on women
being a powerful force is still there.
There is some blood in this film
as well, but it serves a far more
important purpose than a totally
awesome head explosion with guts
and stuff flying everywhere... much
more important.

Knightley’s performance was
jarring at first, as is the result of
any extreme delivery, but her
character soon develops into a
beautiful (albeit certainly different)
mind. Although Fassbender and
Mortensen’s arcs are more subtle in
presentation, it’s evident that the
two men we start out with have
clearly gone through a great deal of
change.

A Dangerous Method will be in
limited release starting November 23.

au, Dasha Chalubeyeve

 

& McQuade Musical Instruments
provided four gift cards worth
$250 each to four well-deserving
students taking music programs
at Douglas. The gift cards were
presented to those who had shown
“dedication, discipline, and a
passion for learning... [decided
upon by] the music faculty,” as
stated by Ollen. The recipients were
Dasha Chalubeyeva, Christian
Bideau, Andy Stevens, and Tim
Zacharias.

Congratulations to all of the
award recipients and performers of
last week’s Student Showcase!