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The Talking Cure
Christopher Hampton's The Talking Cure deals with the early years of C.G. Jung, and his decision to experiment, using Freud's controversial new method of psychoanalysis, with a young Russian patient, Sabine Spielrein. The success of the experiment and the blossoming of his relationship with Sabine inaugurates, haunts and ultimately poisons Jung's friendship with Freud; and the ideas and conflicts which engulf the three of them embody, as Jung comes to realize, the destructive forces which are to overwhelm the disastrous century ahead.
The Talking Cure premiered at the National Theatre, London, in December 2002.
The Talking Cure premiered at the National Theatre, London, in December 2002.
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
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About the author
Christopher Hampton
111 books23 followersChristopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement.
Hampton became involved in the theatre while studying German and French at Oxford University where OUDS performed his play When Did You Last See My Mother?, about adolescent homosexuality, reflecting his own experiences at Lancing College, the boarding school he had attended. The play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and that production soon transferred to the Comedy Theatre, resulting in Hampton, in 1966, becoming the youngest writer to have a play performed in the West End in the modern era.
From 1968-70 he worked as the Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, and also as the company's literary manager. Hampton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1988 for the screen adaptation of his play Dangerous Liaisons. He was nominated again in 2007 for adapting Ian McEwan's novel Atonement. Hampton forthcoming project is the translation into English of Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay's Austrian musical Rebecca based on Daphne du Maurier's book which is scheduled to premiere in 2009 in Canada, and then move to Broadway in 2010.
Hampton became involved in the theatre while studying German and French at Oxford University where OUDS performed his play When Did You Last See My Mother?, about adolescent homosexuality, reflecting his own experiences at Lancing College, the boarding school he had attended. The play was performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London, and that production soon transferred to the Comedy Theatre, resulting in Hampton, in 1966, becoming the youngest writer to have a play performed in the West End in the modern era.
From 1968-70 he worked as the Resident Dramatist at the Royal Court Theatre, and also as the company's literary manager. Hampton won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1988 for the screen adaptation of his play Dangerous Liaisons. He was nominated again in 2007 for adapting Ian McEwan's novel Atonement. Hampton forthcoming project is the translation into English of Michael Kunze & Sylvester Levay's Austrian musical Rebecca based on Daphne du Maurier's book which is scheduled to premiere in 2009 in Canada, and then move to Broadway in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 4, 2015
Hampton's reach exceeds his grasp. I may have been hampered having seen the Cronenberg film adaptation "A Dangerous Method", but, having said that, the movie does have blood flowing through its veins. Hampton's play does not. What it does have is interesting ideas, speeches, a few dialogues exchanges and one or two scenes that engage and move.
If one were to direct the play, the first question would be "What's the through-line here? The relationships of the characters? The birth of the modern psychoanalysis movement? The relation between Wagner, Nazis and Dado-masochism?"
Very muddy stuff here.
If one were to direct the play, the first question would be "What's the through-line here? The relationships of the characters? The birth of the modern psychoanalysis movement? The relation between Wagner, Nazis and Dado-masochism?"
Very muddy stuff here.
May 29, 2010
Jung becomes more real and human via this play than in any of the other writings I've read by him or about him. A man struggling and really alive.
March 27, 2010
Read this in anticipation of the soon-to-be made movie (all going well), to be directed by David Cronenberg and featuring Viggo Mortensen in the role of Freud. I'll be interested to see how Cronenberg "opens up" this text for film, because it definitely reads as stagy - which is altogether appropriate for a play! I enjoyed it very much on the page; the characterizations come through clearly in the words, and it is very much a play of character interaction, so lots of scope for good actors. Cronenberg being a student of the bizarre, I'm sure Keira Knightly, who's been promised the female lead, will have lots to work with in the early scenes where her character is acutely mentally ill. Plenty of meat in the Freud and Jung scenes too. Reading this not only made me look forward to the film, but bred in me a wish to see the stage production as well. I hope both will happen, and in the meantime, thank you, Mr. Hampton, for a very pleasant evening's read.
February 22, 2012
My rating might subconsciously be influenced by the fact that I enjoyed the Cronenberg movie a lot. I don't think it's a perfect play, but this is the sort of story that really works for me, and Christopher Hampton treats the material very well.
February 11, 2016
One of the worst pieces of literature I've ever had the displeasure of reading.
The fact that this book has more than two stars is both astonishing and disheartening.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, anytime, under any circumstances. Save your time. Save your money.
The fact that this book has more than two stars is both astonishing and disheartening.
I would not recommend this book to anyone, anytime, under any circumstances. Save your time. Save your money.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews