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Knightley, Fassbender, Waltz in Cronenberg's The Talking Cure?

by Alex Billington
December 23, 2009
Source: The Playlist

Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Christoph Waltz

Where did this come from? Last we heard, David Cronenberg was supposed to be directing The Matarese Circle with Denzel Washington or the billionaire limo project Cosmopolis next, not some other project called The Talking Cure. Our friends at The Playlist found an odd mention of a project on the Facebook page for Australian distribution company Hopscotch Films today. There it's mentioned that they just bought a film called The Talking Cure that's being directed by David Cronenberg and will star Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, and Christoph Waltz. And we've never heard of this once before until today? That's kind of odd.

I did a quick search and found an old Cinematical article from 2007 stating that The Talking Cure was going to be Cronenberg's "next project." They also say it's an adaptation of Christopher Hampton's stage play of the same name, set in the early 20th century, about the famous psychoanalyst Carl Jung. The story follows Jung's relationship with a young Russian woman who was his first patient. "The Talking Cure" is the term often used to describe the fundamental work of psychoanalysis. Jung was an associate of the other famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. Now it all makes sense. Here's the way Hopscotch describes The Talking Cure:

A beautiful young woman, driven mad by her past. An ambitious doctor on a mission to succeed. An esteemed mentor with a revolutionary cure. Let the mind games begin...

So essentially it looks like Michael Fassbender is playing Carl Jung, Christoph Waltz is playing Sigmund Freud, and Keira Knightley is playing the young Russian girl who was Jung's first patient. Sound good?

According to the old Cinematical article, The Talking Cure is being produced by Jeremy Thomas, who previously produced Cronenberg's Crash and Naked Lunch. If Knightley, Fassbender, and Waltz are all cast in this, then those are some high profile names for a David Cronenberg project, especially one that has the potential to become weird. I just think Cronenberg could take this idea to some crazy places, playing with psychoanalysis and so on. That's certainly not a bad thing either. Considering that we reported in July that Cronenberg was leaving Matarese Circle, I have a feeling that he may have left Cosmopolis for this as well.

Filed under Casting, Movie News

From around the web:

Ben

Never really liked Cronenberg, but that a cool cast and the idea sounds good. If this is true than I'd probably pay to see it.
samuel j

ill watch it just for waltz
Voice of Reason

exactly, samuel j, I am hooked on Waltz
Van Castle

This, I am totally excited for. I've been waiting for David Cronenberg to do something in his own style and freedom since A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. I thought that movie was all right, but I LOVED EASTERN PROMISES. As much as I love that film, though, it isn't traditional Cronenberg. This is the man behind Naked Lunch, Crash, Existenz, Dead Ringers, The Fly & Videodrome ESPECIALLY. With this film, I see him taking some of his traditional nature and mixing it with the new stuff he's done with Viggo Mortensen, mixing that dark drama with his own surreal mind. I cannot wait for this to come out, and I hope it does well enough in order for him to pursue other passion projects of his. Cronenberg is a great director, with his own mentality put onto film in a disturbing manner, but much adored.
d1rEct

Aslong as she's not doing another period peice Knightley can is on the right track.