This new Austrian Netflix production on Sigmund Freud's life and work is taking the 'uncanny' back to its roots
We are in Vienna of the 1890s and young Dr. Sigmund Freud is trying to have his breakthrough with hypnosis-techniques he learned with a certain Dr. Charcot in Paris. He is up against most of the Viennese medical establishment that firmly adheres to science and an understanding of every mental process as rooted in the neurological, physical. The 'psyche' was not yet a widely accepted concept, the 'unconscious' did not exist in the eyes of medicine. Cue young physician Sigmund Freud (played by Robert Finster) who is friends with Arthur Schnitzler (played by Noah Saavedra) and attends the parties of the Viennese haute-volée, where seances are being held in dimly lit salons, spirits of the deceased are summoned and women faint hysterically, because it is all highly uncanny (and deliberately filmed that way).
But of course, 'the uncanny' has not yet been categorized, as this is one of Freud's main contributions to science and culture: giving us a schematic and scientific understanding of our psyche and its workings, much of which are indeed unheimlich.
This series delves into the gruesome nature of human psychological defects and chimeras and while telling the story of Freud's early successes and claim to fame, manages to also be an entertaining - if somewhat partly grisly - crime-series set in the fin de siècle.
Why I recommend it:
If you're into psychological thrillers, this will take you to the roots of the genre by explaining where everything 'psycho' actually comes from. The Viennese German may be a little difficult to understand for those who've never been to Vienna, but the subtitles will allow for some audio-practise and it's refreshing to hear a regional variation of German being spoken on international telly! The setting and costumes are historically accurate and it is wirklich spannend (truly suspense-packed).
Click here for a description of the new series in German.
If you would like to approach the concepts of psychology and the uncanny in a more thorough way, I recommend the following books as excellent ways to start:
1. Judith Ryan: The Vanishing Subject. Early Psychology and Literary Modernism (University of Chicago Press, 1991)
2. Nicholas Royle: The Uncanny (Manchester University Press, 2003)
Und natuerlich finden Sie mittlerweile alle Texte von Sigmund Freud selbst auf Gutenberg.de, so auch "DAS UNHEIMLICHE (1919)" (click here for free online version in German).
