15 films inspired by Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis It was one of the most influential phenomena in the history of psychology. However, its influences go much further and over the decades have been reflected in all kinds of forms of artistic expression.

Cinema inspired by psychoanalysis is a good example of this: the language of the seventh art is perfect for capturing powerful images of a dreamlike nature that remain engraved on the retina. That is why films inspired by psychoanalysis they are a good way to see how symbology can be used in new ways to express psychological phenomena.

The best cinema based on psychoanalysis

Below you can see a selection of films influenced by psychoanalysis that, in one way or another, reflect the ideas and beliefs of Freud and his followers about the unconscious.

1. a dangerous method

More than an example of cinema inspired by the work of Freud, it is directly part of the movies about psychoanalysis and the beginning of the psychodynamic current. It features both Sigmund Freud and 

Carl G. jung sharing the spotlight with Sabina Spielrein (Keira Nightley), a patient who later ended up working as a therapist.

This film shows how the theories about the unconscious mind became popular and came to be exported to the rest of the Western world.

2. an andalusian dog

One of the classics of European cinema, by the hand of the Spanish director Luis Buñuel. Despite not being exactly a film about psychoanalysis, as it is too short to be considered a feature film, this work exudes surrealism on all sides and uses a dreamlike atmosphere to create powerful images. Freud's influences on this imagery is undeniable, for example, at the moment in which it is represented that an eye is cut, implying that a step is being taken towards what lies beyond appearances and conventions.

3. the black swan

A story about the sacrifices that must be made to achieve perfection and the consequences that this leaves on mental health. Natalie Portman plays a ballet dancer who, in order to achieve her life's goal, must transform into the black swan, leaving behind her innocence and her fragility. This effort will make her feel increasingly detached from the reality that she had learned to interpret while maintaining a discreet profile.

4. surviving life

A curious comedy directed by Jan Švankmajer about a married man who has a double life in his dreams, with which surrealism roams freely through its frames. The scenes, produced from montages with pieces of photographs, make it a visually very impressive work.

5. eraser head

As in practically all of David Lynch's films, in this work there is no objective plot. However, there are components in which the influence of psychoanalysis is clearly noticeable: the presence of a moral burden related to a disabled and malformed child, an oppressive environment and all kinds of ideas that are expressed in an ambiguous way through extraordinary events.

6. shame

Freudian psychoanalysis has always placed great emphasis on sexuality, to the point where it occupies a central role in Freud's theory of psychological development. In Shame, which tells the story of a man who channels his frustrations through sexual intercourse, this idea resonates in the background throughout the footage.

7. marquis

In this film directed by the French filmmaker Henri Xhonneux, the story of the imprisonment of the Marquis de Sade in the Bastille is told. Both sex and surrealism used to explain fantasies and dreams, as well as some significant amounts of cheeky humor they shake hands in a story that, to be told, uses costumes designed by illustrator Roland Topor.

8. videodrome

One of the defining films of David Cronenberg cinema. This talks about the role of screens as media through which project their own fantasies which, from Freudian theory, remain hidden in the unconscious and emerge in subtle ways to try to satisfy primary needs.

The link between technology and the human body is blurred, implying that even what seems to be the result of rationality is actually the product of forces deeply irrational.

9. the science of sleep

The protagonist of this film tries to escape from his reality taking refuge in his dreams, a universe in which almost anything is possible and that will allow him to act as if he had no responsibilities and a public image to look after.

10. Canine

The process of acculturation and socialization has an important role in psychoanalysis, since in addition to provide education and means through which to survive, the family comes hand in hand with a series of norms that conflict with basic drives.

Canino is an experiment carried out in fiction in which it is shown what would happen if the system of meanings and the protection model was totally focused on the family, without taking into account nothing else. Specifically, it tells the story of some young people who have been educated from a young age not to go beyond the limits of the garden of the house.

• Related article: "Sigmund Freud's Theory of the Unconscious (and new theories)"

11. The mole

El Topo is surely the best-known audiovisual work by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and of course it is greatly influenced by the topics that are usually treated from the psychoanalytic conception of mind. Specifically, in this film the violently expressed sexuality.

12. blue velvet

Despite the fact that for a David Lynch film it seems fairly conventional, this work is strongly influenced by the oneirism that characterized the first forms of psychoanalysis. In fact, the director of this work has already said several times that his works (or at least part of them) are there to be interpreted freely.

13. Fight club

Being one of the most famous films of the late 90s, one of the characteristics of this work that has most permeated is its iconography and the raw way of transmitting its messages. However, something that often escapes about this film is the fact that Tyler Durden, despite the fact that he is portrayed as what the protagonist wants to be, is really just embodies the neuroses and vulnerabilities of the protagonist, a man in the midst of an identity crisis who fabricates an activist and protest pretext to get involved in destructive acts because he suffers from all kinds of insecurities.

14. Take Shelter

This is one of the most recent films inspired by psychoanalysis. It talks about a father of a family who, fearing to suffer the consequences of a natural disaster, begins to plan the construction of a bunker at the same time that he begins to see signs of the disaster everywhere due to the incomprehension of his relatives and neighbors. The neuroticism of the protagonist is expressed in great detail.

15. My Winnipeg

A mockumentary about Winnipeg, the town where the director of this play (Guy Maddin) lives. The premise is simple, but deceptive: this film is an exercise in surrealism that leaves viewers speechless and in which It's hard to tell what's real and what's a dream.