PROJECTIONS: Neurosis on Film

About

Scottish physician William Cullen first employed the term ‘neurosis’ in 1769 to summarise "general diseases of the sense or motion" where there appeared to be no observable organic cause. Sigmund Freud redefined and popularised the neurosis diagnosis in the 20th century, developing it as a central construct in psychoanalytic theory and practice.

PROJECTIONS is psychoanalysis for film interpretation. PROJECTIONS empowers film spectators to express subjective associations they consider to be meaningful. Expertise in psychoanalytic theory is not necessary - the only prerequisite is the desire to enter and inhabit the imaginary world of film, which is itself a psychoanalytic act. MARY WILD, a Freudian cinephile from Montreal, is the creator of PROJECTIONS.

Advance viewing is optional, select scenes and montages will be shown during weekly sessions (see filmography below).

Week 1 – HYSTERIA: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Opening Night (1977), Belle De Jour (1967)

Week 2 – OBSESSIONAL NEUROSIS: Brokeback Mountain (2005), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Week 3 – MELANCHOLIA: Les Amours Imaginaires (2010), Knight Of Cups (2015), A Single Man (2009)

Week 4 – LINGUISTIC BLOCK: Deconstructing Harry (1997), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Adaptation (2002)

Week 5 – EXISTENTIAL ANGST: Seconds (1966), Into the Wild (2007), The Zero Theorem (2013)

Week 6 – ETERNAL RETURN: Vertigo (1958), Interstellar (2014), The Duke of Burgundy (2014)