Full Title: Be Careful What You Wish For – Female & Male Existential Malaise and Hysteric Approaches in Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ (2024) and John Frankenheimer’s ‘Seconds’ (1966).
What if you could change your identity more or less overnight? Would the underlying existential frustrations disappear or… grow worse? Join Swedish author Carl Abrahamsson as he looks closely at two seminal cinematic transformation tales: John Frankenheimer’s ‘Seconds’ (1966, starring Rock Hudson) and Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ (2024, starring Demi Moore). Essentially very similar in both content and form, these films shine the light on feminine and masculine perspectives of the self image and its power over our lives. In the cinematic narrative of the psychological thriller and body horror respectively, these films have become insightful warnings about a culture obsessed with the Image, the Symbolic, and, eventually, the inevitable surrender to the Death Drive.
After delivering his paper, Carl Abrahamsson will be joined by ‘Freudian Cinephile’ and pop psychoanalyst Mary Wild for a dialogue on the two films, which will be followed by a Q&A.
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Speakers:
Carl Abrahamsson is a Swedish writer, publisher, filmmaker, photographer and musician. He has written extensively about “occulture” – how occultism and hidden ideas interact with our general culture (literature, cinema, music, art etc). Abrahamsson also writes fiction and journalism. He is the editor and publisher of the annual magico-anthropological journal The Fenris Wolf, and the founder of the publishing company Trapart Books.
Mary Wild @psycstar is a prominent figure in the field of film studies, and the creator of the Projections lecture series at Freud Museum London, applying psychoanalysis to film interpretation. She posts exclusive content on patreon.com/marywild
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Tickets: £25
Freud Museum Members and Patrons receive 20% off the standard ticket price on all events, courses, conferences and On Demand programming.
A limited number of £10 bursary tickets are available for those under financial hardship. Priority will be given to UK unemployed and PIP/ESA claimants. Please email [email protected] to apply for a bursary.
The purpose of this event is to raise funds for the Freud Museum London, which receives no regular Government income. We are grateful to you for supporting our independent museum as generously as possible.
The event will be held on the first floor of the Museum during regular opening hours. Unfortunately the Freud Museum does not have step-free access at this time. Advance booking is highly recommended as capacity is limited.
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Image courtesy of MUBI
