The shoot for “A Dangerous Method” took place on location in Cologne, Bodensee (Lake Constance) and Vienna across eight weeks.

The vast majority of the interior scenes for the Burgholzli, as well as Jung, Freud and Sabina’s apartments were filmed on studio sets which were designed and built on the stages at MMC Studios in Cologne. In addition, a partial section of the SS Washington, on which Jung and Freud travelled to America, was constructed on the stage. For the interior scene at the Munich conference when Freud faints, the Villa Oppenheimer in Cologne was chosen for its period detail.

The production were delighted to be able to film across three days on location in Vienna, the home of Freud and his family for many years. Filming locations included the streets of Vienna in a horse drawn carriage and the exterior entrance and staircase to freud’s home, now the Freud Museum, at Bergasse 19. For Cronenberg and the cast and crew, particularly the actors, being on location filming in real places where the characters have been often added to the texture of their performance. As Mortensen describes, “To have the luxury of being able to visit Vienna and to shoot at Freud’s actual house where he lived from 1891-1938, where he went up and down those stairs many, many times, it was extremely enjoyable to be able to do that.”

Vienna was also the setting for the scene of the first epic meeting across thirteen hours between Freud and Jung, which takes place in the Freud’s house, the atmospheric Cafe Sperl and the stunning period gardens of the Belvedere. Cronenberg recalls the location recce that took place in Vienna, “Freud is synonymous with Vienna, and for us to shoot this movie and have scenes taking place in Vienna for three days is absolute gold. It’s fantastic to feel the real history of Vienna. I was very excited when we discovered Cafe Sperl on our location recce because we were looking for a place for Jung and Freud to go and have a Viennese coffee and Sachertorte, and this is one of the most original Viennese cafes left in the city. It’s incredible. We almost had to change nothing to make it feel like 1907.”

Due to the modernization of its surroundings it was impossible to film at Lake Zurich; therefore the stunning Bodensee in the German state of Baden-Wuttemberg was chosen. Bodensee (Lake Constance) is a lake on the Rhine situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the foot of the Alps. It was on an early location recce there that Cronenberg and his team because inspired by the fantastic landscape and a beautiful ferry boat named Hohentweil to shoot in Bodensee. As travel by steamboat was seen as first class at the time, the detailed wooden ferry dating from 1903 which has been painstakingly restored was perfect. Bodensee provided the ideal setting and mode of transport fro Jung and Speilrein’s journey on steamboat across Lake Zurich, as well as other key scenes.

The script required further shooting on the lake, as Jung spent a great deal of time on the water in the handsome sailboat he received as a gift from his wife. A stunning authentic sailboard was hired for this purpose, and Michael was given sailing lessons by the owner.

For the art department, the biggest challenge on location in Bodensee was to recreate Jung’s villa in Kusnacht, because it is a well-known house. The Jung family still live in the original house, and as it is over 100 years old, it was not suitable for the production as the script required it to look newly built and fresh.

Co-producer Marco Mehlitz worked with the locations and art departments to secure appropriate locations across the shoot, and as he explains, “For Jung’s villa we found a beautiful location on the shore of the lake with a beautiful property, but it was not the right kind of villa. This meant we had to take the decision to build a structure, which was a huge thing to do. I think the result is quite beautiful because we were actually able to build the house into a garden that was totally unspoiled.”

The art department constructed the front of Jung’s house as well as planting a garden, with CGI work planned for the post-production for the roof and other details.

Other scenes filmed on location in the area include the grounds of the Burgholzli which were filmed at a monastery in Inzigkofen, Jung and Spielrein walking through cobbled streets which was filmed on location in Uberlingen, and the University town of Konstanz which gave the production the exteriors of the Burgholzli and Sabina’s apartment and surrounding streets.