Freud's Last Session October 20, 2012

It's September 3, 1939, the cusp of World War II and two weeks before Freud's death. On that day, 83 year-old Freud, the great psychiatrist (and avowed atheist) suffers from life-threatening cancer. He has in the playwright's imagination, somewhat mysteriously summoned Christian writer C.S. Lewis (then 40) to his London study. Bringing these two historical figures together is a clever construct, but doing it on that particular day is especially ingenious. A part of the prime minister's radio address provides a bit of a break from a just-begun-but-already-intense discussion about God, the Catholic Church, and the hovering question of suicide. Intriguing biographical insights are woven into the strenuous yet witty arguements about belief, Lewis' friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien, and Freud's attention to ancient artifacts positioned on his desk.