Unconscious

A slapstick comedy revolving around a wife’s search for her missing psychoanalyst husband set in 1913 Barcelona, ‘Unconscious’ probably inaugurates a new genre: the period Freudian farce. It might be some time before another entry in the cycle, so we should be thankful for the wit and style of Joaquín Oristrell’s film. When pioneering head doctor, and Freud disciple, Leon goes missing, his young wife Alma joins forces with Leon’s reluctant colleague Salvador to hunt him down. Cue a detective trail through the Gaudi splendour of turn-of-the-last-century Barcelona that involves a painful encounter with a silent porn star, family scandal and a cameo from Dr Freud himself (who delivers the film’s best punchline). The film is too lightweight to reveal any hidden depths under sustained analysis and some of the humour is obvious, like the Alzheimer’s specialist who keeps forgetting things. But there’s plenty to enjoy, including Oristrell’s droll, knowing script and the fast-paced patter of Leonar Watling as Alma and Luis Tosar as Salvador, whose many pratfalls might be considered another variation on the Freudian slip.