Psychoanalyses and Film

In 1895, the first films began to be shown publicly were released and, on the same year, Sigmund Freud and Josef Brueur published their book 'Studies on Hysteria'. Literary and political movements have been the basis of many film analysis theories however the psychoanalytical theory of film only came about as a result of science and medicine being able to understand why people can be refereed to as 'mad'.

At the time, people with hysteria were ridiculed and either locked up, exorcised or burnt. They considered to be liars, deviants and lazy. Many theorists such as Jean-Martin Charcot and Sigmund Freud aimed to change this idea through the use of psychoanalytical theory.

Sigmund Freud's later book, 'The Interpretation of Dreams' (1899) brought on the idea of dreaming being a form of hallucinating wish fulfilment and not just nonsense. Dreams are full of meaning and logic in dreams changes from that of conscious thought hence the need for interpretation. The are significant and relevant because they can reveal symptoms of illness and also be used as a way of driving creativity. As they can identify illness, they can be used as part of a cure.

Bringing the use of Psychoanalyses round to film, we have the theory of the Id, Superego and Ego.

Id - Instinctive impulses such as desire for food, warmth. Fears/Wishes. Non-Moral impulses
Superego - Moral conscience able to impose guilt. Responds to rules and laws
Ego - The conscience. Strives to be moral by acting between Id and Superego.

Link to tvtropes page about applying the Freudian trio to film characters - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FreudianTrio/Film

For example the three main protagonists of 'Ghostbusters'
 - Peter Venkman: Disinterested, Deadpan Snarker (Id)
 - Egon Spengler: Rational, stoic (Superego).
 - Ray Stanz: Intellectually driven, though very passionate (Ego).

1919 saw the start of the idea of the 'Uncanny'. The uncanny is the idea that seemingly normal objects are made unfamiliar to us and arouses the idea that the objects are made frightening strange and yet somehow secretly familier. 
The ideas are
 - Deja-vu (Clash between familiar and unfamiliar) Example: 'Mr. Nobody' (Jaco Van Dormael, 2009)
 - The Double (Twins and doppelganger) Example: 'The Matrix Revolutions' (The Wachoski Brothers, 2003)
 - The automaton (Unsure if character is real or not) Example: 'The World's End' (Edgar Wright, 2013)