Mahler auf der Couch / Mahler on the Couch
Film Screening

Mahler auf der Couch / Mahler on the Couch

Sep 8, 2025, 10:30 PM

An affair between Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius leads Mahler’s husband, Gustav Mahler to seek psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud.

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Directed by Felix O. Adlon & Percy Adlon (2010)
German; English subtitles. 98 min.

Devastated and confused by the discovery that his beloved wife Alma Mahler is having an affair with dashing, young Walter Gropius, Gustav Mahler travels to Holland to consult with Sigmund Freud. Feeling humiliated and betrayed, Gustav initially refuses the couch, but when Sigmund wheels a camp bed into the room, he relents. Their encounter stretches into the night as Gustav vividly recounts his seduction of Alma, the beautiful darling of Vienna’s arts scene, their unexpected but passionate love affair, and their eventual marital troubles. The next day, the two great men go their separate ways. Overjoyed with what he sees as his cure, Gustav travels to rejoin Alma.

This screening is presented as part of the Summer 2025 Filmbar Series, “Burning Passions: Love and Creativity.” Inspired by works from the museum’s collection, the Neue Galerie presents a series of films exploring the intersection of art, passion, and personal turmoil, bringing to life the intense, often complicated relationship between some of the most influential artists and thinkers in history.