Augustine

Augustine is an examination of the real case story and unusual relationship between Dr Jean-Martin Charcot, the pioneering 19th century French neurologist (under whom Sigmund Freud studied) and Augustine, his star teenage patient. In Belle Epoque Paris, 19-year-old kitchen maid Augustine suffers an inexplicable seizure that leaves her partially paralysed and is shipped off to an all-female psychiatric hospital specialising in the then-fashionable ailment of 'hysteria'. Augustine captures the attention of renowned neurologist Dr Charcot (Vincent Lindon) after she has another attack that appears to give her intense physical pleasure. Intrigued, he begins using her as his principal subject, hypnotising her in front of his fellow doctors. As Augustine displays her spectacular fits in lecture halls, the lines between doctor and patient become blurred, radically impacting the course of both of their lives. Based on a true story, this darkly sensual romantic drama chronicles one woman's sexual awakening against the backdrop of neo-Victorian psychology and social repression. (SBS)