WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT
WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT
(director/writer: Pinchas Perry; cinematographer: Georgi Nikolov; editor: David Jakubovic; music: Sharon Farber; cast: Armand Assante (Nietzsche), Ben Cross (Dr. Josef Breuer), Jamie Elman (Sigmund Freud), Joanna Pacula (Mathilda), Katheryn Winnick (Lou Salome), Michal Yannai (Bertha), Andreas Beckett (Zarathustra); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producer: Pinchas Perry; First Look Home Entertainment; 2007)
“A morose and heavy-handed primer for psychoanalysis.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A morose and heavy-handed primer for psychoanalysis, that’s hardly believable and is executed in such an awkward manner that it brings about uncalled for titters at its most serious moments. It’s adapted by writer-director Pinchas Perry (“The Prince”) from Irvin D. Yalom’s fictional 1992 novel.
It’s set in Vienna in the spring of 1882. Dr. Josef Breuer (Ben Cross) is a successful doctor who is married to Mathilda (Joanna Pacula) and has three children, and his best friend is the younger Dr. Freud (Jamie Elman). The two psychoanalysts worked together on a report on hysteria and transference involving a patient they called Ann O, who in reality was a Viennese social worker named Bertha (Michal Yannai ) whom Breuer fell in love with and still hasn’t gotten over being smitten.
One day Breuer receives an office visit from an attractive Russian emigre, Lou Salome (Katheryn Winnick), who wants him to treat the suicidal philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (Armand Assante). The professor who lectures that “God is Dead” to an almost empty lecture hall, has become depressed when Lou spurned his love and suffers from migraines. Since Nietzsche would refuse help for his mental problems, Lou requests that Breuer help the little known genius writer for his physical ailments and on the sly treat his mental ailments. After Breuer reads Nietzsche’s two published books at the time, he agrees to take the case because it’s so challenging.
After getting nowhere, Breuer talks Nietzsche into spending a month in his Lauzon clinic and they reverse roles, withNietzsche treating the doctor for his ill-fated love affair of a patient and Breuer treating the philosopher for his medical problems. This leads to many dream sequences and text book dialogue that couldn’t be more tedious or pretentious.
Unless you have a need to be depressed and to see Nietzsche weep, you would probably do better dancing a Viennese waltz than tuning into this middle-brow academic tune.
REVIEWED ON 3/5/2009 GRADE: C
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When Nietzsche Wept
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017) |
| When Nietzsche Wept | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Pinchas Perry |
| Written by | Pinchas Perry |
| Based on | When Nietzsche Wept by Irvin D. Yalom |
| Produced by | Boaz Davidson Danny Dimbort Avi Lerner Kristina Nikolova Pinchas Perry Trevor Short John Thompson |
| Starring | Armand Assante Ben Cross Katheryn Winnick Michal Yannai Jamie Elman Ivaylo Brusovski Joanna Pacula |
| Cinematography | Georgi Nikolov |
| Edited by | David Jakubovic |
| Music by | Sharon Farber |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | First Look International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Countries | Bulgaria United States |
| Language | English |
When Nietzsche Wept is a 2007 American art drama film directed by Pinchas Perry and starring Armand Assante, Ben Cross and Katheryn Winnick. It is based on the novel of the same name by Irvin D. Yalom. It was filmed in Bulgaria.
Plot[edit]
The film opens with the Russian-born novelist—who eventually became a member of Freud's 'Vienna Circle'—Lou Andreas-Salome (Katheryn Winnick) who had an unconsummated (Platonic) 'love affair' with German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (Armand Assante), and to whom he allegedly proposed in 1882 (although whether her claims are true is very much up for debate) writing a letter to Dr Josef Breuer (Ben Cross), after hearing of his newly developed talking cure (Breuer was a friend of Sigmund Freud (Jamie Elman), who also appears in the story, and one of the influential fathers of psychoanalysis). The two meet, and a reluctant and troubled Breuer agrees to Salome's plan; to cure the intense migraine attacks that plague Nietzsche, and at the same time, without his knowing, cure the despair that her refusal of marriage has inflicted upon him.
Salome has persuaded Franz Overbeck (Nietzsche's friend) to send him to Breuer, however, Nietzsche offers no support to Breuer, so the course of treatment must end. In a chilling parallel, an encounter with a mistreated horse causes Nietzsche to redeem his appointment with Breuer (Nietzsche finally went mad after stopping a man from whipping a horse using his own body, before breaking down in tears and descending into insanity). Nietzsche later visits a whorehouse, where he has another attack of migraine, exacerbated by the overuse of a sleeping draught. Nietzsche decides that he will, instead of pursuing treatment, leave for Basel. Meanwhile, an up-and-coming psychologist Sigmund Freud, friend of Josef and his spouse Mathilde Breuer, suggests that if Breuer was to make some confession to Nietzsche, he may stop seeing any positive sentiment shown as being a bid for power, and indulge in confessions of his own.
So, the next time they met, Breuer makes the suggestion that, while he treats Nietzsche's body, Nietzsche must "treat" Breuer of the despair that he feels after falling in love with one of his patients, Bertha Pappenheim (played by Michal Yannai), otherwise known as Anna O., a famous case which was discussed in a joint book by Breuer and Freud, later on.
The confessions lead to the two becoming open with each other, learning each other's way of life and finally the two becoming friends, but not before the film has explored a great deal of Nietzsche's philosophy and Breuer's psychoanalysis. Breuer's anguish over his supposed unhappiness is explored by means of his highly symbol-laden dreams, thus showing the importance of interpretation as a stepping stone in what would constitute Freud's approach to psychoanalytic techniques.
Cast[edit]
- Ben Cross as Josef Breuer
- Armand Assante as Friedrich Nietzsche
- Joanna Pacula as Mathilde Breuer
- Michal Yannai as Bertha Pappenheim
- Jamie Elman as Sigmund Freud
- Andreas Beckett as Zarathustra
- Katheryn Winnick as Lou Salome
- Rachel O'Meara as Frau Becker
- Yzhar Charuzi as Hush Man
- Ilan Charusi as Carmen Barman
- Tal Fructer as Girl by Pianist
- Silvia Terzieva as Mrs. Fiefer
- Ivaylo Brusovki as Mendel Fiefer
- Paula Dominguez as Mia Breuer
Historical accuracy[edit]
The film is largely fictional, though many facts and actually occurring events are taken from the characters' real lives and inserted into the film for narrative purposes. The book from which the film was based was an exploration of the hypothetical conjunction of Nietzsche's and Breuer's and Freud's destinies and the development of psychoanalysis, of which Nietzsche's thought played a significant part.[1]
Besides the historical characters directly depicted, through the film there are also references to Paul Rée, Franz Overbeck and Richard Wagner.
References[edit]
- ^ Yalom, Irvin. "Friedrich Nietzsche and Josef Breuer never met". Archived from the original on 2018-11-23. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
