When Nietzsche Wept

The film opens with Salome, a Russian-born novelist, seeking help for Nietzsche's migraines and for the despair created by her own refusal of marriage. She writes to Dr. Josef Breuer and proposes using his talking cure. The two meet and Salome's plan to treat Nietzsche—without his explicit knowledge—begins to unfold.

Breuer agrees to the plan, hoping to ease Nietzsche's physical pain and quietly address the deeper despondency behind his sense of power. He undertakes the unusual arrangement, treating the body while Salome's emotional stakes remain hidden. The cooperation marks the start of a fragile new alliance between patient and physician.

Nietzsche objects to the arrangement, believing that accepting treatment would surrender his independence and power. He offers no real support for Breuer, and the treatment trajectory becomes uncertain. The tension foreshadows the conflicting motives driving both men.

A turning point arrives when Nietzsche encounters a mistreated horse and chooses to intervene, an act that mirrors his later collapse. This moment convinces him to keep the appointment with Breuer despite his misgivings. The event foreshadows the physical and psychological turmoil to come.

Nietzsche visits a whorehouse and experiences another migraine attack, worsened by the overuse of a sleeping draught. The episode underscores his fragility and the excesses that frustrate his attempt at control. It pushes him toward a decision about his future.

Instead of continuing with the therapy, Nietzsche decides to leave for Basel, seeking distance from Breuer and the entangled plan. The choice signals a potential withdrawal from the medical scene and from Salome's influence. Basel becomes the new stage for his next explorations.

An up-and-coming psychologist, Sigmund Freud, appears in the narrative as a confidant in Breuer's orbit. He suggests that if Nietzsche confesses, the dynamic of power and need for control might shift. His idea plants the seed for a more self-revealing approach to therapy.

Breuer tells Nietzsche that, while he cures the body, Nietzsche must also 'treat' Breuer's own despair over his infatuation with Bertha Pappenheim (Anna O.). The request binds their fates together and deepens their emotional exchange. The arrangement deepens the bond and sets the stage for open confessions.

The confessions gradually dissolve the barriers between them, and they become openly acquainted with each other's lives and ideas. They explore Nietzsche's philosophy and the early traces of psychoanalysis in dialogue. A genuine friendship forms amid intense intellectual exchange.

Breuer's dreams, filled with symbolic imagery, reveal his inner anguish and highlight dream interpretation as a stepping stone in psychoanalytic thought. The dreams illuminate the emotional currents behind his medical work. They foreshadow Freud's developing methods.

Towards the end, Breuer reenters a happy relationship with his wife, finding clearance and reassurance in a hypnotically induced dream. Nietzsche's teachings and counsel contribute to this personal transformation. The scene underscores the therapeutic potential of insight and inner reconciliation.

Nietzsche boards a train to move to Switzerland, signaling his departure from the immediate circle and the ongoing treatment. His journey marks a shift toward solitude and new ideas in a changing landscape of thought. The trip sets the stage for the final creative act of his life.

On the shores of Lake Silvaplana, Nietzsche would write Thus Spoke Zarathustra, his most famous work. The scene casts the journey's end as the birth of a monumental philosophical achievement. It ties together the themes of despair, awakening, and creative transformation.