When Nietzsche Wept



Watched a thought provoking movie "When Nietzsche wept" the other day based on a book by the same name. It's a fictional piece of work that deals with encounters between real historical figures- Friedrich Nietzsche, the philosopher, Sigmund Freud and Dr Josef Breuer, founders of psychoanalysis.

I have always been fascinated by the workings of the complexity of the human mind that has led me to the works of various philosophers and psychoanalysists including Nietzsche, Freud, Jung etc. I haven't read this fictional book, but nevertheless, I loved the movie script that was taken from Nietzsche's books. The story delves into the lives of these personalities and the director must be credited for doing a wonderful job in portraying a difficult subject . The story starts with Nietzsche, one of the greatest philosopher's of all times, on the brink of suicidal despair, while the renowned doctor, Breuer, is in the midst of a mid-life crisis that plagues man with responsibilities of a family,children etc on one hand and his desires for another woman on the other.

Dr. Breuer attempts to cure Nietzsche with his experimental psychoanalytic "talk" therapy whereas he has problems of his own and as these talking sessions unfolds , it gets into the origins of their desires, fears, and pains. The movie tries to provide an answer to all these questions troubling both the men based on Nietzsche's philosophical belief's and Freud's belief in the role of relationships on human life.

Some of the ideas/thoughts ( also in his books) discussed in the movie that provides an insight to some of the questions bothering all of us and not just these brilliant men :
  • Time is a burden, however the greatest challenge is to live in spite of it !
  • We are more in love with the desire than the desire itself !
  • Don't let goals take possession, let your life be an accident!
  • Have you lived your life or have you been lived by it !
  • You are responsible for all your thoughts and deeds!
  • Great thinkers choose their own company undisturbed by the mob!

Comments

Oreen said…
i love "we are more in love with the desire" quote...

i guess i know what it means... :-)

thanks for sharing, will go looking for the movie...and perhaps to you...
1:10 AM
Anuradha said…
yeah the movie dvd can be borrowed as long as I get the tuna sub and ice tea :)
5:56 AM
Unknown said…
This movie was awful. The acting was stiff, the writing flat, and the production truly terrible. It offered precisely no insight into Nietzsche, sometimes dropping his key words but never introducing any of his ideas. This movie was so bad it made me want to demand a refund on my $4 rental fee.
9:46 PM
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