Original subtitles

( Lou, Russian accent ) Doctor Breuer.

I must see you on a matter of Iife or death.

Meet me at nine tomorrow morning at the Cafe Rousse.

[violin music]

( Breuer) A matter of life or death ! H mpf!

[exchange of greetings]

Doctor Breuer?

Lou SaIome.

How do you do?

May l?

Would you like a coffee?

Yes, café Iatte.

Waiter, café Iatte, pIease.

My friend is preparing to kiII himseIf.

This man's death would have momentous consequences

for me, for you, for all of the world.

Who is this friend?

The philosopher Friedrich N ietzsche.

N ietzsche? Should l know of him?

Not yet, but in time we shaII aII know of him.

( Nietzsche ) How do we confirm

a truth that has arrived through disbeIief and skepticism

and not through some childlike wishing something were so.

lt is hard to be in God's hands. lt's not truth.

lt is a child's wish for the everlasting blow to the nipple.

We have evoIutionary theory.

Evolutionary theory scientifically demonstrates God's redundancy.

So Darwin himself had not the courage

to follow his evidence

to its true conclusion. So--

where are we?

SureIy you must aII reaIize we have created God--

and aII of us together

have killed him.

God--

is dead.

My friend is sick.

What is the nature of his illness?

Headaches. Tormenting headaches.

My dear lady, l will see your friend.

l'm a physician.

l know you can cure his physicaI condition.

That is not why l am here.

Nietzsche suffers from the deepest despair.

That is what l ask you to heal.

l cannot cure despair.

Ah, but you can, doctor.

l have a spy.

My brother, a medicaI student,

attended the class in which you described a new technique.

The talking cure.

Now I can arrange to steer Nietzsche to your office

but he must believe you're treating only his headaches.

Tell me, is yours a Russian accent?

lt is.

Well, perhaps the people in Russia believe in sorcerers

but sorry, FrauIein, I am Austrian.

l have no magic to offer you.

( Lou ) May l walk you back to your hotel?

l would enjoy that but--

my wife will be watching from the window. l have a duty.

A duty?

lt is my duty to be free of duty.

Doctor, save Nietzsche.

( Breuer) I am sorry.

I had hoped it was hepatitis.

(patient ) How long--

do l have?

lt is best you put your affairs in order.

Please, doctor.

How long?

( woman ) Please. Tell us.

Three to six months.

( Frau Becker) Are you aIright, doctor?

Make sure the Pfeiffers are never billed again.

Of course.

Oancel all their outstanding debts to me.

Of course.

A Fraulein Salome has suddenly arrived.

A very grand young woman.

Show her in.

But Frau Reinhardt has been waiting for hours.

Frau Becker!

Fraulein Salome!

Doctor Breuer.

I see you Iike to do things for yourseIf.

Doesn't that deprive men the pleasure of serving you?

We both know that some of the services

men provide are not necessarily good for women.

The habits of a lifetime

are not easily extinguished, my dear.

Your future husband wiII need extensive retraining.

No husband for me. Ever.

l would not do that to a man.

If then or ever you use this new technique,

do not attempt to use this mesmerism method with N ietzsche.

Our patient would refuse to engage in any process

he perceives as surrendering his power to another.

And are you responsible for ''our'' patient's despair?

He believes l am.

Where has God gone?

I shaII teII you.

God is dead.

We aII have kiIIed him.

You, you, you and l .

(priest ) God wiII throw you in heII I

After the death of Buddha,

his shadow was shown for centuries in caves.

A gruesome, gruesome shadow.

God wiII punish you I You are Satan I

Given the way of people [slam]

in the caves, thank you,

for thousands of years, in which God's shadow will still be shown.

Vanquish the shadow within yourself!

( man ) Friedrich. Friedrich. Meet Lou Salome.

A briIIiant poet from Russia.

Fascinating lecture to fall on so few ears.

Why are people so afraid of you, professor?

Oh, truth is a fearsome thing.

Why do you say God is dead?

And not that he never existed?

What you think?

That God has ceased to be a reckoning force in people's lives.

An interesting interpretation.

But if God is dead,

then everything is permitted.

No moraIs, no ruIes.

Without God, who wiII organize our society?

What is the solution to your godless proposition?

From what stars have we dropped down to each other here?

auf Wiedersehen.

( Lou ) I was immediateIy attracted to him.

Seduced by his intellect.

We couId say so much to each other with haIf sentences.

Mere gestures.

He became obsessed,

proposing marriage after our first meeting.

l was attracted to him.

But not romanticaIIy.

I wanted to Iearn.

Not to submit.

Stop it!

My refusaI turned his Iove into hatred.

He wrote me these crazed insuIting Ietters.

Then he wrote about killing himself.

So if I understand you correctIy,

you want me to persuade N ietzsche

that his life is worth living.

But l must accomplish this without him knowing it.

You are the only doctor qualified

for this psychological treatment.

Frau Reinhardt is stiII waiting. And stiII suffering.

( Lou ) One more thing.

You must read his books.

l shall do everything l can to help your friend.

Good night, Dr. Breuer.

( Breuer) Good night.

Straight home, Fishman.

[gasping and sobbing]

( Breuer) Siegmund? Siegmund?

Where are you racing to?

The most charming woman in Vienna invited me for dinner.

Her more charming husband is

on his way home this very minute. J ump in, Siggy.

l diagnosed a liver cancer today.

l never get used to my patients dying.

Well, get used to it, young Dr. Freud.

The children are eating. Say hello to them.

Daddy!

My little chickens.

See what l mean, Siggy?

He hardly talks to me.

[soft piano music]

Oh, by the way l've taken on a new patient.

I haven't met him yet. SuicidaI tendencies.

As always, it starts with a woman.

But Josef, love sickness is not a medical condition.

The story gets even better.

Because the woman feels guilty,

she wants me to sneak in a cure for his psychological distress.

WhiIe at the same time, I address his physicaI aiIments.

Surely, you're not going to attempt this.

[sigh]

l have already agreed.

Why?

l don't even know myself.

Perhaps l need a challenge like this.

You cannot say no to this woman.

She could persuade a horse to lay eggs.

( Lou ) Our pIan is working.

Dr. Oberbach has persuaded Nietzsche to consuIt you.

Neither I nor Nietzsche

shaII ever forget your kindness.

The professor is here.

( Breuer) Send him in.

Good day, Herr Professor.

Please. Please, have a seat.

Tell me about your illness.

Would it be more efficient

to review my previous consultations?

l'm sure they're excellent physicians, thank you.

But I make my own diagnosis

before reviewing those of my coIIeagues.

J ust as I prefer to see a pIay before reading the reviews.

Tell me, professor, to what extent--

has melancholia accompanied these migraine attacks?

l have my black periods but who does not?

Speak not of me

tell me of my illness.

What it might be?

A life dominated by black periods

is a breeding ground for despair.

Despair? No.

Perhaps once but not now. No.

l'm just pregnant.

Here.

My headaches are the Iabor pains for

my new book.

What book?

[sings loud]

( Nietzsche ) ZarathustraI

A young prophet, bursting with wisdom

and courage and truthfulness decides to

enIighten the peopIe.

l teach you the U bermensch.

Man is something that must be overcome.

What have you done to overcome man?

What is the ape to man?

[laughter]

A laughingstock, but l feel no shame.

J ust that, man shall be to the U bermensch !

People refused to understand those words.

The prophet, reaIizing he has come too soon

returns to his soIitude.

So--Iike-- Zarathustra,

l come too soon.

l must ask you a personal question.

Physical wellbeing is not separable

from social and psychological wellbeing.

ls there someone with whom you have--

You referring to sex. . . Doctor?

Well--

l have found that a flash of bestial pleasure

is followed by hours of self-loathing, so,

such herd pleasures are not for me.

But is there a woman in your life?

Every time l have attempted to build

a footbridge to others, l have been betrayed.

First, there was the composer, Richard Wagner,

l have suffered because of him,

and later, my best friend--

with that--woman.

Tell me more about that--woman.

And why?

It's connected to your iIIness.

Trust me on this.

l cannot afford to--trust--again.

Then l believe, Herr Professor,

that we can proceed no further.

( Breuer) Have a safe journey home, Herr Professor.

[horse neighs]

( driver) Stupid animal !

( N ietzsche ) Hey, out! Leave the horse alone!

Leave it! Leave it, l tell you !

[thud and gasp]

( Breuer) Are you aIright?

[neigh and shh]

[heavy breathing]

Oan we meet--again? [panting]

Friday afternoon, same time?

Good night.

( Breuer) Breathe deeply, Bertha.

Did you have any dreams last night?

Yes. l dreamt you were making love to me.

Really?

Yes.

l'm just going to examine you, don't worry.

It's perfectIy normaI.

What are you doing? No!

l want you !

You are mine!

[laughter]

( female voice ) No, Josef!

No, Josef!

How could you?!

( Breuer) Mathilde!

What are you doing?!

That is horrible! Horrible! !

Dr. Breuer! You are now a free man.

Go back, you syphilitic whore! He's mine!

No! He's mine!

M ine!

He is mine!

He's mine!

No! He's mine!

[shouts and grunts]

[music plays]

[gasp]

( Breuer) ''There was a time in our Iives

''when we were so cIose

''that nothing seemed to obstruct our friendship.

''When only a footprint separated us.

'' l asked you, ' Do you want to cross the footbridge to me?'

But you did not want to. ''

What do you make of it, Siggy?

l'm not sure.

Let's reason it out. The first man can no Ionger cross because

he feels he is submitting his power to the other person.

Yes. Yes. You're right.

He interprets any expression of positive sentiment

as a bid for power.

It makes it aImost impossibIe to get cIose to him I

lt's all here.

May l see it?

And reveal his identity?

And why not?

Perhaps if you lend this book to Siggy

you won't hide in your study all night reading it.

Mathilde, stop.

What am l to do when l watch you

withdraw more and more from me and the chiIdren?

First that woman !

Now this N ietzsche!

Friedrich N ietzsche?

To this day l regret listening to you.

The transfer of Bertha to another doctor

remains one of the great shames of my life!

Excellent books.

Very few copies of them sold.

Then your publisher is a fool

for not championing these with his life's blood.

You're writing in short and brief sentences.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences

what others say in a whoIe book.

H m.

As to your migraines,

I beIieve their fundamentaI cause Iies in stress.

Due to upsetting events in your work, your famiIy,

your personal relationships.

l've given up teaching.

l have no home to look after,

no wife to quarrel with,

no chiIdren to discipIine.

l have no obligations to anyone.

l have no stress.

Your extreme isoIation is stressing itseIf.

Great thinkers choose their own company, no?

U ndisturbed by the mob.

Oonsider Thoreau, Spinoza, Buddha.

Professor.

Stress is our enemy.

My task is to help you reduce stress in your life.

I propose that you enter my Lauzon cIinic

for one month of observation and treatment.

We have new medications for migraine.

l will visit you daily.

l'm unable to pay-- for such services.

Money doesn't matter to me.

lt will be free.

And why are you doing this?

You came to me for help.

l offer it. l'm a doctor.

Far too simple.

H uman motivation is far more complex.

What is your motive?

Why are you here?

Because of pressure from my friends and my headaches.

l ask again. What is your motive

if you don't request payment for such services.

One practices one's profession.

A cobbIer cobbIes.

A baker bakes. A doctor doctors.

Why do you write? Why phiIosophize?

You want nothing from your work.

l do not claim l philosophize for you.

Whereas you, doctor, continue to pretend

that your motive is to serve me.

Such claims have nothing to do with human motivation.

Now what are your motives?

My motives?

Yes!

My motives?!

Who can answer such a question?

l believe you are destined

to become a great philosopher.

My mission is to aid you in becoming who you are.

So you as my savior can become even greater?

l did not say that!

Do you know my patients

are the leading scientists and musicians in Vienna?

Yes, and at this moment you use their eminence

to enhance your authority with me!

l will never exploit your name.

l will still be used by you !

Nonsense!

Your charity, your techniques to help me?

To manage me!

All of these with you stronger at my expense!

This is a perfect example of why

you cannot dissect your own psyche!

Your vision is blurred, Professor!

You need help!

You are about to make a mistakeI

Then go already!

You crazed deluded creature!

Shabbat Shalom.

[all repeat softly]

[cheerful piano music]

[screaming]

Oome here! [laughs]

[banging]

The old Bishop, N ietzsche,

he's dying in my hotel !

[driver coaxing horse]

Get me some ice!

Dear God !

Bring me some blankets!

[moan]

Herr Professor.

[gasp]

Professor Nietzsche. Friedrich I

[gasp]

Take the pain. Take the pain in.

You will feel better.

[gasping] Help me.

[gasp]

That much chlorine is a poison

in the sleeping juice so you could have died.

Oh, living, dying, who cares?

I shaII be in your office tomorrow with what I owe.

Before my train leaves for Basel.

Basel?

Yes.

Not until this crisis is over.

l'm leaving tomorrow.

[waltz music]

You know, part of me holds some--

strange hope that by helping this bizarre creature

overcome his own suffering,

I might defeat my own.

Defeat your suffering?

You're the envy of every doctor in Vienna.

One feels things at 40

that one cannot possibIy know at 25.

I must stop him from Ieaving.

There must be a way.

Perhaps if you'd fully disclosed yourself to N ietzsche,

you might have engaged him.

Once you gain his trust,

he might open up like a steamed clam.

l think l know a way, Siggy.

I think I know a way.

Your documents and receipts, Herr Professor.

Auf Wiedersehen.

Auf Wiedersehen.

[door opens]

Professor Nietzsche.

May l have a word before you leave?

I have a proposition to make, Professor.

Perhaps never before made by a doctor to his patient.

l propose a professional exchange.

For one month, I wiII act as physician to your body,

if you will act as physician to my mind.

What do you mean?

That you doctor me and l teach you philosophy?

No, no, no.

Not teach me.

Heal me.

Of what?

Despair.

l see no despair.

Not on the surface.

But underneath,

my mind is invaded by alien thoughts.

l've lost sight of why l live.

l'm terrified of death, yet--

l often think of ending my life.

l cannot help you with this.

l've no training.

Who is trained?

Such healing is not a part of the medical discipline.

What do l know of this?

You know more than any man alive.

Aren't your books entire treaties on despair?

l can't cure despair. l only know how to tolerate it.

Then teach me how to tolerate

a life of despair.

You were right that your mission is

to save humankind from illusion and aimlessness.

To create a new code of behavior.

A new morality free of superstition.

lt's all there. l n your books.

This is my offer.

You enter my clinic for 30 days.

l will observe and treat your medical illness daily.

l n return, you become my physician,

and help me talk about my life's concerns.

Look.

l'm indebted to you--

more than any man.

You saved my life.

l'm just a writer.

l'm not a doctor.

You can pay your debt by saving my life.

The way I saved yours.

So what?

l do this for you to--

relieve my debt?

My motivation--

is entirely self-serving.

l want to save my life,

but are you strong enough to do this?

( Breuer) I wiII persuade him

that he is the only one who can help me.

And then what?

Then l will reverse the roles.

He will once again be the patient

and l will be the physician.

And what happens when N ietzsche

turns to you to cure his despair?

Siggy, l'm convinced there's something healing in unburdening.

Look at the Oatholics.

Their priests have been offering confessions for centuries.

N ietzsche is a solitary man.

Yet a few nights ago

he opened up to me.

A real plea for help.

Help me.

What you saw were his unconscious desires.

Those that if they were liberated could scream

for help in daylight.

The goal of my talking cure

is to liberate those buried desires,

to allow the patient to ask for help--openly.

( Sigmund) But is ''liberation'' the right term?

lsn't it ''integration'' that we are after?

l ntegration of the unconscious with the conscious.

Yes!

Yes, Sigmund !

Very good.

Take a seat.

Remove your stethoscope.

And your coat.

As weII.

I made a Iist of your compIaints.

One, you have a general unhappiness.

Two, you're besieged by aIien thoughts.

Three, seIf-hatred.

Four, fear of aging. Five, fear of death.

Six, urges toward suicide.

Anything else?

l feel--

completely--

remote and distant from my wife.

Trapped in a worId not of my own choosing.

And is that one more problem or two?

You make me feel uncomfortable.

lt is my task to make you feel comfortless.

No, no, no. Your approach is all wrong.

M r. Breuer, we made an agreement.

''M r. '' Breuer?

Do you want us to proceed, M r. Breuer?

You've mentioned your wife Iast.

Which tells me it begins there.

What initiated this change--

in your feelings toward her?

[gentle thunder]

[clears throat]

Two years ago l took on the case of a young woman.

This patient --l gave her the pseudonym Anna O. --

suffers from what we doctors caII hystericaI behavior.

[screams]

Try to stay calm !

( Breuer) During our daiIy meetings, she--

opened up to me. She had the detaiIs of every disturbing event

of the Iast 2 4 hours.

She called these confessions ''chimney-sweeping. ''

[clears throat]

l prefer to call it-- the talking cure.

U nfortunateIy,

the course of treatment was terminated

by its insane ending.

How?

l fell in love with my patient.

She and her mother were friendIy with my wife.

[heavy breathing]

Bertha.

What's wrong?

Stop it, Bertha!

What's wrong?

l'm pregnant!

l'm pregnant with your husband's baby!

( mother) Bertha!

( Bertha ) Here comes Dr. Breuer's IittIe baby I

BerthaI NoI Stop it I

Stop it! Bertha!

lt was her delirium speaking, of course, her illness.

But my wife forbade me to see her again.

What did you do?

I'm sorry, my dear. I cannot be your doctor anymore.

But l've done nothing wrong.

Of course you haven't.

l will refer you to a colleague of mine.

He will take good care of you.

Please don't let me go.

l have no choice.

You will always be the only man in my life. Always.

Can you imagine how terribIe it was to hear those words?

They were evidence of the damage l had done.

l left her weakened.

Orippled.

You are responsibIe for aII of your thoughts and deeds.

But she, by virtue of the so-called illness,

she is exonerated.

From everything.

Who has damaged whom?

Who has weakened whom?

Doesn't this cripple Bertha, as you call her--

have greater power over you?

An exceIIent beginning.

He even deveIoped a Iist of my probIems.

Breuer is a curious mix.

I nteIIigent yet bIind.

Sincere but devious.

Let him continue to think that this is what we are doing.

He's possessed by a woman who shreds him to pieces.

[chuckIes] And he Iicks her bIoody fangs.

[Nietzsche, Iaughing hard]

I Iove it, Josef.

What do you love?

Tchaikovsky!

Why?

Swan LakeI

[bells ringing]

[Breuer screams and N ietzsche laughs]

Josef, look! We're running out of time!

[thunder]

Backwards! Look at the time!

Faster, Josef! Pedal faster!

[Swan Lake baIIet, pIaying]

Take me, Josef. Take me!

Throw away your shackIesI

Sticks and stones may break my bones,

but death will never hurt me!

[ Swan Lake, playing and thunder]

[gasping and thunder]

( Breuer) I feared that after yesterday's confessions,

you would think less of me.

Do not worry about what others think of you.

l suspect you find sex disagreeable.

l do not object to sex.

What l hate is the man who begs for it.

He surrenders himself to some crafty woman

who turns his lust into her strings.

Lust is part of life!

And nothing must interfere with the development

of the hero which is inside you !

And if lust stands in the way, lust must be overcome!

( Breuer) Be more practical.

All you give me are quotes from your books!

First time I've attempted to put my phiIosophy to practicaI use.

Choose between comfort and the truth.

Are they mutuaIIy excIusive?

lf you want to choose the pleasure of growth,

prepare yourself for some pain.

Less pain, shrink. Go. Be part of the herd.

[soft playing]

[abrupt loud notes]

Look at this tree.

It requires stormy weather

if it is to attain its proud height.

Learn, creativity and discovery.

But they come in pain !

( Breuer) I wish for simpIe things.

To sIeep without nightmares [sigh]

to live without tension.

Lie down.

Why?

lt's the best inducement

for recalling memories. Lie down, please.

CIose your eyes.

Let us imagine

An icy mountain peak.

And we see this little man trudging to the top.

He's Iooking into the horror of his existence.

He is encountering times that are endured.

[thunder]

But he sees too much.

This insignificance, this mere IittIe speck

that he is.

[loud thunder]

And now his fear becomes so raw,

that he welcomes lust into his mind.

And he starts Iooking into this castIe.

He begins to spend his time recoIIecting these miracIes.

How his IittIe crippIed Bertha

moves her Iegs.

Her Iips.

And her arms.

And her breasts.

And his mind

which was filled with the noblest of ideas

becomes cIogged now with trash.

And that is how he is today.

He's just rummaging through the rubbish.

Of Bertha.

As if it contained the answer to his prayers.

WeII, what do you think of this man?

Josef, open your eyes.

Open your eyes.

Talk to me, Josef.

This is my way.

Where is yours?

[cheerfuI piano music]

He asked you to lie on the couch? Why?

He said it was the best way for recalling memories.

l nteresting.

He is honoring his contract,

but offers no support.

My confessions have failed to produce

even the slightest admission of his own obsession.

ls your frustration rooted in your competition with him?

Not at all.

l'm a physician, Siggy.

l do not meet with my patient for my pleasure.

But Josef, l've read his books.

He has more penetrating knowIedge of mankind

than any other person. l think, he may be, perhaps

the greatest psychologist who has ever lived.

You can best help him by letting him help you.

[soft piano music]

[woman sings in foreign language]

[heavy rain and thunder]

Josef?

[pigeons cooing]

[crashing thunder]

Josef? It's after midnight.

Are you coming to bed?

Soon.

( distant femaIe voice ) Dr. BreuerI Dr. BreuerI

Dr. BreuerI

Where is my wife?

Your wife-- is in the houseI

Mathilde!

MathiIdeI

( Bertha ) You'II aIways be the onIy man in my Iife.

AIways.

( Bertha ) You'II never regret it, Josef. Never.

You will never regret it, Josef. Never.

[ship siren]

[crashing thunder]

l feel healthy.

l wish to waste none of our precious time

on these physical exams, hm?

U h, before we begin,

the last time we met you called me ''Josef. ''

l like that. Should we use first names?

Friedrich or--?

Fritz.

Friedrich.

My best friend at school was called Friedrich.

He used to caII me the Iad of infinite promise.

What happened to the lad?

He became a successful doctor.

And respected. And rich.

Then you have fulfilled your goals.

You are satisfied?

l have fulfilled my goals, yes.

Am l satisfied?

No.

How did you choose your goals?

No, don't-- don't think. J ust chimney-sweep.

H m.

Goals are part of my culture.

They're in the air. You breathe them in.

Like every young Jewish boy,

I wanted to cIimb out of the ghetto to succeed.

My father was the great teacher of my Iife.

No, Papa.

No, Josef. l won't encourage bad habits.

But l never chose goals.

They were just there, like--

like an accident.

And yet not to take possession of your goals

is just that, let your life be an accident.

What is wrong, Josef?

l've had a sudden and painful understanding of the obvious.

Time is irreversibIe.

The sands of my life are running out,

l'm in lockstep with all people marching towards my death.

So you see cIear vision as a wound.

Knowing that as my death approaches,

l'm impotent and insignificant, yes.

That does not mean that existence has no purpose.

On the contrary. As death creeps cIoser,

the vaIue of Iife increases.

You must Iearn to say ''Yes, '' Josef.

But say ''yes'' to every minute of life.

Be passionate. Be a free thinking spirit.

Rise above your limitations.

Be the U bermensch. H m? Please.

Please, Fraulein. Will you take a seat?

The Russian is here.

Let her wait.

[chiming]

Good afternoon, Frau Pettik. Please take a seat.

Herr Schubert, heIIo.

Take a seat. The doctor will be with you shortly.

PIease, understand. I'm very sorry.

PIease, the doctor wiII see you.

Frau Pettik, the doctor can see you now.

What a pleasure.

I had forgotten.

Then look more carefully this time.

l'm distressed at having so little time to offer you.

The price of success, Dr. Breuer.

You like to live dangerously.

TeII me, why didn't you write

so that l could arrange a proper time for you?

l am concerned about our patient.

Our patient?

Have you graduated from medical school

since our last meeting?

You must read these letters N ietzsche sent me.

He writes as if to punish me.

''You are a woman without sensitivity or spirit,

incapable of love, a preditor clothed as a house cat. ''

Why does he regard me as such a monster?

l deserve to know the outcome of my efforts.

The outcome of your experiment.

It's been IoveIy to see you,

but l must return to my work.

Where is he?

l cannot tell you.

Or the state of his condition.

You turn your back to me.

l cannot violate my patient's--privacy.

[slam]

( Sigmund) Perhaps you are not capabIe

of being hypnotized.

Perhaps.

l didn't tell you she left some of N ietzsche's letters with me.

H m. And?

He berates me for feeding at the trough of lust,

and aII the whiIe, he himseIf, just Iike me,

is rummaging through the trash of his own mind.

You think he should answer for his falsifications,

may l remind you of your own.

Of the deceptive premise of your arrangement with him.

Of the two patients in this reIationship,

l have become the more urgent case.

( male voice ) General.

What are you doing, soldier?

Trying to kill myself, sir.

Oarry on, soldier.

Yes, sir.

[gun cocks]

[cocks again] General, help me please!

The interesting thing is that in my dream

the general was you.

And why me?

A symbol of your unwillingness to join me

in a down-to-earth manner perhaps?

Be open with me.

l presume that, like all men,

you've suffered from love-sickness.

Have you ever tasted the pain of love?

Yes.

And?

l must know.

Let me remind you of Goethe's words.

'' Be a man. Do not follow me,

but yourseIf. ''

Teaching philosophy and using it in the real world

are very different undertakings.

You wish for something to soothe you now.

Then go, suckIe on the teat of superstition.

Whatever you do, don't go to reason.

U nfortunately, the theatrical director of my mind,

the one who stages all these scenes with Bertha

is unaffected by reason.

Of course not. For what reason wiII a man

could love such a cripple?

Oh, stop it I

Bertha is intelligent, beautiful, loving !

Loving? How?

She tried to seduce you into adultery.

She aImost destroyed you.

You are too hard on her.

Well, next time you go to her,

don't forget to bring your whip.

Yes. l think to love such a woman is to hate life.

Bertha is a fine woman.

May l remind you she became ill

because of her father's death?

And may l remind you all fathers die?

I think the time for excuses is over.

[happy laughter]

( Bertha ) You wiII aIways be the onIy man in my Iife.

( Breuer) Friedrich, I need your heIp.

Attack my obsession. It's ruining meI

Do you want war?

Yes!

You will follow my directives without question.

Absolutely.

Sit.

Please.

Olose your eyes.

[sigh]

I magine--your Iife-- with Bertha.

But l don't want to!

Please, Josef. Relax.

Now, you're starting your day.

You're having your breakfast, with Anna O.

I want you to compose a Iist of 1 0 insuIts

and l want you to hurl them at her.

To her face?!

Yes.

What? Like ''ugly?''

Precisely.

Ugly, yes.

Ugly.

Scream it out!

Ugly!

Stupid ! Oow!

Whore! Sow!

Oross-eyed ! Monster! Oripple!

That's nine. One more.

ldiot! !

Good. How is she responding?

l love you.

Banish the tranquil idea you've composed.

See Bertha as she wouId be now each morning.

Spasms. Her arms and Iegs in spasms.

Cross-eyed. M utant. HaIIucinating.

Suffering I

[screaming]

See her as the infant she longs to revert to.

[rattle and giggling]

See her as an aduIt, sitting on the toiIet

as she does each day.

Ooh. H i, Josef. [farts]

If you are aIone and you begin to think of her,

tell her ''Go away, l hate you !'' as loud as you can.

You pinch yourself as hard as you can ! Say it!

Go away!

Pinch yourseIfI Pinch yourseIfI

Pinch yourself as hard as you can !

Go away! l hate you !

Listen. lf you're ever alone

and you begin to think about her, shout

''Go away, l hate you'' as loud as you can. Say it. l hate you.

l hate you ! !

l hate you !

l hate you ! !

l hate you !

l hate you ! !

LouderI Say it. I hate you.

Say it! Josef, if you are ever alone, you begin to think of her,

you shout ''Go away, l hate you'' as loud as you can. Say it.

As loud as you can. Say it. l hate you.

Go--away! ! l hate you ! !

I Iove you.

( Breuer) Go away I I hate you I

What are we waiting for, Fishman?

( Fishman ) Yeah, hoI

H m.

Your heart is strong.

But mine is close to bursting.

After yesterday, I feeI Iike a bear being trained to dance.

lt's true. l've lowered you. And myself.

And a teacher shouId be a raiser of men.

We are missing something.

Yes, we've negIected to understand the meaning

behind your obsession.

How can we discover the meaning of something

that l myself have concealed?

By talking about it.

What wouId your Iife be if there was no Bertha?

Life without Bertha--

would be a colorless one.

Everything would be decided.

This medical bag, these black clothes.

l'm a scientist. Yet science has no color.

l need passion !

l need magic!

That's what Bertha represents.

Life without passion, without mystery?

Who can Iive such a Iife?

But he is expecting me.

You're lured to mystery. You're lured to danger.

But l hate danger.

l live my life safely.

Living safely is what's dangerous.

Living safely is dangerous?

N ietzsche, there is no Professor N ietzsche here.

Oheck again.

There is no Professor N ietzsche here.

Perhaps Bertha represents my desire to escape

my deadly safe life, the trap of time.

Time is our burden, Josef.

The greatest challenge is to live in spite of it.

I hate women with Iips.

Why do you show me this?

Because she has a combination of Iips,

eyes and breasts--

that give her almost superhuman powers.

Powers to do what?

When l'm with her,

I feeI that I'm in the center of an orderIy,

tranquil universe.

An intensely beautiful place

where there are no questions about life or purpose.

Like waIking on cIouds.

Where do your thoughts go now?

Her eyes-- they gIisten.

She doesn't speak,

yet she taIks to me.

And what does she say?

She says--

''Josef,

you are adorable. ''

And in that moment, l am.

When she toId me one day that she

dreamed of us making love, l was ecstatic.

What a victory.

To enter a place where no man has ever been.

Have you ever known a Bertha, Frederich?

Friedrich.

l once knew a woman who could not be denied. Yes.

Tell me more about this woman.

What was her name?

Do you stiII Iove her?

We are more in Iove with desire,

than the desired.

[opera music]

( Breuer) Siggy.

These sessions with N ietzsche

have become the center of my day.

Why?

The relief of disclosure.

Perhaps in 50 years this taIking cure

might develop into a precise science.

l thought l could help him.

No Ionger.

He has everything to offer me.

l'm wondering if part of this talking cure

involves learning with the patient transfers to his doctor.

Shh.

What wouId it be to Iive as Nietzsche Iives?

No house.

No obIigations.

No wife. No responsibiIities.

( Lou ) ''Goodbye, my dear Lou.

''I won't see you again.

''You've caused damage. You've done harm.

And not only to me, but to all people who loved me. ''

( Nietzsche ) ''And this sword hangs over you.

But I hope you wiII make good to Henry,

what you couIdn't make good to me.

( Nietzsche ) YesI

You make music sick.

You are sick! You are sick!

[taps rhythmically with foot]

[orchestra begins to play]

Wagner.

The first requiems.

You make music sickI

You tyrant I You tyrant I

You antisemiteI

I hate you I

I hate you I

[loud music]

[Nietzsche, shouting, no music]

Wagner. You make music sick.

[music]

Hate. Hate.

Hate. [gasping]

Fritz.

Fritz.

[music]

Hate.

Fritz!

Hate!

Look at me!

Talk to my animals.

Fritz!

Hate.

( Breuer) I visit my parents' grave once a month.

WouId you Iike to come with me today?

It's Iess than one hour's ride from the city.

Why didn't you tell me your mother's name was Bertha?

She died when l was three.

l have very few memories of her.

No conscious memories.

Are you suggesting I Iove Bertha

because she and my mother shared the same name?

[thunder]

My mother is hardly real to me.

Bertha Pappenheim is the most real thing in my life.

l think your obsession with Bertha

has never been about Bertha.

A year after my father died, l had a dream.

This grave opens,

and my father rises up,

and he runs to this church.

It's where he preached.

And he grabbed this smaII chiId,

and he cIimbed back--

into the grave.

I aIways beIieved that this dream

predicted my brother's death, but

l suspect it was my own--

it was my own fear.

l was that boy.

[thunder]

l n my father's arms.

And fear is expressed in your dream where you--

pIunge towards the cIosed coffin.

Who is inside the coffin?

l don't remember.

Who is the one who stops you from faIIing

to your death?

Your crippIed Bertha?

Or perhaps your mother?

The reaI Bertha.

Who, Josef?

Who is inside the coffin?

l can still see her face.

She's smiling at me.

H m.

Your mother?

How could she leave me?

[trembling breaths]

l never really let her go.

Perhaps adult figures enter a child's mind and refuse to leave.

But you must be as frightened as l am of death--

and godlessness.

We must die. But at the right time.

Death onIy Ioses its terror when one has

consummated one's Iife.

Have you consummated your Iife?

l have achieved a great deal.

But have you lived your life?

Or have you been Iived by it?

You stand outside your Iife, grieving,

for some life that you--

you never lived.

I cannot change my IifeI

l have my family, my patients!

Students.

lt's too late.

l cannot tell you how to live differently.

lf l did, you'd still be living by some other's design,

but perhaps l could give you a gift, Josef.

Maybe l could give you a thought.

What if some demon were to say to you

that this life, as you now live it,

have lived it in the past,

you would have to live once more but--

innumerable times more.

There will be nothing new in it.

Every pain, every joy, every unutterably small or great thing

in your life would just return to you.

The same succession, the same sequence, again and again,

like an hourglass of time.

l magine infinity.

Oonsider the possibility that every action you choose, Josef,

you choose for all time.

Then all--unlived life

would remain-- inside you.

U nIived. Throughout eternity.

You like this idea?

Do you hate it? Which?

l hate it!

Why?

The only thing l love about my life

is the thought

that l have fulfilled my duties to my wife and children.

Duty?

Your duty is a sham.

lt's the curtain you hide behind.

To truIy buiId your chiIdren,

you build yourself. First.

And as for your wife, let her break out from this prison you share.

And be broken by it.

H m?

( Sigmund) Are you sure about this?

To continue with the sense that I have not Iived.

That l have not tasted freedom.

The idea fills me with horror.

Help me, Siggy.

Fly! Fly!

Fly! You're free! You're free!

And you too are free.

(MathiIde ) Free them?

This is madness.

Suddenly l find that l am old.

l am facing death without having lived my life!

Since when is there your life and my life?

We made a covenant to share our lives.

Leave if you want!

But not until l tell you about the cruel joke of freedom.

l wish l had your freedom.

Freedom of a man to obtain an education.

To choose a profession.

l wish l had the vocabulary, the logic

to express just how foolish you sound !

MathiIde, if I am abIe to find my Iife

we will both be better off.

Perhaps l will come back to this life.

But it must be my choice!

Have you forgotten about the choice you made in marrying me?

What choices does a deserted wife have?

You are young, rich, attractive!

You will be as free as l am !

We have three children !

Mathilde, l should have been I before l became we!

Words! Words! You cannot live in words!

l choose my life, too.

And l choose to tell you

you cannot return to this house

because it will no longer be your home!

Once you leave, l will no longer be your wife!

Mama!

Say goodbye to your father, children.

Forever.

Please, Papa, don't leave.

[weeping]

Get out there. Leave, if that's what you want.

Robert, l'm still your father.

No, you're not my father anymore.

Robert.

Goodbye, my little chickens.

l only have one life!

( Breuer) Nietzsche is right.

My freedom has been here aII aIong for the taking.

Now is my Iast chance.

This is my one and onIy Iife.

I'm Iooking for Bertha Pappenheim.

She's in the garden with the doctor.

Should l inform her you are here?

No, thank you, l shall wait.

Please, wait for her upstairs.

Thank you.

l love you.

You will always be the only man in my life.

Josef! How are you?

Papa, don't Ieave.

( Nietzsche ) Having doubts, Josef?

How could l have given up everything?

You'd given up everything long before you met me.

Yes, but now l have nothing !

And nothing is everything.

I n order to grow strong, you must first

sink your roots deep into nothingness.

But Iearn to face your IoneIiest IoneIiness.

[weeping] My wife.

My children.

How couId I have Ieft them?

You must be ready to burn yourseIf in your own fIame.

How couId you become new,

if you wouId not first become ashes?

Waiter.

Josef?

Dr. Breuer?

Josef!

Where are you going?!

What a ridiculous man.

( Sigmund) Josef, come backI

JosefI

JosefI Look out I

JosefI

JosefI Come backI

Josef!

Josef!

Josef, Iisten to me.

[choking]

Eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

one.

[gasping]

You're wide awake now.

Where am l?

Where am l?

Everything's alright, Josef.

Siggy--

what's happening to me?

You are in your house.

lt'll all come back to you.

l did exactly as you instructed.

l hypnotized you using your watch as a pendulum.

Here it is, Josef, on your desk.

Yes. Yes.

Yes, l remember.

How long was l under?

Nearly an hour.

You wept, you Iooked frightened.

I asked you if you wanted to stop.

[gasps]

Now l know what it would be like--

to live differently.

Max and Rachel have arrived for dinner.

Mathilde.

You complain you don't see enough of me.

Yet, when l'm here,

you want to desert me?

l've been away, my dear.

But now l am back.

l'm glad you're here.

Dr. Freud, my husband needs a doctor.

To your health, my boy.

And to you, Max.

(Max ) And to you, Josef.

Oheers.

Oh !

[whistle and chuckle]

M mm.

My boy, my boy.

Excuse me.

[trembling breaths]

[breathes in sharply]

Have l made you cry?

lt's a good cry. lt's sad too.

When l think how long it's been-

Marry me, Mathilde. Please.

l think we did this 1 5 years ago.

And l choose to do it again.

Today.

And every day for the rest of our lives.

( N ietzsche ) So, tell me, how did you cast her out?

Well, l was terrified by aging and death.

l fought back but blindly.

I n desperation, I attacked my wife

and sought rescue in the arms of one

who had no rescue to giveI

I n a certain sense, I've betrayed you.

l have been so dishonest with you.

Oompletely.

l was myself involved with a woman.

A few months ago.

Her name was Lou.

Not so unIike your Bertha.

Beautiful girl.

l fell in love.

She just appeared to be my twin brain.

My souI's mate.

And she Ied me on to beIieve

that I was the man to whom she was destined and--

I beIieved her.

And when I offered myseIf to her,

she spurned me--

in favor of my best friend--

in the worId.

[thunder]

l must tell you that there is not--

not one day that goes by--

not even an hour,

where I do not think of that woman.

She is your Bertha.

But you see? You've been doing double work here.

Yours and mine.

l'm like the most cowardly of women.

And l crouch behind your back here,

Ietting you face aII the dangers aII aIone.

You have courage.

Friedrich, there is something l must tell you.

Dr. Breuer?

How do you do?

You must read these letters N ietzsche has sent me.

These are my private letters.

You did see her then?

Yes, but l refused her.

So all of this was just a pretense.

l made a promise to help you.

l never betrayed that promise.

What did she do? She took you by the arm?

ToId you she had to spend more time with you?

I shared one, one hoIy moment with her,

it's the onIy hoIy moment I've ever known.

No one feII in Iove with me, ever. Ever.

Friedrich, it may have been a holy moment for you,

but not for her.

What are you saying?

She never mentioned the water?

No.

l feel such a loss.

H m.

l don't know.

l think l've lost Lou.

And you.

Everything, l lose.

I couId have [indistinct] from your mind.

And you have a family.

You have your family and l have my pretenses.

My secret little ways of tolerating my aloneness.

But l glorify it, don't l?

And l just don't want to die alone.

l don't want my body just to be discovered.

By its stench.

Lou softened that fear for me for a while.

But you're right.

lt's just an illusion.

Friedrich.

lt's such an illusion.

Friedrich. She does care about you.

She went to extremes to help you.

If your tears had a voice,

what would they say?

l feel so ashamed.

Tell me.

My tears would say we're free.

You never Iet us out,

until Dr. Breuer opened the gate.

And what about the sadness behind those tears?

lt's not sadness. lt's such a relief.

lt's such a relief!

lt's the first time l'm revealing my loneliness.

lt's melting. lt's melting away.

It's a paradox. IsoIation exists onIy in isoIation.

Once shared, it evaporates.

My dear friend.

We are friends.

l like saying that.

No one ever said this to me.

l like it.

l like it.

We are friends.

Friedrich.

lt's good.

Stay with us tonight.

Have supper with me and my family.

No, it would mean to abandon my mission.

lt's time we went our ways.

''We'II have friends, and have become strangers to each other.

''This is as it ought to be.

''We do not want either to conceal or obscure the fact

''as if we had to be ashamed of it.

We are two ships, each of which has its goal and its course. ''

And finally, Dr. Breuer,

''We have to become strangers to one another

because it's the law to which we are subject. ''

Have a safe journey.

My dear friend.