Release: Thus Dreamed Zarathustra

 

Thus Dreamed Zarathustra

Genre: Drama

Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Writer: Meirad Tako

Cast: Franz Rogowski, Christoph Waltz, Liv Lisa Fries, Alina Levshin, August Diehl, Meirad Tako (cameo)

Budget: $19,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $14,589,054

Foreign Box Office: $20,000,004

Total Profit: -$3,125,025

Reaction: Thanks to a relatively inexpensive cast and decent word of mouth, this one came closer to turning a profit than many within the studio expected.

"Thus Dreamed Zarathustra is a hypnotic and audacious plunge into mythic biography, less concerned with explaining Nietzsche than with immersing the viewer inside his interior universe. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and writer Meirad Tako abandon conventional narrative in favor of a fever-dream structure that treats philosophy as lived hallucination. Franz Rogowski is astonishing, embodying Nietzsche not as an intellectual figure but as a raw nerve." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

"A surreal, myth-soaked reimagining of Nietzsche’s life: equal parts nightmare and opera. The imagery is overwhelming at times, but that excess is what makes it so memorable. Ends with a moment of fragile humanity that lingers long after the credits roll. This is something we all know only Meirad Tako could successfully pull off." - Dexter Quinn, Cinematic Observer Newsletter

"Thus Dreamed Zarathustra mistakes sensory overload for insight, burying Nietzsche beneath an avalanche of portentous imagery that ultimately says far less than it thinks it does. Every scene strains for cosmic significance until its symbolism collapses under its own weight. Franz Rogowski commits fully, but no performance can anchor a film that refuses grounding, momentum, or emotional variation. What begins as an intriguing psychological portrait devolves into a three-hour thesis written in fire and fog, more concerned with announcing its importance than earning it. For all its ambition, the film rarely clarifies, deepens, or challenges Nietzsche’s ideas—it simply shouts them, beautifully and exhaustingly, into the void." - Brenton Smalls, Playboy

Rated R for violence, disturbing imagery, and some sexuality.