Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Thomas Mann / Confessions of Thomas Mann, Confidence Man

Thomas Mann planned the novel as early as 1905. But it was not until 1954 that $Confessions of Felix Krull% would be published... Lodged between Lübeck and Lisbon, the Holsten Gate and Hollywood, this hybrid documentary is the story of how $Felix Krull% came to be. It is told – like the novel, with $complete candor% – in parallel to the life of its author, who emigrated to Switzerland in 1933 and the US in 1937 before returning to Europe in 1952. A montage of documentary and film scenes, the author’s musings, and excerpts from diaries and novels (read by, among others, Thomas Mann himself), the film explores what Mann’s daughter Erika perceived to be the $homosexual substrate of the novel%. In a fascinating interweave of the author and his character, the film reveals the personal connections between Thomas Mann and his literary alter ego – portrayed by actor Sebastian Schneider just as the author demanded of the hero of his rogue’s tale, $convincing in every minute%.