Like other biopics about famous writer and artists,this film tried and succeeded to achieve a balance between sheer,dull biographical information and the complex process of their own creative mind. It shows how intensely Thomas Mann and his numerous,gifted and controversial family lived a century which saw the fall of the German Empire,the rise of the Third Reich,two world wars,the McCarthy trials(in which even the literature of Thomas and Heinrich Mann was seen as subversive,as it was seen a decade earlier,when the Nazis publicly burned their books) Armin Mueller-Stahl's performance as Thomas Mann is particularly convincing,somewhat resembling to the haunting depiction of Thomas Mann's character(and alter-ego) Gustav Von Aschenbach in Visconti's Death in Venice,beautifully crafted by Dirk Bogarde.Even some hints at Thomas Mann's purely platonic homo-erotic desires and experiences are showed,which makes the resemblance to Death in Venice even more obvious.Another movie with whom this might be compared is Fitzgerald and the last of the belles-in a similar way,both movies are built upon several opposites joined together bourgeois versus artist,reality versus fiction,ideal versus everyday life. Inspite of minor flaws(concerning mostly the physical resemblance and behavior of several actors and the real life characters),this film contains enough biographical material,brought to the viewer in a both exact,unbiased and entertaining,interesting manner.
7 Reviews
Absolutely fantastic!
prospero227 September 2004
This epic documentary/drama about arguably the greatest German author of the 20th century is really fascinating. Watching Elisabeth Mann-Borgese return to the places of her childhood is quite a moving experience and you feel the wisdom and the experience this old lady can share with the world. And it is a great gift for all of us that she did so shortly before her death. What a great family story this is! Everybody does a tremendous job in acting their roles (well, apart from Veronica Ferres' Nelly Kröger, whom I don't hold as such a good actress; especially her faked Northern German accent didn't convince me), and I fear I'll have difficulties not seeing the face of Armin Mueller-Stahl before me whenever I'll think of Thomas Mann in the future. This mixture of historical movie and documentary is just about perfect and may establish a new genre.
Brilliant, shame no subtitles on DVD
suaheli23 December 2008
It's a real shame for an Emmy winning production that the lavish German DVD box does not have English subtitles. But for anyone interested in the story of the Mann family this is a must. The casting is sublime down to bit parts (Katharina Thalbach as Therese Giehse and the very tasty Torben Liebrecht as Klaus's lover Tomski are impressive) we see the best actors German film has to offer with Sebastian Koch (Klaus Mann) and Sophie Rois (Erika Mann) standing out. A little letdown is that Armin Mueller-Stahl is very subdued and passive, mumbling his words whereas Thomas Mann was a mercurial, often aggressive person with a very expressive way of talking. But lookwise he's got it and he has his magic moments. As his wife Katia Monica Bleibtreu does a great job, but is denied the esprit Katia had. She is only shown as a dedicated wife but she influenced Mann's work a great deal with her wicked wit and observation. But these flaws aside the mixture of movie and documentary scenes is mesmerizing. Elisabeth Mann, Thomas's last surviving child at the time of filming is a gift as a chaperone through the complex story of her family's life. Heinrich Breloer really was lucky to catch all the people interviewed as by now most of them have gone, the vivacious Klaus Pringsheim jr, Thomas' devoted secretary Hilde Kahn among others. Sadly Elisabeth has died by now also. The sensitive way Breloer digs deep when they both visit places of the Mann story (Klaus's grave!) without being intrusive and her long moments of silence and then again her hearty giggle about her family's ways when you don't expect it are great moments. The documentary "Unterwegs zur Familie Mann" which features more prolonged interviews with all involved but also short glimpses of the movie is more than complementary, you should even watch it first. Again, a shame that this DVD was not made for international viewing.
I'm intrigued by the Net of these Magicians!!
AMovieTheatreGoer4 July 2007
I like so much the TV-movie "Die Manns - Ein Jahrhundertroman"! As Marianne Krull wrote in her beautiful book "Im Netz der Zauberer" (I think in English it is "In the Net of the Magicians"), I'm intrigued by Family Mann's world since I was a teenager. First of all, by Erika and Klaus, but also by the double soul of Thomas, the literary talent (Heinrich, Thomas, Klaus and Erika wrote such beautiful intense books!) and the problematic lives of the entire family, in a so dramatic age!
Also by the frustration of the younger Manns: Golo, Monika, Elisabeth and Michael, who worked hard to find their own way, with their passion for music and arts. Heinrich and his strange love for self-destructive women. And the sweet, mysterious Katia, a real angel who supported her husband career. This movie shows all that with good, convincing actors. It's good the director has inserted real interviews and photos between the fiction.
In the end: the real Erika (9 November 1905) was almost exactly one year elder than Klaus (18 November 1906), they had the same zodiacal sign and were called "the twins", (many friends thought that they were really twins). Well, Sophie Rois was born 1 June 1961 - Sebastian Koch 31 May 1962!!! What a coincidence!!!
Also by the frustration of the younger Manns: Golo, Monika, Elisabeth and Michael, who worked hard to find their own way, with their passion for music and arts. Heinrich and his strange love for self-destructive women. And the sweet, mysterious Katia, a real angel who supported her husband career. This movie shows all that with good, convincing actors. It's good the director has inserted real interviews and photos between the fiction.
In the end: the real Erika (9 November 1905) was almost exactly one year elder than Klaus (18 November 1906), they had the same zodiacal sign and were called "the twins", (many friends thought that they were really twins). Well, Sophie Rois was born 1 June 1961 - Sebastian Koch 31 May 1962!!! What a coincidence!!!
One of the best German production in the last years
spatz-57 March 2005
No question, I highly recommend that somebody is taking this movie and make it available to more viewers than those that speak German. It was originally broadcasted on TV and later became available as a 3-disc DVD Set. I cannot comment on the authenticity of that picture but it is highly interesting and gives a great inside view of the life of the MANNs and the life what it has been in Germany before, while and after WWII in an academic environment. We have totally enjoyed the 3 DVDs and could hardly wait for the next DVD to watch. A picture that probably would have gotten plenty of Oscars if ever been presented to an American public - tells you a lot about how these pictures get selected.....
Somehow I feel that the Manns deserve better
Horst_In_Translation16 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Die Manns - Ein Jahrhundertroman" or "The Manns - Novel of a Century" or just "Die Manns" or "The Manns" is a German mini-series from 2001, so it has its 15th anniversary last year. This one consists of three episodes of 100 minutes each, so you can watch the entire thing in approximately 5 hours if you have the patience, even if these days it is, in its entirety, actually more difficult to find than I expected. The writer and director is Heinrich Breloer and here he managed to create a mini-series that really received a great deal of awards attention back then and propels it into Germany's most successful mini-series of all time. This of course also has to do with the family this is about. Thanks to works like Buddenbrooks and Zauberberg, the Manns are also very famous abroad, even decades now after the deaths of the most known family members.
But somehow I feel that if they saw this film today or had seen it when it came out, they probably would not have liked it very much. On many occasions, to me, it felt dramatic for the sake of it and moves away from the occasionally promising approaches to story-telling and character development. It felt to me as if they were going for cheap entertainment instead of haunting authenticity. In my very case, this may also have a bit to do with subjective taste as I never really saw any talent in Veronica Ferres and I also feel that Monica Bleibtreu and Sophie Rois are a bit on the overrated side. As for Sebastian Koch, he has been in better films, has given better performances too, also in other work by Breloer. Armin Mueller-Stahl occasionally manages to elevate the material and gives the best performance from the bunch, also has the best material I guess, but even for him it's just impossible to make up for all the weaknesses in a 300-minute film on his own. I mentioned that Koch worked on other occasions with Breloer and so did AMS. These occasions turned out more convincingly too for example the Buddenbrooks movie that is of course story-wise closely connected to this mini-series here. Or also "Speer und er", a film that may not be as close to this one here, but also plays during Nazi Germany. I believe these two are certainly superior to this one here, partially because of a superior cast (there really are many weak/mediocre actors and actresses in here, who appeared in a great deal of garbage), but also because the mix of (interview) documentary was just handled better in "Speer und er" in my opinion. This is not the fault of Elisabeth Mann though in my opinion, she was one of the better aspects about this fairly forgettable piece of work. As a final judgment, I must say this mini-series does no justice to the name Mann. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
But somehow I feel that if they saw this film today or had seen it when it came out, they probably would not have liked it very much. On many occasions, to me, it felt dramatic for the sake of it and moves away from the occasionally promising approaches to story-telling and character development. It felt to me as if they were going for cheap entertainment instead of haunting authenticity. In my very case, this may also have a bit to do with subjective taste as I never really saw any talent in Veronica Ferres and I also feel that Monica Bleibtreu and Sophie Rois are a bit on the overrated side. As for Sebastian Koch, he has been in better films, has given better performances too, also in other work by Breloer. Armin Mueller-Stahl occasionally manages to elevate the material and gives the best performance from the bunch, also has the best material I guess, but even for him it's just impossible to make up for all the weaknesses in a 300-minute film on his own. I mentioned that Koch worked on other occasions with Breloer and so did AMS. These occasions turned out more convincingly too for example the Buddenbrooks movie that is of course story-wise closely connected to this mini-series here. Or also "Speer und er", a film that may not be as close to this one here, but also plays during Nazi Germany. I believe these two are certainly superior to this one here, partially because of a superior cast (there really are many weak/mediocre actors and actresses in here, who appeared in a great deal of garbage), but also because the mix of (interview) documentary was just handled better in "Speer und er" in my opinion. This is not the fault of Elisabeth Mann though in my opinion, she was one of the better aspects about this fairly forgettable piece of work. As a final judgment, I must say this mini-series does no justice to the name Mann. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
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