Heinrich Breloer

In the 1840s, Lübeck is a dominating commercial town on the Baltic coast, and the Buddenbrooks are among the town's first families. Consul Jean Buddenbrook has two sons, Thomas and Christian, and a daughter, Antonia, called Tony. He dearly loves them but also expects them to sacrifice personal happiness for the sake of the company if necessary. The first to learn this is Tony, who is married off to Hamburgian businessman Bendix Grünlich. Meanwhile, her brothers have learned the trade in Amsterdam and London respectively. Crushed by Tony's marriage disaster and several unlucky transactions, Jean Buddenbrook turns the business over to his eldest, Thomas, who marries Dutch heiress Gerda, a passionate violinist, but never forgets his first love, a flower girl. After spending time in Valparaiso, Christian also returns to Lübeck. Thomas soon learns that his brother is much more interested in the theatre and actress Aline than in the company, which causes a rift between the brothers. Seeing that she can't heal it, their mother admonishes them to at least conceal it from the public. (fonte: imdb)… (altro)

Viel ist über die Familie Mann schon gesagt und geschrieben worden. Einen Film allerdings, der diese erstaunliche Familie einmal spielerisch aufleben lässt, den hat es bisher nicht gegeben. Durch die von Heinrich Breloer entwickelte Form des Doku-Dramas werden wir unmittelbar Zeugen von bewegenden Geschichten, die noch keiner kennt. Geschichten von Leidenschaft, Liebe und Hass, von Krieg und Emigration, von tragischen Verflechtungen persönlicher und weltgeschichtlicher Ereignisse. Die Familie Mann zeigt sich, wie sie sich noch nie gezeigt hat. Alle treten auf: die Brüder Thomas und Heinrich mit ihrem lebenslangen Bruderzwist, das extrovertierte Geschwisterpaar Erika und Klaus, der stille Golo und auch das einzige heute noch lebende Kind Thomas Manns: Elisabeth. (fonte: amazon.de)… (altro)

La terza parte descrive la vita della famiglia Mann negli Stati Uniti e il loro coinvolgimento nella seconda guerra mondiale. Mentre Thomas Mann conduce una vita spensierata, Heinrich Mann si impoverisce con sua moglie Nelly e diventa economicamente dipendente da suo fratello. Nelly si suicida, così come Klaus Mann, tossicodipendente e drogato. Heinrich Mann si ammala gravemente e muore nel 1950. Thomas, Katia ed Erika Mann tornano in Europa nel 1952 a causa di rappresaglie durante l'era di McCarthy e si stabiliscono in Svizzera. Poco prima della sua morte, nel 1955, Thomas visitò di nuovo la sua città natale, Lubecca, dove gli fu conferita la cittadinanza onoraria.… (altro)