Thomas Mann Movies
- 1997
Based on Thomas Mann's tale The Holy Sinner, and filmed in a rural Brazilian dialect, this drama originated in a theater workshop from Brazil's Ceara region and features a largely non professional cast who play their roles with few costumes, little make-up and basically natural lighting. Long ago, a sad queen finally finds happiness when she learns that she is pregnant. Unfortunately, she dies while giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The two siblings grow up and fall in love with each other. They are very happy until the girl gets pregnant and they are forced to separate. Later, she puts her baby to sea in a boat. Years pass and the baby, who was discovered by fisherman, grows to be a handsome man while his estranged mother grows up to become the wretched queen of a deeply troubled country. One day the youth returns to that land. He and the queen fall madly in love and become lovers. Once again, the queen is happy until she learns her lover's identity. Appalled, the queen pays penance by serving the sick while her son takes refuge in a cave where he becomes a quasi-saint and local sage. Eventually, he and his mother are destined to meet again. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
Noted Austrian actor Klaus-Maria Brandauer stepped into the director's chair for this drama about the rise of fascism in Europe, based on a story by Thomas Mann. In the 1920s, Bernhard Fuhrmann (Julian Sands), a German author and outspoken leftist, takes his family to Torre di Venere, a resort community in Italy, where they are not welcomed warmly by all of the residents, especially after an incident in which Fuhrmann's daughter is caught swimming nude by the seashore. While several of the guests at the hotel where the Fuhrmanns are staying voice their opposition to the family's presence, the concierge defends their right to stay there -- until she is killed and replaced by a member of the local fascist brigade. As the village is enveloped in chaos, a magician named Cipola (Brandauer) appears, who has a profound effect on the lives of those around him. Mario und der Zauberer was shown in competition at the 1994 Moscow Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julian Sands, Anna Galiena, (more)
- 1982
Hans Castrop (Christoph Eichhorn) goes to visit a cousin in a Swiss tuberculosis sanatorium, intending to stay for about three weeks, but instead ends up staying for seven years observing the fascinating inhabitants at this supposed haven from the society that has slid downhill to the brink of World War I. The characters he observes range from the politically dueling pair of Lucovico Settembrini (Flavio Bucci), a capitalist "liberal" and Leo Nafta (Charles Aznavour), a Jewish leftist, Claudia Chaochat (Marie-France Pisier), an attractive, passionate Russian woman, and others such as a Dutch businessman with suicidal tendencies, Mynheer Peeperkorn (Rod Steiger). The unfolding exchanges between the protagonists are meant to mirror the larger European world in which they live, and stay close to the Nobel Prize-winning novel (1929) of the same name by Thomas Mann, on which this film is based. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, Marie-France Pisier, (more)
- 1982
Doktor Faustus was adapted from Thomas Mann's epic novel of the same name about a composer, Adrian Leverkuehn (Jon Finch), who sells his soul to the devil for the acquisition of genius in his lifetime. Leverkuehn intentionally contracts syphilis from an infected prostitute because he believes that a side-effect of the disease is intense, sustained creativity; no matter that death from syphilis as it enters the brain is extremely unpleasant -- the composer wants his moment of greatness. That is where Satan comes into the picture, and Leverkuehn agrees to Satan's terms in exchange for creative genius: he is not to have any close human contacts. Being only too human, the composer violates the terms only to see his two closest friends, a cellist and his little nephew, die as a consequence. At this point, after extensive philosophizing and rumination, the Satanic deal just does not have the same allure, and Leverkuehn's own life is quickly deteriorating, much faster than he can handle. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Finch, Hanns Zischler, (more)
- 1977
After World War I, parts of Europe experience hyperinflation, when it took wheelbarrows full of paper currency just to pay for a loaf of bread. The worst time was 1923 and it became known as "The Inflation Year." In this movie, closely following the autobiographical story by Thomas Mann, Professor Cornelius (Martin Held), a history teacher, comes to regret publishing an essay in 1917 supporting the Prussian government which vigorously prosecuted the war effort. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Held, Ruth Leuwerik, (more)
- 1974
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was the author of Werther, the romantic novel that was transformed into a play during Goethe's lifetime and which initiated the whole German romantic movement. The book's story tells of young love and suicide. In this East German film, based on a book by Thomas Mann, Lotte (Lilli Palmer) was the woman who served as the model for the heroine in the novel Werther. She comes to Goethe's hometown for a visit, and her experiences there eerily re-create episodes from the book. Goethe comes across as a pompous old bore, and his friends as pandering sycophants, in this very proper communist party-sponsored, anti-heroic movie. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lilli Palmer
Based on a novel by Thomas Mann, Death in Venice stars Dirk Bogarde as a German composer who is terrified that he has lost all vestiges of humanity. While visiting Venice, Bogarde falls in love with a beautiful young boy (Bjorn Andresen). The relationship is ruined by Bogarde's obsession with the boy's youth and physical perfection; the composer realizes that the child represents an ideal that he can never match. The character played by Dirk Bogarde is evidently intended to be Gustav Mahler, whose haunting music is featured on the film's soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Bjorn Andresen, (more)
- 1965
This drama is taken from Thomas Mann's 1903 semi-autobiographical novel. Tonio (Jean Claude Brialy) is an aspiring writer and the son of a rigid aristocratic father and a music-loving mother. Wandering throughout Germany and Italy to "find himself," Tonio frequently remembers his childhood experiences in a series of flashbacks. The highlight of the film is the expert lensing by cinematographer Wolf Wirth. Erika Mann, the daughter of the late poet and author, collaborated with Ennio Flaiano on the screenplay. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Claude Brialy, Nadja Tiller, (more)
- 1965
This drama from author Thomas Mann fails to translate well to the screen because of some underdeveloped characterizations. Count Arnstadt (Rudolf Forster) and the Countess Isabella (Margot Hielscher) are the parents of the beautiful but conceited Sieglinee (Elena Nathanael). When the young Lieutenant Beckerath (Gert Ballus) declares his love for Sieglinde, she agrees to marry him if he rides naked through the town. After he performs the task, Beckerath has more difficulty because the girl is reluctant to leave her beloved brother Siegmund (Michael Maien). The controversial feature was shown at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rudolf Forster, Margot Hielscher, (more)
- 1959
Thomas Mann's sprawling German novel Buddenbrooks could hardly be confined to a "conventional" film length, thus it's no surprise that this 1959 movie version was released in two lengthy parts. Put simply, Buddenbrooks is the story of the decline and fall of a once prestigious European family. Anxious to preserve their rapidly diminishing wealth, the Buddenbrook clan undergoes several marriages of convenience -- which serve only to weaken the strain until, as the 20th century dawns, only two members of the family are left. Among the many international luminaries playing the various Buddenbrook progeny are Lilo Pulver, Nadja Tiller, Hansjörg Felmy, Hanns Lothar, Lil Dagover, and Werner Hinz. When released in the U.S. in 1962, the film was trimmed from 219 to 199 minutes; a 1964 reissue combined both parts and truncated the film's length even farther. Two years later, a BBC television production of Buddenbrooks was offered in a multi-part version à la The Forsyte Saga. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Confessions of Felix Krull was adapted from the last novel by German author Thomas Mann. Horst Buchholtz stars as a German soldier sent to Paris during World War I. He casts aside his uniform and gets a job as an elevator operator. A handsome lug, Buchholtz is pursued by virtually every female who enters his little compartment. But the lad is shy, and besides, he'd rather discuss anthropology. You'll have to watch the film for yourself to see what, if anything, Felix Krull has to confess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Horst Buchholz, Liselotte Pulver, (more)
- 1954
Koenigliche Hoheit (His Royal Highness) was adapted from a novel by Thomas Mann -- who, according to all reports, was pleased with the film version. Ruth Leuwerick stars as an American heiress raised in Europe. She falls in love with Dieter Borsch, a handsome but shy German prince. Their romance seems doomed when Borsch is obliged to enter into a marriage of convenience to save his country from bankruptcy. A fortuitous 11th-hour plot-twist prevents the film from being merely another variation of The Student Prince. Contemporary viewers felt that Koenigliche Hoheit might have benefited from a lighter directorial touch than the one displayed by Dr. Hans Braun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dieter Borsche, Ruth Leuwerik, (more)
