Bitter is de verbanning

In a dramatised documentary, Bart van Esch tells the story of the life of the German writer Klaus Mann, between 1933 and 1937 and from 1947 to 1949. In these two periods, Mann mainly lived in Amsterdam and New York and he experienced his 'rise and fall'. His Amsterdam years in particular help Bitter is de verbanning (You Can't Go Home Again) to depict a writer in exile, in the shadow of his famous father Thomas Mann, who is looking for his way and a purpose in life, and for recognition. Using archive material, photos and dramatised scenes, the film shows a life in which hotel rooms in Amsterdam, New York and Cannes were havens from the hostile world. This is where he wrote his novels, received his friends, took his drugs and experienced loneliness.