Escape to Life: The Erika and Klaus Mann Story(2002)

The story of Klaus and Erika Mann, the two brilliant eldest children of Nobel-prize-winner Thomas Mann. Using archival footage, dramatic scenes and interviews, we see how the almost inseparable duo kept going as they grew up in the shadow of a world-famous father and a threatening war. While the siblings often claimed they were identical twins, it is certain that they had a special and tight bond that formed the basis for their exceptionally creative and intellectually productive lives. They wrote and acted and were both homosexuals and pacifists. Yet Erika married twice. Klaus, who never progressed further than an engagement, joined the American army to fight against his former fatherland. The paradoxes in their lives put a considerable pressure on their relationship, that finally broke when Klaus became addicted to drugs and Erika shifted her loyalty to her father.