When the German Film Academy honored Helmut Dietl for his life’s work in May 2014, shortly before his death, his colleagues applauded an artistic oeuvre full of unforgettable masterpieces: Münchner Geschichten (Munich Stories), Der ganz normale Wahnsinn (The Normal Madness), the Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Schtonk!, and Rossini.
In making his films, Helmut Dietl always drew on experiences from his own life, which itself resembled an adventure movie. Claudius Seidl writes about all the facets of this life: Munich since the 1960s, Rome, Los Angeles, Berlin. About spectacular crashes and resurrections, a life path comprising love stories and marriages and professional collaborations with great partners such as Patrick Süskind and the acting elite of his time. The result is a colorful family novel about the German film and television industry in the era when the country transcended provincial post-war cinema – thanks, in no small part, to Helmut Dietl’s films.
