This is the self-portrait of a great artist and an unconventional woman, sometimes wistful, sometimes cheerful but always truthful. And not least of all, this is a delightful reading experience, one that inspires us to wander through the realms of our own memories.
Hannelore Elsner has appeared in front of the camera and on stage for fifty years. The magnificent actress has now written a wondrously sensual book. She describes how she used to roam the idyllic Bavarian countryside as a wild, fun-loving girl, how she learned to despise dishonesty of any kind as a convent pupil, how cinema in Munich in the 50s and 60s became her true home, and how she found herself in front of a film camera for the first time as a 16-year-old in Istanbul. In a language full of power and tenderness, Hannelore Elsner recalls the people in her life, her love of French film and jazz, her first experiences as a young actress, roles that were particularly dear to her – and the joys of growing older.
With warmth, poetic grace and gentle humour, Hannelore Elsner describes the joy of growing up in Bavaria, the pain of losing her father and brother at an early age, the happiness of falling in love for the first time, her early years as an actress, and she writes about her love of a profession that has taught her to be heedful of life.
"Life would be too serious without acting."
Hannelore Elsner
