Thomas Mann worked on his novel 'Confessions of Felix Krull' for almost 50 years. In no other work did the writer incorporate so many of his personal longings and fears. The film takes a look behind the façade of the celebrated storyteller and at the same time into the dazzling world of his literary alter ego Felix Krull. The intertwined lives of Mann and Krull weave themselves into a journey through exile, self-dramatization and the bittersweet art of disguise.