At the beginning of the twentieth century, young Hans Castorp goes to a sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland, to visit his cousin. He plans to spend three weeks with him there, but will end up staying for seven years. During Castorp’s stay, he meets a collection of eccentric figures. Through these encounters with the other residents at the sanatorium, he slowly acquires a layered image of contradicting views on life.

Stef Aerts en Marie Vinck (FC Bergman) create a new version of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

Stef Aerts and Marie Vinck about The Magic Mountain

'With his magnum opus, Thomas Mann desired to reformulate himself and the world around him, after that world had been turned upside down by the First World War. Perhaps our world today – with its fast-changing behavioural codes, fragmented ideologies, and ambiguous morals – is equally in need of a reformulation of definitions and of ourselves. In the sanatorium at the top of the mountain, Hans Castorp dissects and discusses the world which he essentially is scared to participate in, and from which he is increasingly alienated.

More and more, the next generation is calling us to account. They accuse us of being indifferent, of having a lack of engagement and an excess of irony. It is something that Hans Castorp easily could have been accused of too. How is it that we are so like him?

Have we too locked ourselves away, hidden ourselves behind thoughts and contemplations? Have we spent too much time on doubt and put off our commitment for too long? Is there something huge waiting for us that we did not see coming? Or is it already so close that it’s blinding us?'