In the best films of Hans Cürlis the acts of filming and painting coincide. The portrait of a portraitist. Max Oppenheimer (Mopp; 1885-1954) was a well-known portraitist and painter of musicians and orchestras. In this case he paints the portrait of Heinrich Mann, while Cürlis portrays Heinrich Mann as he is being portrayed by Mopp and Mopp as he is portraying Heinrich Mann. Thus the "Schaffende Hände" — Creative Hands — are both those of the painter and those of the film director Cürlis: these are hand-made films.
