Overview
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Up 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 March 1982 (USA)
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Plot:
A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance...
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Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 9 wins
&
2 nominations
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User Comments:
Before "The Truman Show", "Mephisto" asks its audience, what is good entertainment?
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| Klaus Maria Brandauer | ... | Hendrik Hoefgen |
 | Krystyna Janda | ... | Barbara Bruckner |
| Ildikó Bánsági | ... | Nicoletta von Niebuhr |
| Rolf Hoppe | ... | Tábornagy |
| György Cserhalmi | ... | Hans Miklas |
| Péter Andorai | ... | Otto Ulrichs |
| Karin Boyd | ... | Juliette Martens |
| Christine Harbort | ... | Lotte Lindenthal |
| Tamás Major | ... | Oskar Kroge, színigazgató |
| Ildikó Kishonti | ... | Dora Martin, primadonna |
| Mária Bisztrai | ... | Motzné, tragika |
| Sándor Lukács | ... | Rolf Bonetti, bonviván |
| Ágnes Bánfalvy | | (as Bánfalvi Ágnes) |
| Judit Hernádi | ... | Rachel Mohrenwitz, drámai szende |
| Vilmos Kun | ... | Ügyelõ |
| Ida Versényi | ... | Súgó |
| István Komlós | ... | Kis Böck, Öltöztetõ |
| Sári Gencsy | ... | Bella Hilfgrin |
| Zdzislaw Mrozewski | ... | Bruckner, tanácsos |
| Stanislava Strobachow | ... | Tábornokné |
| Károly Ujlaky | ... | Sebastian |
| György Bánffy | ... | Faust |
| József Csör | ... | Joachim, jellemszínész |
| Christian Grashof | ... | Cesar von Muck |
| Teri Tordai | ... | Laura, szobrásznõ |
| Hédi Temessy | ... | Egy nagybankos neje |
| David Robinson | ... | Davidson, kritikus |
| Géza Kovács | ... | Müller, kritikus |
| Hans Ulrich Laufer | ... | Radig, szerkesztõ |
| Margrid Hellberg | ... | Fiatal énekesnõ |
| Kerstin Hellberg | ... | Fiatal énekesnõ |
| Irén Bordán | ... | Filmszínésznõ |
| Oszkár Gáti | ... | Filmszínész |
| Tamás Balikó | ... | A Tábornagy szárnysegéde |
| Ödön Rubold | ... | A Tábornagy szárnysegéde |
| István Palotai | ... | A Tábornagy szárnysegéde |
| Bertalan Papp | ... | A Tábornagy szárnysegéde |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: |
| Rózsa Balogh | | |
| Mónika Bognár | | |
| Béla Bolykovszki | | (as Bolykovszky Béla) |
| Erzsébet Czeglédi | | |
| János Dömölky | | |
| Mária Fekete | | |
| Tamás Fésüs | | |
| Katalin Fráter | | |
| Oszkárné Gombik | | |
| Martin Hellberg | ... | Professor (as Prof. Martin Hellberg) |
| Magda Kalmár | ... | Soprano singer (singing voice) |
| István Karsai | | |
| Bazsa Kiss | | |
| Katalin Korancz | | |
| Géza Laczkovich | | |
| György Lencz | | |
| József Lukácsi | | |
| Sándor Majoros | | |
| Rita Máté | | |
| Lajos Mezey | | |
| Vilmos Mosóczy | | |
| Tamás Philipovics | | |
| Fruzsina Pregitzer | | |
| Gizella Ramshorn | | |
| Erzsi Sándor | | |
| András Sebestyén | | |
| Kati Sólyom | | (as Sólyom Katalin) |
| Csilla Strébely | | |
| Mihály Szacsky | | |
| Péter Tihanyi | | |
| Vidor Török | | |
| Tamás Tóth | | |
| Katalin Varga | | |
| János Xantus | | |
| Imre Zvoronics | | |
| István Szabó | ... | Theatre party attendant (uncredited) |
Additional Details
Runtime:
144 min | Spain:126 min
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Director Cameo: [István Szabó]A guest wearing a tuxedo on the theater reception party near the end of the film, complaining about the unnecessary expenses of the luxurious party.
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Goofs:
Anachronisms: In the movie's final scene, the modern track is visible in Berlin's Olympic Stadium.
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Soundtrack:
Mephisto-Improvisation
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FAQ
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company.
Another disturbing film about the complicity of ordinary people in fascism, which explores similar territory to "Cabaret", "The Conformist", "The Leopard" and "The Remains of the Day". It argues that fascism demonstrates how difficult it is to separate one's public and private roles and beliefs from politics. The title character, an actor, starts to realise how his "make believe" public role has very real, tragic consequences. In this sense, the film has merit beyond its superb acting and other technical features: it subverts the liberal pieties of Hollywood drama which resolve all conflict within the confines of the existing social system. It undercuts the banality of much film criticism which says it is "just entertainment" with "no subtext"- as if produced in a social/historical vacuum with no point of view. In short, the film argues that artists, like everyone else, have to take some responsibility and assume a critical role or risk being haunted, like Mephisto, by the awareness that they have become pawns in a dangerous game.