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Mephisto (1981) More at IMDbPro »

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31 out of 32 people found the following comment useful :-
Inner Darkness and Outer Exposure, 7 March 2003
Author: Casey Machula (csm23) from Flagstaff, AZ

We're all familiar with the archetypal Faustian Bargain, where, in exchange for your soul, the devil grants your wishes. But Why might someone might want to make such a bargain? I mean, there are the common lusts and desires; but, the question still remains: What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Mephisto suggests an answer. And it's not to be found in evil machinations of the Prince of Darkness and his minions, or any such nonsense. It's found in the human psyche.

Brilliantly played by Klaus Brandauer (Out of Africa, White Fang), Hendrik Hoefgen is a man haunted by insecurity. At the core of his being is shame. From the age of twelve, he tells his wife, he's always felt ashamed. So he always wears a mask, because he dare not expose his true identity to anyone, for fear of rejection. To hide himself and to medicate his feelings, he adopts a strategy that is all too common: he overcompensates. He buries himself in his work, identifies himself with his work, and becomes an empty creature playing to the crowds, a social chameleon who's a nobody adroitly playing a role. He constantly works on and perfects his social image, alert to the smallest hint of disapprobation in anyone. In this endeavor, his practiced talent of self deception aids him: He says to himself, after he's sold out to the Nazis, that he's satisfied with his success, because it means that many people love him. He's the perfect actor, even for himself. He's a public persona, nothing more. In the flower of his fame, he's a hollow shell. Mephisto is the most brilliantly produced drama on this subject I've ever seen. It's absolutely enthralling. I highly recommend it as one of the best films ever made, by anyone.

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23 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Mephisto or Faust?, 4 February 2002

Author: Alain DeBonville (debonville@hotmail.com)

This film faithfully recreates the novel written in 1936 by Klaus Mann. It is a reflection of the age old temptation of Man, the story of Goethe's Faust. Karl Maria Brandauer is magnificent as Hendrik Höfgen, the obsessed "actor" who will do anything to gain wealth and fame. He first betrays the world around him, and then his inner values are swept away as he finally enters the inner sanctum of Nazi Germany. Is true theatre on stage or in the handshake that Höfgen makes in the prime minister's box behind the audience? Everything in this movie revolves around Höfgen's downward spiral into the abyss; the initial ascent to stardom was but an illusion. Mann instinctively knew that tragedy would befall his country when a pact was made between Hitler and the financial, industrial and military élites of Germany - remember the book was written nine years before that country's downfall. View the movie and read the book. Two truly artistic achievements! Thumbs up to István Szabó and K.M. Brandauer who managed to reveal everything in Höfgen's character.

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18 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
A Szabo Masterpiece, 24 September 2005

Author: Bucs1960 from West Virginia

What a wonderful film!! Klaus Maria Brandauer brings all his talents to bear in the story about an actor who sells his soul to the Devil, in this case Nazism. The character of Hofgen is based on the real-life Gustav Grundens, an actor whose star rose with the rise of the Third Reich and who was championed by Goering (the General's character in the film). Grundens was a homosexual but this issue is sidestepped in the film and instead the character of Hofgen is involved with a beautiful female dancer. Brandauer is magnificent as the passionate but doomed actor who must renounce his family, betray his friends and throw aside his honor for the price of fame. In the end, like Faust, he must pay the devil for his success. The film starts a little slowly but stay with it to see an acting tour de force. You won't be disappointed.

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19 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Before "The Truman Show", "Mephisto" asks its audience, what is good entertainment?, 10 January 1999

Author: neil peter huthnance (nhuthnm@ozdocs.net.au) from Sydney, Australia

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.

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12 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
the Devil doesn't always carry a pitchfork, 8 June 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

Everyone knows the story of Faust: a man sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for something. Well, as we learned in the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil", the Prince of Darkness doesn't necessarily appear as a mustachioed red being with a bifurcated tail. In "Mephisto", the Devil appears as an ideology-turned-governmental-system: Nazism. And in this case, the Devil doesn't request your soul, but rather a favor: that you work for it. Such is the fate of actor Heinz Hoefgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer). Hoefgen has felt shame all his life and has often worn white make-up, as if to hide behind it. But the Nazis make him feel powerful, and so he works for them; metaphorically, he sells his soul to them.

"Mephisto" proves not only the mastery of Germany's film industry, but also what a great director Istvan Szabo is (also shown in "Sunshine" and "Being Julia").

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
This movie makes you think., 9 September 2001

Author: Peter Derkx from Culemborg, Netherlands

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

If I would have to choose the best movie ever (a ridiculous question) I would opt for this one. It is entertaining and beautifully made, but it also gives you a lot to think. The film shows how a series of rather small understandable compromises, none of them very terrible in itself, can slowly lead to erosion of character and morality and in the end to terrible things, like siding with the Nazis and betraying your lover.

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting film with fine ensemble playing, 7 November 1999

Author: Loulou-8 from Glasgow, Scotland

This was a superbly acted and visually stimulating film.

The most interesting element for me was Hendrik's refusal to allow his conscience to interfere with his life's work as an actor. Being an actor, and more importantly an actor able to act in his mothertongue in his own land, is all to this man. Initially indifferent to the rise of the Nazis, unable to accept that their government will change his life, he follows them and befriends a high-ranked Nazi so that his "art" might continue. But it can never be as it was before. Yet he continues to do as he is told, to use the theatre as a propaganda medium, without questioning the consequences.

He cannot admit to himself that he has made the wrong decision and even when he is in Paris and is presented with another opportunity to escape the Nazi regime, he returns to Germany to the pursuit of his theatrical life, no matter how restricted it is.

Excellent film with a very good lead performance.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Klaus Maria Brandauer is magnificent, 8 October 2006

Author: faraaj-1 (faraajqureshi2401@gmail.com) from Sydney, Australia

Klaus Maria Brandauer, the celebrated German stage actor, is not really a big fan of cinema. Largely unknown to cinematic audiences, he made a big splash with his debut Mephisto.

Mephisto is the ancient legend of the man who sells his soul to the devil in return for worldly gains - as told by Faust. Klaus plays a Hamburg stage actor famous for his portrayal of Mephisto on stage. Flirting with socialism, he embraces the leadership of the Nazi party in order to move to Berlin and rise in the theatre hierarchy. He does rise and continues to ingratiate himself with the Nazi Generals and Prime Minister and rises to the very top where his full oratorical abilities can be displayed. He also shows a complete lack of self respect or conviction for anything but his personal worldly success and power - which he does use on occasion to save less favoured colleagues.

Klaus has given a remarkable performance in this film - all physicality. Throughout much of the movie he is poker faced and relies on his hands and his body to express himself fully. Its a very unique, one-of-a-kind performance that makes this film so watchable. The narrative itself is chopped and may sub-plots are introduced then cut short.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Mephisto is magnificent, 23 July 2006

Author: aussiebrisguy from Australia

What can one say about this film apart from it being totally brilliant? Klaus Maria Brandauer is ideally cast in the role of Hendrik Hoefgen. The character of Hoefgen is a thinly disguised version of the famous German actor and Director of the Prussian State Theatre in Berlin, Gustav Grundgens. Grundgens compromised with the National Socialist authorities under Hitler to retain his role in the theatre. Others left as they did not want to be associated with the Third Reich and all its horrors. Marlene Dietrich was one such person. Grundgens remained. This film is a classic for any drama student as it shows the state of theatre in Germany before the rise of the Third Reich in Germany. It very clearly depicts theatre pre-1918 and also the early and important work of Bertolt Brecht. The thuggery of the Nazi German regime is clearly exposed with all the filth who polluted the upper echelons of society down to the working man. This is a brilliant piece of film making. Don't miss it as it is gripping drama.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Mask among people, 29 July 2007

Author: Marcin Kukuczka from Cieszyn, Poland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Emotional, furious, frustrated, pretty straightforward, concerned about perfection, so vital on rehearsals...Hendrik Hoefgen, an actor who is found to have an interesting head to be sculpted, a man with his desires and ambitions, an artist who experiences a strange way from Hamburg to Berlin of the 1930s. What does he have to learn on this journey to the great capital and a great career? Some say compromise, others humiliation. If the latter exaggerate, it's going to be the compromise that will lead to something Hendrik would probably never want nor expect...

MEPHISTO directed by Istvan Szabo is a movie based on true events from the life of Gustav Grundgens (1899-1963) and based on the novel by Klaus Mann. Therefore, we could say that it is partly a biopic. Yet, this view would lead to confusion and misinterpretation. MEPHISTO is foremost a film about a life in a particular situation, about decisions one has to make, about burden one has to carry, about misunderstanding one has to prepare for and about treason one has to cope with. Hendrik Hoefgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) appears to be a very complicated person: he wants to do something powerful yet, he is haunted by insecurity and fear that lie within his four walls of the psyche. As a result, he wears a "symbolic mask" among people. The role of his life is Mephisto which he portrays twice. However, he does not expect that this second time, in order the portrayal to be accepted, he will have to adjust it. Moreover, what he never foresees is that he will also have to adjust his entire life and career in order to exist. The moment that presents his character in a nutshell is the meeting in the theater with Nazi Prime Minister Hermann Goering (Rolf Hoppe) - his behavior changing from insecurity and soft handshake so despised by the new leaders to cold smile and obedience. Then, they will start to "like" him, then, they will call him Mephisto (our "Mephisto"). But is that the only way to popularity?...

But the development of the main character, which is close to masterwork, is not all MEPHISTO offers. It's a movie about a particular reality (presumably a political content) that Germany was exposed to in the 1930s, the reality that never leaves you indifferent. It is a movie that provokes emotional thoughts in any viewer ready to reflect. A pack of fanatical men rule, force a "code of proper beliefs and behavior" and...what to do to survive? Either immigrate or adjust oneself to this reality. Those who reject a new vision of Germany (e.g. Hans Miklas or Otto Ulrichs) experience the worst (of course, communism was another evil of the time); those who immigrate (Hendrik's wife Barbara) are regarded traitors; yet, those who stay and parrot the "pseudoclassic slogans" are, for the time being, used for certain purposes. Yet, not all people can choose...

In this case, a very interesting, though upsetting, facet of the problem is developed: racism. Hendrik's mistress Juliette Martens (Karin Boyd) is black, she wants to have a baby. However, the career of the actor and the director of Berlin theater would come to an end. He cannot dare for love with a black woman. In a memorable scene, she asks him desperately: "What guilt is there to blame on a child born of black mother and white, famous, father?" Then, as he immediately puts aside this question, she shows him an old photo from his childhood in which Hendrik stands upright in his most young, fresh, pure years. Juliette looks at him in despair and says: "Do you still recognize yourself?" I'll leave this thought to you who read... You must see this scene, a little psychological pearl!

The performances are terrific. Klaus Maria Brandauer portrays his part in a very powerful way. You see an actor playing an actor, a mask among people, an actor in his roles, an actor in his life, a person who once appreciated freedom; yet, in time, asks himself "Freedom? What for?" It occurs that the Nazi dominate his life already. I think that if you like Mr Brandauer as an artist, you would definitely regard this role as one of the best ones except for Redl (1985) and Nebuchadnezzar (1998). I am proud to say that Krystyna Janda, a Polish actress, is in this film. Although I don't list her as one of my favorite actresses, I have to admit that she very well fits to the role of Barbara Bruckner, Hendrick's wife. In a memorable conversation in Paris, she does a very fine job showing helplessness, rejection and disgust to what happens in Berlin. The third role absolutely worth consideration is Rolf Hoppe's Hermann Goering - he portrays a real Nazi whose behavior is supported by three pillars of the ideology: POWER, ABSOLUTE PRIDE and INFLEXIBILITY.

As for purely technical aspects, the movie does not boast much. The picture is rather pale and the camera job is also not very outstanding. Yet, Sztabo's film is primarily meant to win by its content, to leave something psychologically precious in the viewers, appears to be more for the MIND than for the EYES. Therefore, this weaker cinematography may be forgiven for the sake of flawless aspects galore.

MEPHISTO, though a sad and rather a depressing movie, is a must see for people who appreciate thoughts, who want to get something from a film. Perhaps not that historical to the letter but a pretty nice insight into a complexity that human appears to be. But see it in spring or summer rather than long, dark and upsetting autumn evenings.

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