Mephisto (1981 film)
| Mephisto | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | István Szabó |
| Produced by | Manfred Durniok |
| Written by |
Péter Dobai Klaus Mann (novel) István Szabó |
| Starring |
Klaus Maria Brandauer Krystyna Janda Ildikó Bánsági |
| Music by | Zdenko Tamassy |
| Cinematography | Lajos Koltai |
| Edited by | Zsuzsa Csokany |
| Distributed by | Analysis Film Releasing Corporation (U.S.) Cinegate (U.K.) |
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Release date
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Running time
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144 minutes |
| Country | Hungary |
| Language |
English Hungarian German Esperanto |
Mephisto is the title of a 1981 film adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel Mephisto, directed by István Szabó, and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hendrik Höfgen. The film was a co-production between companies in West Germany, Hungary and Austria.
It became the first Hungarian film to win the award for Best Foreign Language Film, at the 54th Academy Awards. Mephisto was distributed by Analysis Film Releasing Corp. It marks the only picture to win an Academy Award in the catalog of films released by Analysis.
The film adapts the story of Mephistopheles and Doctor Faustus by having the main character Hendrik Höfgen abandon his conscience, continue to act and ingratiate himself with the Nazi Party, to keep and improve his job and social position. Hendrik Höfgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) craves center stage. The first third of the film follows the frustrated, passionate actor slogging it out in provincial theaters, occasionally dancing and singing and doing parts in films to progress his career. He even creates a Bolshevik theatre with a friend for more work, in the avant-garde period of the early 1930s, before the Nazis came to power. Hendrik is more successful in his social and love life. Both strands unite when his new wife watches him play the ultimate part Mephisto (the devil in the Faustus play) just before the Nazi party win the election that brings them to power. While his wife, leading actors, and friends leave Germany or protest against the new regime Hendrik returns to Germany lured by the promise of forgiveness for his Bolshevik theatre escapade and a desire to act in his native language. So when the Nazi party effectively offers to make him a star he doesn't hesitate. Great roles and plenty of praise accumulate quickly, and Hendrik revels in his success. Hendrik reprises his great Mephisto and agrees to run the national theatre, working around the cultural restrictions and brutality of the Nazi Regime. He blithely overlooks the profound moral compromises of his situation, excusing himself by using the power of his close Nazi relationships to help friends who would otherwise be targets of the regime.
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Wikipedia