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Mephisto
1981
In MEPHISTO, an ambitious and talented actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) on the verge of success marries the daughter of an important official in pre-World War II Germany in order to further his career. As the Nazi influence grows, he discards his wife and uses his new connections to become the head of the National Theatre, while .. Read more
| Starring | Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ildiko Bansagi |
|---|---|
| Director | Istvan Szabo |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Mephisto
In MEPHISTO, an ambitious and talented actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) on the verge of success marries the daughter of an important official in pre-World War II Germany in order to further his career. As the Nazi influence grows, he discards his wife and uses his new connections to become the head of the National Theatre, while tailoring his art to the fascistic beliefs of his patrons. Wonderful acting in all roles and a strong, balanced script gives a chilling feel for why millions of people in Germany--not just ambitious, monomaniacal actors--succumbed to the outlandish theatrical appeal of Nazism by showing the more subtle, underlying psychological appeal of fascism itself. Based on a novel by Klaus Mann, the son of Thomas Mann, MEPHISTO, like Visconti’s THE DAMNED, which showed the culpability of industrialists in their support of Hitler, dramatically shows the self-deceptive and ultimately evil acts of an artist making his own Faustian bargain.
| Starring | Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ildiko Bansagi |
|---|---|
| Director | Istvan Szabo |
| Studio | IND-DVD LTD |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 19 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: German |
| Released | DVD: 14 Aug 2006 Production year: 1981 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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A superbly modulated, fruitfully ambivalent central performance by Brandauer carries the emotional and intellectual weight of the political dilemma
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For all the retro art movie gloss recently applied to the cautionary spectacle of the pre-war rise of Nazism, there has... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
A superb film
It is difficult to have empathy with any of the main characters but this is a chilling and beautiffully studied depiction of the ease with which complicity in evil can be entered into.
The Faustian pact is not written in a moment of drama but born of compromise, delusion and self deceit.
This is a film that will engage you long after you have viewed it.
It is also a film that is a masterpiece. -
Most recent members' review
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6 out of 7 people found this review helpful
gripping in an obscure sort of way!
well..for the first 20 mins i was open mouthed about how weird this film was,in particular the main character.
slowly,but surely though,the message & i suppose reasoning of the film began to be portrayed,albeit in a weird way!
not wanting to spoil it in any way,i've always felt that trying to understand why (relatively)normal people fell under the spell of Hitler in a big enough way to significantly alter their whole way of life a pretty fascinating question... -
News and features
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Evening
- 19 Sep 2007
It's been a while since a single movie mustered a roster of actresses like this (in order of seniority): Vanessa Redgrave, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Toni Collette, Natasha Richardson, Claire Danes, and Mamie Gummer. I suppose the closest challenger I can think of would be The Hours. Coincidentally, or not, novelist Michael Cunningham is responsible for the screenplay here, based on Susan Minot's best-seller. Ironically, while Evening affects an even split between then and now,... Read more
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