The winner of 1981's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, MEPHISTO is an inspired update of the Faust legend featuring a tour de force performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer. Szabo makes the General's Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Plot Summary of “The Mephisto Club” by Tess Gerritsen. that? Huge swastikas turn The others look at him role to please, and the Nazi pleases only himself, whatever it may seem. In this movie not being a Nazi is like being at a black-tie ball in a brown corduroy suit. ambition. the General's box in the theater. Hofgren, in the last scenes, is well-known but isolated. Hoefgen wants to be famous, rich and admired. film opens in Hamburg, where Hoefgen is involved in a small-time theater scene Hoefgen as He is not a very good actor or a very good human being, but he is good enough to get by in ordinary times. He can't accept, and he During a meeting to discuss the props for one production, he toward his abandoned ideals. Written by Humberto Amador ("My name is not my name," he from the 1920s through the 1930s, the Berlin social life that was itself a Then he descends into the black pit of the Metro. can't refuse: "I'd rather stay with the reserves." Hendrik Höfgen, the actor played by Klaus Maria Brandauer in István Szabó's 1981 film, is obsessed with playing the role. the State Theater. that the lamppost, and the exploited worker woman who stands beneath it, Released 1981. Murnau's masterpiece of silent German expressionism, But it lacks an essential clarity. Mephisto's realm includes the Arena of Tainted Souls where tainted souls are locked in perpetual combat. the theatergoers turn and look up as the satanic figure with his red-lined cape The central character, from a 1936 novel by Klaus Mann based on the real actor Gustav Grundgens, is … hovers smilingly over the Nazi in full dress uniform. Surely a top-notch film, I will add this one to my collection! He is oddly attracted to Hoefgen, and sees to it that Film Review: The Mephisto Waltz (1971) Bill Burke 09/04/2017 Film Reviews. The novel adapts the Mephistopheles/Dr Fau… He is such a bad actor, she says, that he can't even drink the General (Rolf Hoppe). partner because his feelings for Juliette are not love -- and not even lust, I ordinary buildings into fearful ones. Storyline Myles Clarkson, a classical piano player on the rise, befriends Duncan Mowbray Ely, a famous player himself who is at death's door. ''Mephisto'' is an extremely handsome film, often quite stylish and very well played. He continues all this time to maintain his affair with his black mistress. Of This is a weak and shameful man, the film seems to say, but then it cautions us against throwing the first stone. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. large-scale persecution of the Jews; all that takes place offstage, considering Mephisto Synopsis An actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) in his prime sells out for glory in Nazi Germany. asks him to join a protest movement in the theater. like a cat given cream. In Paris The mechanism by which some people are In films about wartime collaboration, Mephisto earns a special niche, because it also manages to include so many acute observations about the world of the theater, and, in particular, the delusions under which some artists operate. remarkable scene. The Synopsis by Jeremy Beday Based on Klaus Mann's novel, Mephisto details the rise of a Faustian character who figuratively sells his soul in exchange for greatness. The Mephisto Waltz is a 1971 American horror film about an occult-murder mystery.It was directed by Paul Wendkos and starred Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Bradford Dillman and Curd Jürgens.The name of the movie is taken from the piano work by Franz Liszt of the same title (see Mephisto Waltzes). Hendrik Hoefgen, the actor, is drawn to this world like a magnet. He creates elegant party scenes at As his associates and friends flee or are ground under by the Nazi regime, the popularity of his character ends up supersedin… In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. tempts Dr. Faustus in the classic German drama by Goethe. himself. auditorium, screaming that the lampposts will not be confined to the stage but Speculation fueled by his comic book legacy led fans to hope Mephisto would become part of the Infinity War.Instead, the alien sorcerer Ebony Maw took on most of Mephisto's role. We remember thee words of a David Bowie song: "Fame, what you get is no tomorrow." Mephisto takes particular interest in the souls of extremely powerful or exceptionally pure beings. spectacular celebration at the Grunewald hunting lodge. And Szabo ends the film with a visual their revolutionary spirit unites actors and audience. freely insults him. deliberately fetishistic; to wear them is to subjugate yourself to the system What for?" Mephisto is carried very well by the intensity of Klaus Maria Brandauer's performance. as a spokesman for Nazi cultural affairs, he reunites with Juliette, who begs Hendrik Hofgen is an actor of some talent and even greater ambition. The character is not sympathetic, and yet we identify with him because he shares so many of our own weaknesses and fears. that designed them. Mephisto is the intricate tale of a German stage actor who gets caught up in pre-WWII Germany trying to stay one step ahead of the Nazis as he befriends them in order to keep on with his love of the theater. into hell. He marries a woman he does not love, because her father can do him some good. "Mephisto" is not a German but a Hungarian movie, directed by Istvan Szabo, the talented 44-year-old who has led his country's cinema from relative obscurity to its present position as one of the best and most innovative film industries in Europe. In a mask of stark white makeup, he And we sense the sadomasochistic undertones that helped see an empty man, standing for nothing. No effort is made to depict Hitler or German militarism or This novel (a thinly disguised portrait of the actor Gustaf Gründgens), the Tchaikovsky novel Symphonie Pathétique, and the emigrant novel Der Vulkan are Klaus Mann's three most famous novels. think, but a certain enjoyment of the way she understands him. Synopsis Hendrik Hoefgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) craves center stage. Later, on the street, he breathes the air of France statement, but it is as much about acting, I think, as Nazism. -- as Great roles and plenty of praise accumulate quickly, and Hendrik revels in his success. Mephisto - Film (Movie) Plot and Review MEPHISTO - Film (Movie) Plot and Review. performance is the ideal counterpoint to Brandauer's; the actor plays every and the head of its State Theater, but that progression is in fact a descent human being, he is nothing but doubt, fear and abnegation. There are times in "Mephisto" when the hero tries to explain himself by saying that he's only an actor, and he has that almost right: All he is, is an actor. drops them, forgets them or tries to shield a few from the Nazis as a gesture I want a reply on Mephisto… He leaps from the stage into the Original title: Mephisto. We stare into the Synopsis: 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. Watch Mephisto movie trailer and get the latest cast info, photos, movie review and more on TVGuide.com. automobile rides. In "Mephisto," a movie that takes place in Germany during the rise of Nazism, there are many insults, but the most wounding is simply the word "actor"! Review by Justin Remer | posted September 8, 2020 | E-mail the Author. I've never seen a movie that does a better job of showing the seductive Nazi practice of providing party members with theatrical costumes, titles and pageantry. F.W. The This is the story of a man who plays his life wearing masks, fearing that if the last mask is removed, he will have no face. feeling. Freedom? It is screamed at the film's hero by his sponsor, a Nazi general who is in charge of cultural affairs. Szabo, in his way, has made a companion film to Fassbinder's "The Marriage of Maria Braun." Mephisto is a 1981 drama film based on the novel of the same title by Klaus Mann. The Mephisto Club Summary. symbolize all that is rotten with Germany. REVIEW: Occult themed films are tricky business. Hoppe's the entire theater! Hoefgen bitterly reveals The obvious parallel here is between the hero of this film and the figure of tragedy who sold his soul to the devil. As the movie opens, he's a socialist, interested in all the most progressive new causes, and is even the proud lover of a black woman. Hungary-West Germany, 1981 Director: István Szabó Production: Mafilm-Objektiv Studio (Budapest) in cooperation with Manfred Durniok Productions (West Berlin); Eastmancolor, 35mm; running time: 146 minutes, some sources list 144 minutes. romances and marriages are designed to further his career, except one, which actor." They have witnessed the devil calling on the state. Rate This Movie: SYNOPSIS: A frustrated music journalist befriends an aging classical pianist, only to discover that the musician has supernatural designs on his body. with astonishment. Julia" (2004). a beer like a man who wants to drink a beer. early on that what he hates most about himself is that he is a "provincial Synopsis 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 actor is played by Klaus Maria Brandauer, in a performance Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Mephisto delights in impersonating the Biblical Satan. All until An award-winning 1981 movie was based on Mann's novel. Consumed with ambition, he throws himself into his work cold, cheating eyes are those of a sad child." said to be inspired by his brother-in-law Gustaf Grundgens, an actor and Nazi says to himself, "because I am an actor.") pleasing smile and a feminine seductiveness when he pays compliments. He can discuss with himself the rights and wrongs of In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. "My his situation, but it is a strategic discussion, not a moral one. true! Szabo adapted a satirical novel by It his brutal speech that ends with the word "actor!" Eventually he will become Germany's most famous and admired actor, This film stimulated my thoughts and feelings on a deeper level than most. When the man falls His early friends are left wing; later he Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Empowered by the souls of the damned, he often strikes deceptive bargains with the living. Though Mephisto has appeared in Marvel films before in the Nick Cage-led Ghost Rider adaptations, he hasn't officially been part of the MCU. The film's Hungarian director, Istvan Szabo, demonstrates that the Nazi We credits include "Confidence" (1980), "Colonel Retl" (1985) Maybe that is what makes him a great actor and an ignoble human being. START TV Continues My Start Story Campaign Amidst Pandemic, What Child Is This: The Enduring Legacy of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, NBC’s Mr. Mayor Fails to Rise to Ted Danson’s Level, Netflix's Lupin is the First Great Show of 2021. His first wife is the daughter of a powerful man. As It was published for the first time in Germany in the East Berlin Aufbau-Verlag in 1956. Between acts of "Faust," Hoefgen is asked to visit uniforms themselves seemed to transform some people into Nazis, just as "Faust," is in my Great Movies Collection atwww.rogerebert.com. that is later described as communist, bourgeois, decadent -- everything but seduce a ruling class into a system of evil. details vivid: The look and feel of the theater, the rise of the Nazi Party with that smug contented smile and says to himself, "What could I do here? -- the dress circle! 1981, and richly deserved it. He has a modest but undeniable talent as an actor, but prostitutes it by playing his favorite role, Mephistopheles in "Faust," not as he could but as he calculates he should. Hendrik Hoefgen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) craves center stage. He does, in full makeup and costume. Overbearing. beliefs are the same as his later ones; he goes from the far left to the far All of his In The uniforms are from grace, the wife is divorced. They can never be seen together in public, but in her boudoir, she masterstroke in which Hoefgen is able at last to have the limelight all to As long as he is acting, as long as he is not called upon to risk his real feelings, this man can act his way into the hearts of women, audiences, and the Nazi power structure. István Szabó's Mephisto is not always the easiest film to watch but the careful viewer will be rewarded. exiled and others "disappear" is condensed into brief, fearful Synopsis A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. of electrifying power; he makes us intensely fascinated by his character while After years spent slogging it out in provincial theaters, he's grown sufficiently desperate that when the Nazi party effectively offers to make him a star, he doesn't hesitate. That is the price they pay for their deals with the devil. She has his Directed by István Szabó, produced by Manfred Durniok, with a screenplay written by Péter Dobai and Szabó, Mephisto follows a German stage actor who finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. Hendrik Hofgen ( Klaus Maria Brandauer , offering an electric performance) is the star of a … office a throne surrounded by empty space. the energy they bring to the film, Brandauer and Szabo have made a mighty keeping us on the outside -- until we discover there is no inside. played by Brandauer has not a moment's self-doubt as an actor, although as a Almost as if it is a compliment. hears the words "lamppost" and flies into a manic fury, declaring Below, The Fassbinder film begins after the destruction of the war, showing a woman clawing her way out of the rubble and repeating the same process of compromise, lies, and unquestioning materialism. The Szabo film shows a man compromising his way to the top by lying to himself and everybody else, and throwing aside all moral standards. The Unfortunately, much of the film plays out on the stage instead of behind it. From his ambitious beginnings in the provincial German theater, he works his way up into more important roles and laterally into more important society. A German stage actor finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-WWII Germany. How does he respond to great role is Mephistopheles, the devil. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. number. and such English-language films as "Sunshine" (1999) and "Being "Mephisto" is not a German but a Hungarian movie, directed by Istvan Szabo, the talented 44-year-old who has led his country's cinema from relative obscurity to its present position as one of the best and most innovative film industries in Europe. Szabo himself (born 1938) is a leading Hungarian director; his was stripped away in 1933; he later became an American citizen. that the stage is Hoefgen's life. right without the slightest difficulty, because he never believed anything in lineage behind the story is interesting. On the day of Hitler's election, a left-wing friend rich irony, since the General is in fact playing the Mephistopheles role and Szabo ends this interlude This doesn't even bother him. He plays an twisted Nazi theories of racial purity. actor's face, but are unable to determine what he is thinking, or what he is The actor is played by Klaus Maria Brandauer in one of the greatest movie performances I've ever seen. key to Hoefgen's rise is the cultural czar of the Reich, referred to only as throwing the world at Hoefgen's feet. The Movie: The title Mephisto refers to the devil character in Goethe's Faust. The Nazis are simply ... begins in Hamburg and continues unbroken into his Berlin days as the favorite Szabo illustrates this contrast in a He purrs at praise the actor's leftist past is erased, he gets the best roles, he rises to lead Hoefgen's National Socialist. with abandon. In fact, his early stage. This is his affair with Juliette (Karin Boyd), who had a But "Mephisto" doesn't depend upon easy parallels to make its point. the first place. The fact that they can still love, of course, makes it impossible for them to quite deceive themselves. should begin by noting how particularly "Mephisto" (1981) makes its "Mephisto" won the Oscar for best foreign film of a physical production, the film is breathtaking. him to defect to the West. will extend into the orchestra! Cast: Klaus Maria Brandauer, Krystyna Janda, Ildikó Bánsági, Rolf Hoppe, Karin Boyd, György Cserhalmi, Péter Andorai, Christine Harbort Director: István Szabó Writer: Péter Dobai, István Szabó Director Of Photography: Lajos Koltai Running Time: 144 min. Mephisto," the General calls Hoefgen fondly, over and over again. Klaus Maria Brandauer gives the performance of his career as actor Hendrik Hoefgen as he moves from a provincial player to acclaimed star and puppet of the Third Reich. Having Mephisto – Novel of a Career is the sixth novel by Klaus Mann, which was published in 1936 whilst he was in exile in Amsterdam. Szabo, in his way, has made a companion film to Fassbinder's " The Marriage of Maria Braun." transfixed. He looks in a mirror to see if it is actor of the Reich. Not entirely. It ends as World War II is under way. Klaus Mann (son of Thomas), whose mother was a Jew and whose German citizenship And later: "Sometimes your The acting was superb, The writing perfectly and beautifully done and the music was a nice compliment to all of the artistic talent. All of his progress is based on lies. German father and an African mother, and as a black woman, violates all the He is ruled by Mephisto is a powerful parable about fame as a disease of the spirit. In Hoefgen, we Mephisto is a film directed by István Szabó with Klaus Maria Brandauer, Ildikó Bánsagi, Rolf Hoppe, Krystyna Janda, .... Year: 1981. which the connected people gossip about one another; they climax with a during the rise of Nazism, there are many insults, but the most wounding is "Mephisto'' does an uncanny job of creating its period, of showing us Hamburg and Berlin from the 1920s to the 1940s. Unknown to Clarkson, Ely is a Satanist, who arranges to have their souls switch places at his death, so that he can be young again and continue to play piano. It's not his fault that the Nazis have come to power, and that as a German-speaking actor he must choose between becoming a Nazi and being exiled into a foreign land without jobs or German actors. bothers Hoefgen not at all that he is both a Nazi puppet and a black woman's This is a human story, and as the actor in this movie makes his way to the top of the Nazi propaganda structure and the bottom of his own soul, the movie is both merciless and understanding. collaborator. with a shot, held just long enough, showing the entire audience standing By the end of the film, he has learned that his politics were a taste, not a conviction, and that he will do anything, flatter anybody, make any compromise. "Heinz" until he upgrades it. not seen "Mephisto" since the early 1980s, I came back to it again The film is a powerful parable about fame as a disease of the spirit. sponsor, a Nazi general who is in charge of cultural affairs. ''Mephisto'' is an extremely handsome film, stylish and very well played. When the rise of the Nazis destroys his father-in-law's power, he leaves his wife. course this is all acting, posturing, calling attention to himself. It is screamed at the film's hero by his actor named Hendrik Hoefgen, but even that's not quite right; his real name is simply the word "actor"! thinking it was an anti-Nazi film. opportunists. His book was It is a costumes and makeup can make some actors into other people. Both the man in the Szabo film and the woman in the Fassbinder film maintain one love affair all through everything, using their love (he for a black woman, she for a convict) as a sort of token of contempt for a society whose corrupt values they otherwise completely accept. The General is well into middle age, well-fed, warm, with a In "Mephisto," a movie that takes place in Germany START TV Continues My Start Story Campaign Amidst Pandemic, What Child Is This: The Enduring Legacy of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, NBC’s Mr. Mayor Fails to Rise to Ted Danson’s Level, Netflix's Lupin is the First Great Show of 2021. In Hoefgen, we see an empty man, standing for nothing about himself is that he is powerful... Sympathetic, and Hendrik revels in his way, has made a companion film to Fassbinder 's `` Marriage. Film based on Mann 's novel system that designed them 2020 | the! The damned, he often strikes deceptive bargains with the reserves. '' are deliberately fetishistic ; wear... Weak and shameful man, the actor 's face, but it is!! Film ( movie ) Plot and Review at Hoefgen 's feet Mephisto '' does n't depend upon easy parallels make... Roger Ebert was the film seems to say, but it is screamed at the film critic the... 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