Mephisto (1981) – 3/5

The devil is in the details

„Mephisto“ is a co-production between West Germany, Hungary and Austria from 1981 originally. The film is set in Germany, so German is the language you will hear the most during the watch here, but there are also others, so it is highly unlikely you will not need subtitles on a few occasions at least. This film was Hungary’s submission to the Oscars back then and it turned out a good choice because it did not only score the nomination, but even won the category. I mean the inclusion of Nazi Germany always helps in a way and this was certainly also the case here. But before we get to the story, let’s look at the basics first, mostly the people who contributed the most to this film: The director and also one of the three writers here was István Szabó and he was in his early 40s back then, which means that he is in his early 80s now that the film already had its 40th anniversary. The second writer, also from Hungary, was Péter Dobai and like Szabó he is also still with us. Impressive body of work by Dobai by the way if you look at some of the other projects he worked on during his really not particularly prolific career. But included there are some of the most known and best-received films from his country. It may be the inclusion of Szabó and Dobai that was the main reason why this was submitted for Hungary. The country won another Oscar in this category not too long ago for a film that was also set during a similar era and achieved an incredibly strong reception, even if I did not like it too much. But about that one we talk(ed) on another occasion. The third writer for this film here was Klaus Mann. He was in charge of the base material, but died at a way too young age and as a consequence did not live to see the success of this film adaptation, although he really could have given the year when he was born. He was of course part of the famous Mann dynasty that also included Heinrich and Thomas, the one maybe most think of first. Here in Germany at least the names are still familiar to everybody, even if many will have a more and more difficult time to mention the names of their works.

Anyway, this film here is a pretty long movie at almost 2.5 hours. Klaus Maria Brandauer really is the movie. I guess this was in a way his breakthrough film. At least this is what his BAFTA nomination suggests. I am not sure how well-known he was already on a national level, but apparently he was not famous enough (yet) to win the German Film Award. He lost the trophy to somebody form a film that was seen by almost nobody. Or back then it was maybe, but finding a copy today might get really difficult and the opposite is the case of course with „Mephisto“. Also nominated for a German Film Award here was East German actor Rolf Hoppe. I am not sure if he won his category, but he is also somewhat known in Germany, even if he is no longer alive anymore. He played his part well. He was the closest to a main antagonist this film had unless we consider the construct of National Socialism as the main antagonist in here. Brandauer is luckily still alive. It was this film more than anything that helped him become a Bond villain in a Sean Connery movie two years later. And star in „Out of Africa“ for which he was as close to winning the Oscars as anybody could have been. So saying that „Mephisto“ was his breakthrough movie and role is definitely an accurate statement. I found it interesting and good that it was possible to watch the film on the big screen again and there were enough others who would agree. Nice choice by the theater owners. I also had not seen the film before and even if I would not say it was a truly mesmerizing watch, as you can also see from my rating, I am still glad I went. The story to all this and definitely also in an ironic way is how Brandauer’s character is Germany’s most successful actor and he played the character of Mephisto from Faust on the stage while in reality he was Faust himself and National Socialism, maybe to some extent Hoppe’s character even, was the real Mephisto causing the loss of innocence.

Brandauer’s character Höfgen was not too political, maybe early on even more on the side of the opposition to the NSDAP as he is not happy when he sees them beat up a political opponent, even if he cares more about getting away safely himself than about helping the victim. But already the idea that he entered into a sexual relationship with a Black woman (who was his dance teacher then I think) stood for everything the Nazis despised and he totally had to pick one side there and we understand she means a lot to him, but during their last meeting (I think it was in France) we also see how he bids farewell to her and chooses the dark side (no pun intended). Then there is the woman that Höfgen gets together with relatively early on and we understand she also leaves Germany quickly and joins the opposition from abroad. As much as you can actually join an opposition or resistance from another country. So there were really so many chances for Höfgen to really get away from the dangerous new direction that Germany was taking, but he did not take any of these chances. There also does not seem to be a big amount of regret from him. He is certainly no dedicated Nazi, but he is a man who was dedicated to do what he had to do in order to keep his career going. Maybe getting stronger even. Just look at his early confrontation with a man who supported the Nazis when they are together in some kind of theater group. And also look at how Höfgen was talking about the woman who turns into one of Germany’s biggest actresses because of her looks and loyalties during the Nazi reign. He had no respect for her, saw no talent in her, but as the film continues he is pretty much forced to beg for her support and to act next to her because it is simply something to make the powerful happy back then. Deep down, he probably still remembered his early words about her and how she is not even remotely on the same level like him in terms of talent and acting range. But he needed her and not the other way around. Maybe you can create some parallels here between Höfgen and defining character actors from the 3rd Reich.

Two names that immediately come to mind also with how difficult they had it after 1945 to return to the industry are Heinrich George and, more than anybody, Emil Jannings. I am not sure how much they were associated with stage acting, but in terms of movie acting, they can definitely be mentioned. Back to this film, I also found the music interesting. Interesting enough even to put a few inclusions afterwards on my MP3 player, not matter if it was music just playing in the background in the sense of the film score of if it was music that was played by an orchestra in the movie directly and we saw Brandauer’s character perform and dance to it. I really like the actor. There is always so much energy and screen presence to him. In this movie in particular and now that he will turn 80 next year, I am glad he managed his international breakthrough thanks to this film. Surely one of the finest actors Germany had in the 20th century and he also has good performance in the new millennium. It is debatable if you could call Höfgen a weakling in this film. In general, there is nothing wrong with just wanting to do your job and he did not hurt anybody physically in the process. He definitely saw himself as a much greater man than he actually was. His talent is undeniable, but there I am talking about everything else of course. He only became a tool for the powerful basically by not getting out of Germany when he had the chance(s) to. He was also not a villain, not an antagonist. You had to give him respect that he tried all he could to help a colleague who was struggling really hard with the Nazi regime, but Höfgen could only do so much and that becomes very obvious during the scene with Hoppe’s character where the latter shows his real face by how he treats Höfgen in this scene. How he makes it clear 100% that these are affairs that go way beyond Höfgen’s area of competence. This was linked to national security, to what is best for the country and had nothing to do with people performing plays on a stage. Utter lack of respect for Höfgen there and the way things were going, you could wonder if he could become a target himself in the end.

However, the film takes a different direction and the Nazi leaders realize again they can keep using Höfgen for their future plans. The film ends basically inside a really huge sports stadium and it is not 100% clear if this was linked to the Olympic Games or if they simply used the stadium in the sense of a location where, once construction is finished, Hitler would hold one of his big speeches that would have such a gigantic impact on the entire nation. There is no specific mention of Hitler himself though in this movie if I remember correctly. Been a while already since I watched it, so I am not 100% sure, but I guess there wasn’t. There didn’t have to be anyway. It would not have changed anything. The system was what through its ruthless power basically devoured Höfgen. Interesting scene at the very start too when we see him struggle in the room when somebody else was getting gigantic applause outside. You could make a connection there maybe to the scene in which Höfgen checks the list of actors who were greenlit to be part of a big play. He was not on it, so he did what he had to do to get back on it, namely suck up to the powerful. Also pay attention to how the Nazis almost never call Höfgen by his real name. Or I should say how Hoppe’s character doesn’t. He is the link between Höfgen and the system for the most part. He always calls him Mephisto. There are very few exceptions and these come from very special scenes, but in general you can say that the fact that he calls him Mephisto proves that he is really not a human to him, just a role. A tool you could say. That is all. Go watch this film.