Review of Mephisto

Introduction

Hendrik Hoefgen, a talented and ambitious actor is struggling in 1930`s Germany, producing what he considers `low-brow` plays with actors who don`t know their lines or live up to his high expectations. Furthermore, the political turmoil and poverty leaves him with an almost life or death decision: struggle as an unknown actor in plays he doesn`t like and can`t even ensure that his name is spelled correctly on posters for his plays, or form a Faustian pact with the Nazi authorities and enjoy all the trappings of a star of the stage.

Made jointly by production companies in Hungary and West Germany and featuring a stunning performance by Klaus Maria Brandauer, Mephisto is a predominantly a one-man show, such is the way in which Brandauer dominates the screen.

Video

Sadly, there has been no improvement to the transfer since 1981 and the brilliant cinematography is let down by the video which has soft edges and poor definition and all the signs that it is basically a VHS transfer on a DVD.

The subtitles are fine, they do not translate every `ja`, `nein` or name that is said as this would be irrelevant and eventually annoying but as I only have a GCSE in German (and that was nearly 10 years ago), I can`t comment on the accuracy of the translation.

Audio

The only soundtrack available is the 2.0 Dolby Surround in the original German which, like the video, is also poor and shows no sign of having been improved over the past 25 years. It is extremely annoying that the `ss` and `sh` sounds are accompanied by a horrible hiss from the speakers, especially when Juliette (Karin Boyd) is speaking.

Features

None to speak of, unless you consider `Scene Access` a special feature!

Conclusion

An actor colluding with the Nazis, rather than using his position to raise awareness of the political situation in Germany is not the most awe-inspiring premise for a movie ever created, but Mephisto is thoroughly compelling and it doesn`t fall into the trap of unnecessarily portraying the Nazis as monsters: the Prime Minister of Prussia comes across as a welcoming host who gradually becomes more and more distasteful as he passes on the diktats from Berlin. There are only two on-screen instances of Nazi violence: one where a group of drunken stormtroopers are beating up a Jew and the second in which a man is murdered by an SS hit-squad.

If a film can be judged purely on the quality of the performance of the lead actor, this is surely it; the direction is good, the cinematography is remarkable, the quality of the production design and set decoration are also to be commended as the film does a brilliant job of recreating Germany through three decades, and the supporting cast all acquit themselves very well, yet Mephisto is entirely Klaus Maria Brandauer`s film. His depiction of a man who gains everything he could ever wish for but ultimately realising that he has become too deeply involved with the Nazi regime and the price for success was not one worth paying is stunning to watch. Whether you call it a tour de force or a bravura performance is irrelevant - Brandauer and Mephisto are simply brilliant.