Mephisto (1981) Profound performance, Faustian deal with Nazis. But which one is Faust? A fierce character study: Which is real, mask or no mask? Intellectual But little character growth, Lacking depth and heart. Academically great, Yet not the most watchable. (Somonka is a Japanese form of poetry that is essentially two tanka poems, the second stanza a response to the first. Each stanza follows a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern. Traditionally, each is a love letter. This form usually demands two authors, but it is possible to have a poet take on two personas. My somonka will be a love/hate letter to a film?) #Somonka #PoemReview

Much is said of Brandauer's performance here and it is an actor's performance par excellence: look at me, look at me, I am so good, and don't turn away, look at me again. In this respect he is like Robin Williams in one his manic performances which also craves attention and while Brandauer is a brilliant stage performer - the scenes of him on stage are amongst the best in the whole film - his stage-bound acting style in most of the rest of the film is like some psychopath with ADD.This gives the film problems because it fails to build empathy with his ordinary situation: how to deal with an evil government and have a conscience. This problem is compounded by the close up camera: we are always looking at his face in some unendurable clinch as he tries to kiss us and ask us how good he is again and again.The other weakness is the long build to the story. The film takes 40 minutes to become interesting; the preamble is just Brandauer's character being selfish and self-absorbed.

Mephisto is István Szabó and screenwriter Péter Dobai's adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel about success-driven actor Hendrik Hoefgen's rise to fame during the Third Reich.The movie invites the viewer to see World War II from a seldom-explored perspective, that of the arts. We see the blacklisting of communist and jews, the decline in production of foreign playwrights like Moliére, and using culture to spread Nazi values.And in the middle is Hendrik Hoefgen, an actor who just wants to survive and get fame but by his own fault ends up involved in the higher echelons of the Nazi Party and becomes director the State Theater, immortalized by his performance as Mephisto because of the values this character seems to share with the ideal German the Nazis are trying to create.The movie poses the question, can art remain pure amidst political times; and if Hoefgen's life is any indication, then no, it can't. It can revolt and flee for safer places, or it can stay and become a corrupted tool of ideology. Hoefgen, although never played as villains, is a deeply flawed man and hardly innocent of his dealings with the Nazis. Throughout the movie he's described as a self-promoter who cares only about himself. Such is his intention to please that he always goes back to the Mephisto role, the one he's more popular with. Eventually one wonders where Hoefgen ends and the character begins, as people call him Mephisto as if that were his real name.In the end, though, he's more of a Faustian character than a true seductive devil. He symbolises everyone who happily compromised with the the Reich. He's never treated with pity, for it's obvious he knew what he was getting himself into. And yet one can't help feel pity for Hoefgen and the way he slowly loses power over himself until he becomes just a lackey of the state.Klaus Maria Brandauer gives a magnificent performance as Hendrik Hoefgen. He plays it with an endless range of emotions, so conflicted is his mind. Another great performance was delivered by Rolf Hoppe as the Prime-Minister, a patron of the arts and Hoefgen's admirer and protector. Hoppe plays his character unlike any Nazi I've ever seen, like a real person, which only makes his reserved outbursts more violent.From a technical point of view, the movie is nothing outstanding. Szabó doesn't impress the viewer with extravagant cinematography, costumes and art direction, which are the staple of period movies. He lets the screenplay and actors do all the work, allowing the movie to develop slowly until the fascinating ending. It may be a difficult movie to watch, but one that rewards patience.

Having just sat down and watched this film and then having checked the reviews of post-viewing, I find it hard to believe I watched the same film. I was looking forward to see a dark parable on the cost of success and looking the other way, the hunger of adulation and success that an actor craves at any cost. I was however left feeling very under-whelmed at the end the picture. I don't want to destroy the film entirely, it's just that I feel in many regards it's not worthy of the level of brilliance and expectation that its reputation comes with.The lead character has little in the way of an arc and although I will agree that the lead performance is excellent, it's a shame there's so little for him to do. There is little character growth, he just seems to go through set scenes that are unfortunately predictable and without drive. Intellectual film watchers may watch this film and gaze in wonder at the parables and symbols in this film but I found them awkward and clumsy and the plot only half-explored, as if the director is afraid to create some sort of dramatic tension. Hendrik's affair and story with the black dancer in this film holds a lot of possibilities and could be used to investigate deeper motivations in Hendrik Hoefger and Nazi Germany at large, yet is brutally under-utilized and washes by seemingly without much of a thought.The problem I feel is that although it does tick many of the boxes for being a smart and intelligent film, it seems to tick these boxes so deliberately as to feel cold. Most of the time the film seems to run through a mental check-list of what respectable cinema should be and although, yes smarts in film is a good thing and should be brought to the table as much as possible, Mephisto seems to have forgotten to bring drive to the story and so it seems to drag out far longer than necessary. I really wish I could like this film but there's too much lacking for me, it just seems too pompous and convinced of its own self-worth for it's own good.