Directed by:
István SzabóCinematography:
Lajos KoltaiCast:
Klaus Maria Brandauer, Krystyna Janda, Ildikó Bánsági, Rolf Hoppe, György Cserhalmi, Péter Andorai, Karin Boyd, Christine Harbort, Tamás Major (more)Plots(1)
The German actor Hendrik Höfgen is driven by immense ambition in the thirties' Germany. In the theatre of Homburg he prepares himself for the great task by tremendous efforts. He marries the rich Barbara Bruckner and goes to Berlin. Finally he can play the dream of his life, Mephisto in Faust. After the great success all his thoughts and time are occupied by the stage, not realising how he commits himself more and more to the Nazi. He is nominated to be the intendant of the Prussian State Theatre by the General who seems to be paving the way for Höfgen's carrer. His wife leaves Germany, his Jewish friend disappears, his half-blood girlfriend is expelled, the General humiliates him cruelly. His friends want to rescue him from Germany, but he stays on: he keeps on stepping upwards to the top of the artistic career. In his life he is not Mephisto, rather Faust, entering into a blind agreement with the devil. Fear grasps him for the first time when the General lets him be illuminated by the mighty, powerful reflectors in the enormous stadium, the new theatre of the Nazi under construction. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Klaus Maria Brandauer
German Empire
Best movies:
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
Out of Africa (1985)
Mephisto (1981)
Krystyna Janda
Poland
Best movies:
Man of Marble (1977)
Mephisto (1981)
Interrogation (1982)
Ildikó Bánsági
Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Diary for My Loves (1987)
Hanussen (1988)
Rolf Hoppe
German Empire
Best movies:
Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973)
Mephisto (1981)
Comedian Harmonists (1997)
György Cserhalmi
Hungary
Best movies:
The Fifth Seal (1976)
Narcissus and Psyche (1980)
Paths of Light (2005)
Péter Andorai
Hungary
Karin Boyd
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
A Year in Winter (2008)
Das unsichtbare Visier (1973) (series)
Christine Harbort
Germany
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
No Place to Go (2000)
The Tunnel (2001)
Tamás Major
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Last Nabob (1966)
Mephisto (1981)
Cold Days (1966)
Christian Grashof
German Empire
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Willenbrock (2005)
Destination: Freedom (2010) (TV movie)
Géza Kovács
Canada
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Hanussen (1988)
The Dead Zone (1983)
Judit Hernádi
Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
The Fortress (1979)
Another Way (1982)
Martin Hellberg
German Empire
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Dornröschen (1971)
Teri Tordai
Kingdom of Hungary
Best movies:
The Last Nabob (1966)
Mephisto (1981)
Der Bockerer (1981)
Irén Bordán
Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
The Martian (2015)
The Fortress (1979)
János Xantus
Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Hanussen (1988)
Allegro Barbaro (1979)
Hédi Temessy
Kingdom of Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Damnation (1988)
Almanac of Fall (1985)
Oszkár Gáti
Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
K.O. (1978)
Before the Bat's Flight Is Done (1989)
Katalin Sólyom
Kingdom of Hungary
István Szabó
Kingdom of Hungary
Best movies:
Mephisto (1981)
Taking Sides (2001)
I Served the King of England (2006)