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.

Discovered this film which was showing on TV in the early hours of the AM and enjoyed the entire story about a German actor who reached the top of his career in Nazi controlled Germany. Klaus Maria Brandauer,(Hendrik Hoefgen) played the role of this actor who was a perfectionist in his field of acting on the stage and was very successful in performing his role as Mephisto (The Devil) in "Faust" and the German people and Nazi's who loved his performance. The Nazi's decided to use Hendrik Hoefgen as their State Theatre Director and use this position as a propaganda platform in the Threate Arts and deceive the German people. Hendrik Hoefgen had a strong desire to present "Hamlet" to the German people and it seems that once this performance was presented, his career started to decline from the lime lights and the Nazi Government. There is an inter-racial love affair going on by Hendrik Hoefgen which adds a great deal of love and romance besides all his other lovers. Great Film, enjoy.

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.