Mephisto
1981
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film) — 54th Academy Awards
- Director:
- István Szabó
- Studio:
- Mafilm, Objektív Film, Manfred Durniok Filmproduktion, Hessischer Rundfunk, ORF
- Starring:
- Klaus Maria Brandauer, Krystyna Janda, Ildikó Bánsági, Rolf Hoppe, Martin Hellberg
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Ambitious actor Hendrik Höfgen claws his way up from provincial German theaters to national stardom, most famously playing Mephistopheles in a production of Faust. When the Nazis seize power, he chooses to stay and align himself with the new regime rather than flee like his colleagues, using his old leftist ties as leverage for forgiveness and advancement. His fame grows alongside his moral compromises, until he comes to embody the very devil he plays on stage, propped up by patrons far more dangerous than himself.