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Vanlaldiki

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MER230T

Review on Mephisto(1981)

Mephisto(1981) is a political drama film co-written and directed by Istvan Szaboand is

adapted from the novel of the same title by German-American writer Klaus Mann. This movie
stars Klaus Maria Brandauer who acts as Herik Hoefgen, a German stage actor. Hoefgen’s
passion as an actor is extensive to the point where he gets uncertain of his identity, and the lines
between the real him and him on stage have long been blurred as he himself admits to his fiance
“So many thoughts are just parts I’ve played”. This passion later proves to become the driving
force that makes him submit to the Nazi.

The movie is set in the period which saw the rise of the Nazi Party, and this rise of a new
regime caused him and the people around him to go into exile as a form of communal protest.
However, lured by the promise of forgiveness from the Nazi’s and a call for him to act on stage
again, he returns to Germany and happily takes whatever the authority offered him. He
eventually gets anointed as one of the Nazi Party’s cultural ambassadors and runs the National
theatre, The irony here is that despite his previous statement that “all Nazis are thugs” he accepts
a prestigious position given to him by them.

Hofgen could be considered a victim of economic determinism of historical materialism as

he is labelled a “provincial actor”, and a huge part of the film shows his character as a passionate
actor who slogs it out in provincial theaters desperately to gain notice. He does not seem to have
self-respect when it comes to climbing up in the social hierarchy and become the most famous
actor. Here, Hofgen belongs to the proletariat and as an organic intellectual of the workers and he
has made an attempt to produce a play that does not only show the shallow bourgeois stuff but
rather he visualizes a revolutionary theatre that would include every social class. He aims to
prove that theatre has a political function too and this maybe considered as the result of his
communist spirit. Gramsci’s theory of hegemony deals with the cultural and ideological
leadership of a group over allied and subaltern group. Therefore, the bourgeoisie ruled with the
consent of the proletariat which comes from the interest the former provides to the latter to gain
their support. And it has become the task of the proletariat to overthrow this leadership and
become hegemonic itself. This task will be undertaken through Hoefgen the “organic
intellectual” which for Gramsci is the dominant group’s deputy who exercises the subaltern
functions of social hegemony. Hence Hoefgen becomes the one incharge of organizing,
administering and leading others through his acting and inclusion of details of the proletariat life
in his revolutionary play.

However, For the reason that he only loves himself and his ambition to soar high in his
career, he eventually succumbs under the power of the Nazis, which equates yet again to the
defeat of the proletariat and the hegemonic power of the regime. And since hegemony is based
on the equilibrium between consent and coercion, Hoefgen betrays his own ideology and decides
to work along the cultural restrictions and brutality of the Nazis who he previously referred to as
“thugs”, overlooking the profound moral compromises of his situation. . Even the Nazi uniform
themselves seem to transform people into Nazis, just as costumes and makeup can transform an
actor into a whole different person. This is evident in the scene where Miklas was training young
boys wearing a uniform. These boys belong to the worker family such as the builder, teacher,
tailor, doctor, farmer, baker and road digger etc. and they shout in unity “We are the sons of one
people, we all have the same goal. Unity and strength! We follow the Fuhrer!”, in this case, the
Nazi as a bourgeoisie is hegemonic because it protects some interests of the subaltern classes in
order to gain support. Also, the uniforms indicates the proletariat’s self subjugation to the system
that designed them.

Even though Hoefgen’s role may be Mephisto, the devil who tempts Doctor Faustus in the
classic German drama, it turns out that the General who seem to adore his acting is the real
Mephistopheles who showers him with all the fame and positions he wants, for which he gladly
sell himself and what he stands for.