Mephisto
Nazism and art. Can these two themes be combined to create a high quality movie? Possibly. That is what director Istvan Szabo did. He directed the movie Mephisto in 1981, a movie about the life of a German actor during Nazi’s rule pre-World War II. The movie was based on Klaus Mann’s novel with the same title. The story of the main character in the movie, Hendrik Hoefgen, was similar to Faust. He is willing to sacrifice everything including his ideals in return for a successful career as an actor. He saw that opportunity coming by collaborating with the regime in power. He therefore formed an alliance with the Nazis to achieve that. The Nazis offered him a glorious artistic life and he in turn would be their public propaganda tool in the artistic world. A big dilemma emerged from this movie. Does artists have a moral responsibility to the society through his artistic works or should they be concerned only with the aesthetics aspect of their profession? Like any other occupations, artists ought to care about how his works would affect the welfare of the society and its morality, and even more so because they are seen as the major mediator of culture in societies.Why is that so? It is because art has a tremendous influe
“How ironic is it that the Nazis choose for their foremost actor a man whose most famous role is playing the devil? The character of Mephisto acts as a barometer of the German soul as Höfgen’s earlier portrayals show Mephisto as an evil, tragic character. But, under the corrupting Nazi influence, the devil himself becomes a symbol of righteous power as Mephisto is declared a true German national hero.” The symbolism in the movie is quite explicit. At first, he was opposed to the Nazi’s because he was a socialist. Nevertheless, whatever could bring glory to him was more important. That was why he succumbed to the new regime so easily when they ascended to power. Eventually, however, he was more and more repulsed at many of the Nazi’s atrocious plots and the General’s merciless attitude. He started having a conflict with himself every time he did another piece of propaganda for the Nazi. He began as a seller of the Nazis’ ideas to the society but he ended up selling their ideas to himself too. He gave up many of his ideals to become a top actor. He persuaded himself to believe and justify many unethical and vile conducts of the Nazi. In this way, he turned into a Mephisto for himself. Hoefgen was propelled to real stardom after he acted as Mephistopheles in Goethe’s play Faust. His excellent performance caught the attention of one of the most powerful Nazi figures of the time, the General. Hoefgen met face to face with the General right after his performance and received recognition from him. Their “friendship” continued from then on. The General saw a huge propaganda potential in Hoefgen and Hoefgen himself recognized the great benefits he could reap with regards to his acting career if he had a strong connection with the General.
Some topics in this essay:
Hoefgen Hoefgen,
Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Robert Holmes,
Mephistopheles Faust,
Hendrik Hoefgen,
Michaelangelo Knowing,
Gustaf Gruendgens,
Hoefgen Faust,
Theater Berlin,
Hendrik Hofgen,
artistic endeavors,
klaus mann,
movie mephisto,
victim manipulation,
success fame,
trying convince,
moral civil,
socially responsible,
main character,
artists human community,
souls nazis,
movie mephisto 1981,
artistic endeavors exploit,
klaus mann’s novel,
based klaus mann’s,
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Approximate Word count = 3223
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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