This is the first of three films made in German by Hungarian director Istvan Szabo and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer; people consider them a trilogy, but apart from all being absolutely brilliant barn-storming turns by Brandauer and being period-pieces, they are not three parts of the same story, although all deal in their own way with man's weaknesses and vanity.
This Oscar-winner is the story of an actor in Germany in the mid-1930s whose ambition and talent lead him into another world. Having started with radical theatre in Hamburg, the actor moves to Berlin at the time when the Nazis are ascending to power. Although strongly anti-Nazi originally, he becomes something of a Vicar of Bray character and mouths whatever propaganda is appropriate to further his career. He becomes the director of the State Theatre but this gain is only accomplished at the cost of losing his liberal wife, his black mistress, and most of his friends. His best known role is Mephisto from the Faust legend and his rise is a parable of selling one's soul. Although he feels that he is tight with the Prime Minister and can do no wrong, he soon discovers that even he must learn his place when he is cut down to size on asking one favour too many. At the end he is taken to the new Olympic Stadium where he is transfixed by spotlights in the centre of the field; the analogy of a frightened rabbit caught in a headlight's glare is only too apparent. We can sell out for a while, but the viewer is reminded that the devil always gets his due.
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