Unholy Alliance
"Mephisto" was awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 54th Academy Awards. Istvan Szabo's adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel (of the same name) referred to Gustaf Gründgens, one of the most famous and influential German actors. His most memorable role was Mephistopheles, which Johann Wolfgang von Goethe immortalized in "Faust" (1806-1808). Mann depicted the actor's life in a satirical manner, implying that Gründgens collaborated with the Nazis to ensure his popularity.
Gründgens first played Mephistopheles in 1956, which was long after the fall of Nazi Germany. This prompted some to dispute Mann's suggestion (that Gründgens was a Nazi sympathizer). After all, it was shown in the novel that the play was staged during World War II. Szabo's big-screen version of the novel underlined the enduring popularity of Goethe's classic. What made it ticked?
Disillusioned with the complicated life
Christopher Marlowe, one of the foremost Elizabethan tragedians, gave the Faust tale a classic treatment. It wasn't surprising that it was a grim depiction of a young man disillusioned with his life. (In "Shakespeare in Love", John Madden portrayed Marlowe as a young fellow wallowing in sadness.) Faust's take was better; Mephistopheles was a known character in German folklore, a demon condemned to wander Earth for eternity. In the play, he was formerly a young man who offered his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and worldly pleasure.
The Faust tale may have originated from the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve. It would be difficult to look at the play in black and white, as it revealed human nature.
As for Mann, the suspicion was hard to rebuff. Many German artists fled their homeland when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany. Those who remained didn't foresee their career to come to an unexpected end. (Emil Jannings, who was honored with the first Academy Award for Best Actor, was unable to stage a comeback despite carrying his Oscar during the liberation.) Furthermore, the films released by Universum Film AG during the war was leaning towards propaganda. ("Titanic", co-directed by Werner Klingler and Herbert Selpin, was about the discrimination that resulted from a social system existing for centuries. It was a set-up that the West preferred, but the message was something else.)
For Szabó, "Mephisto" was the first of a trilogy of films about the world wars. ("Colonel Redl" was about Alfred Redl, a military officer of the Austro-Hungarian Empire whose illustrious career was stained by charges of treason, while "Hannusen" was about Erik Jan Hanussen, a clairvoyant performer who predicted the Reichstag fire. It was a turning point in German history, which allowed Hitler to seize absolute power.) As for Faust, the story was retold over and over again. The most popular - and amusing - of the lot was "The Little Shop of Horrors". It was about a florist was desperate to find ways of keeping his shop from closing down. Then a miracle happened; the people were drawn to a strange plant, a crossbred between a butterwort and a Venus flytrap. What they didn't know was the plant was growing - and it wanted lots of blood. Credit must go to Roger Corman's twisted mind.
