---
title: 'Mephisto (1981)'
type: 'film'
director: 'István Szabó'
released: '1981-01-01'
runtime_minutes: 146
genres:
  - 'Drama'
  - 'History'
countries:
  - 'Germany'
  - 'Austria'
  - 'Hungary'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/mephisto-1981'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082736/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# Mephisto (1981)

1981 · 146 min · Drama, History · Germany, Austria, Hungary


## Synopsis

Mephisto is a 1981 German-language political drama film co-written and directed by István Szabó, and based on the novel of the same name by Klaus Mann. It stars Klaus Maria Brandauer as a German stage actor who finds unexpected success and mixed blessings in the popularity of his performance in a Faustian play as the Nazis take power in pre-Second World War Germany. As his associates and friends flee or are forced underground by the Nazi regime, the popularity of his character ends up superseding his own existence, until he finds that his best performance is keeping up appearances for his Nazi patrons.

## Credits

- **Director:** [István Szabó](https://cinepixo.com/people/istvan-szabo)
- **Screenplay:** [István Szabó](https://cinepixo.com/people/istvan-szabo), [Péter Dobai](https://cinepixo.com/people/peter-dobai)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Zdenko Tamássy](https://cinepixo.com/people/zdenko-tamassy)
- **Producer:** [Manfred Durniok](https://cinepixo.com/people/manfred-durniok)
- **Director of Photography:** [Lajos Koltai](https://cinepixo.com/people/lajos-koltai)
- **Editor:** [Zsuzsa Csákány](https://cinepixo.com/people/zsuzsa-csakany)

## Cast

- [Ildikó Kishonti](https://cinepixo.com/people/ildiko-kishonti)
- [György Cserhalmi](https://cinepixo.com/people/gyorgy-cserhalmi)
- [Krystyna Janda](https://cinepixo.com/people/krystyna-janda)
- [Hédi Temessy](https://cinepixo.com/people/hedi-temessy)
- [Irén Bordán](https://cinepixo.com/people/iren-bordan)
- [Karin Boyd](https://cinepixo.com/people/karin-boyd)
- [István Szabó](https://cinepixo.com/people/istvan-szabo)
- [Rolf Hoppe](https://cinepixo.com/people/rolf-hoppe)
- [Péter Andorai](https://cinepixo.com/people/peter-andorai)
- [Martin Hellberg](https://cinepixo.com/people/martin-hellberg)
- [Teri Tordai](https://cinepixo.com/people/teri-tordai)
- [Klaus Maria Brandauer](https://cinepixo.com/people/klaus-maria-brandauer)
- [Judit Hernádi](https://cinepixo.com/people/judit-hernadi)
- [Ágnes Bánfalvy](https://cinepixo.com/people/agnes-banfalvy)
- [Tamás Major](https://cinepixo.com/people/tamas-major)

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/mephisto-1981
Film facts: Wikidata (Q314418); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.