István SzabóCast
Klaus Maria BrandauerCredits
Written by: Péter Dobai
Plot
Hendrik Höfgen, a talented actor in Weimar-era Hamburg, has left-wing leanings and a rebellious spirit. When the Nazis take power, he compromises his principles to advance his career, rising to become the director of the national theatre in Berlin, playing the part of Mephistopheles, and becoming a puppet of a powerful general. István Szabó's 1981 film, with Klaus Maria Brandauer, adapted from Klaus Mann's novel, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Sinekatalog’s take
István Szabó's Oscar-winning drama follows an ambitious actor who compromises with the Nazis. Klaus Maria Brandauer is mesmerising, and the film is a chilling study of vanity and moral collapse.Sinekatalog’s own editorial review – not a user or critic quote.
Ratings
IMDb: 7.7 / 10 (12,753 votes)
IMDb rating and vote count from the IMDb ratings dataset (October 2026). Scores change over time.
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