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Mephisto is a 1981 German 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-WWII 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.