Taking Sides
Twenty years later, Szabó makes a sequel to MEPHISTO (1981). It’s probably an improvement – preparing a prosecution provides the opportunity to dig a little deeper – but still not deep enough: it settles on its two or three points and keeps hammering them, when the real story has a great deal more complexity. So much more detail could have been included and it would have made the questions all the more interesting to think about. One suspects that Furtwängler was a much more vigorous and intelligent defender of his past than is the sullen and disengaged character portrayed here, and that in reality the case for the defence was far stronger than it is presented here; Steve Arnold, too, doesn’t quite seem convincing as a strong military lawyer who has barely heard of Beethoven. Someone should do a remake but about Heidegger.
Mini Review: Twenty years later, Szabó makes a sequel to Mephisto. It’s probably an improvement – preparing a prosecution provides the opportunity to dig a little deeper – but still not deep enough: it settles on its two or three points and keeps hammering them, when the real story has a great deal more complexity. One suspects that Furtwängler was a much more vigorous and intelligent defender of his past than is the character portrayed here, and Steve Arnold, too, doesn’t quite seem convincing.