A Hungarian update of the Faustian legend, Istvan Szabo's Mephisto stars Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hendrik Hofgen, a successful theatrical performer who has grown bored with the accepted confines of the dramatic form. Yearning for something more innovative, his groundbreaking ideas are met with commercial indifference; in an act of desperation, Hofgen sells his soul. The twist is that he sells it not to the Devil, but to the Nazis.