Colonel Redl; Mephisto

During the 1980s director Istvan Szabó (Sunshine) and star Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa) teamed up for a trilogy of thematically related films in which the title characters self-destructs when personal ambition or naiveté or blind luck runs up against repressive political reality. While Hanussen (1988) has yet to be released on DVD, the 1982 Oscar-winning Mephisto (1981) and Cannes winner Colonel Redl (1985) make their bow in a pair of handsome looking discs from Anchor Bay. In the former, Brandauer turns in a virtuoso performance as Hendrik Höfgen, an ambitious stage actor who captures the eye of a Nazi official with his mesmerizing turn as Mephisto in a mounting of Goethe's Faust. Although playing the shot-calling devil on stage, Höfgen strikes his own pact with the devil in real life, eventually becoming the trapped puppet of the Nazi propaganda machine. 30 years after its initial release, Mephisto remains a compelling parable about the dangers of soul-selling, particularly in ideologically pestilent times. The second film in the trilogy, Colonel Redl masterfully recounts the story of Alfred Redl, a gay Hungarian military officer, who begins as a peasant and works his way up to a commanding position in the Austrian Empire. Throughout his career, his love for a fellow officer (well-born but troublesome) results in problems for Redl--ultimately leading to a tragic confrontation. Both discs are presented in Dolby Digital mono, and each contains the supplementary mini-doc The Naked Face, featuring contemporary interviews with Szabó and Brandauer. Both titles are highly recommended. (R. Pitman)