Faust (1926)

Sadly Over-hyped

Brilliant and touching

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I was watching this because my brother is a huge fan of German expressionism and recommended it to me. I quite like this movie and Nosferatu. I don't think either of them are as good as Metropolis but each are worth watching. The plot is that Satan wagers with an Archangel that if he can corrupt the kindest soul he can find into being a selfish, callous bastard then he can have The Earth to do what he likes with. He chooses Faust and at first he succeeds by having Faust sell his soul for the ability to perform Jesus miracles to a plague set up by Satan but it quickly catches on that Faust's miraculous power of healing people isn't God's work and they attempt to stone him to death, he wishes his way out of it in the name of Satan and Satan then decides to play the card of he tried helping others and it failed so why not be a selfish man by asking for youth, women, whatever he wants. He accepts but starts to loosen his grip on Satan after falling in love with a goodhearted catholic. Things go out of control thanks to Satan wanting an iron grip on what happens and it ends with the archangel declaring Stan has lost thanks to the power of love. The effects for the time are brilliant, maybe not Metropolis jaw-dropping but it for the most part holds up even today (you probably have to look twice to see that the man playing Faust was 30 because of the old man make-up) and I quite like the story even if the love part feels forced. I don't really like the acting of the silent era and with this movie it's no exception. While I don't mind the ending I feel as though it's been done a million times since (or maybe even before as well) and today, just comes across as a bit cheesy and I thought in places it was a little bit slow. I would say this is well worth the watch if you're a fan of silent cinema. It may not be as good as Nosferatu or Metropolis but it's pretty damn close.

"Nosferatu" was going to be a hard act for F.W. Murnau to follow, but he came pretty close with "Faust - Eine deutsche Volkssage" (simply called "Faust" in English). The movie combines traditional stories of Faust with Goethe's version of the story about a man who sells his soul to the Devil. Like "Nosferatu", the movie has a very surreal look: it's as though almost the entire story takes place in the foggy moors, which of course adds to the mystique.I should admit that a lot of the movie caused me to make the sorts of comments like on "Mystery Science Theater 3000", due to how full of itself the movie is. In addition, there was a scene that made my jaw drop: the people carrying the bodies of plague victims were dressed like the Ku Klux Klan! Yes, the movie has its strengths and weaknesses, but it is definitely one that I recommend. One of the really great films from inter-war Germany, along with "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", "Nosferatu", "The Nibelungenlied" and "M" (and there are probably plenty that I haven't seen).Starring Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Frida Richard, William Dieterle, Yvette Guilbert, Eric Barclay, Hanna Ralph and Werner Fuetterer,

For me, along with Metropolis, The Gold Rush and The Passion of Joan of Arc, this is one of the finest movies of the 1920s. In design and direction especially, Faust is a masterpiece. It has a great story with a strong operatic feel, and the characters are great, Mephistopheles is especially memorable.F.W.Murnau's direction is superb. This is especially true in the duel between Faust and Mephistopheles which defines the term epic in every sense, and part of the reasons why it works so well is the wonderfully malevolent atmosphere that Murnau, Robert Herlth and Walter Rohrig create. The music fits amazingly well and the story despite one or two scenes in the middle that drag just a tad is compelling.The acting is very good. Gosta Ekman does a fine job conveying his character complete with a believable transformation from decrepitude to youth, while Camilla Horn is suitably pure. As the imposing demon Mephistopheles, Emil Jannings with a magnetic appearance and presence steals the film, while he does keep some of his comedic qualities there are times where he is quite terrifying.Other than Jannings' performance and Murnau's direction, what makes Faust such a masterpiece are the expressionistic images which inspired by Casper David Frederich's paintings are amazing, with excellent cinematography and sculptures of smoke, light and steam to compliment them. All in all, a brilliant film and one of the best of its decade. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Murnau's masterpiece captures the Gothic genius of the original folktale—and it is obvious that such a story would never have came from a Latin or even Slavic people—it required the uncanny Gothic genius. In these Germanic peoples the platitude (the banality, the philistinism, the petty bourgeois dullness) and the Gothic coexist.Gretchen is both nice and well played; Murnau's Faust is a creepy metaphysical romance, made with flawless taste and snappy aplomb by the German director. Now Murnau's genuine flair for the Gothic and the weird is obvious—his sets are made out of light and darkness, the Christian element (of rituals, practices, customs) is strongly contrasted with the chaos and delusion brought by Faust's new master.Notice that the protagonist, Doktor Faust, is a scientist—or an alchemist, anyway, not a meta-physician, but rather an enquirer of the nature, like Dr Frankenstein. For the folk, the idea of philosopher is that of a naturalist, of a scientist, even an alchemist or an occults, not of a speculative thinker. Think a little about these: Faust—Marlowe—Goethe—Hegel—Mann—Bulgakov—Frankenstein.