Faust
Title: FaustRating: 5/5
Genre: Horror, Drama
Starring: Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn
Language: German
Now would I give a film that old, from the year 1924, a perfect? There reasons for that, the genius directing and representation of "F.W. Marnau", the brilliant acting that we didn't even need to hear, and the majestic score composed for this film by "William Axt" (uncredited). Yes it's an old film, but the genius way which "Marnau" presented the film makes it seem as lively and as a dark as a film from this time, sometimes even better. This is the story of the classic German legend of Dr.Faust, a man who sold his soul to the devil, and the outcome of that is discovered. Although we can notice a main inspiration of Goethe's version in the script of "Hans Kyser", it's not an adaption. It also draws on the older traditions as well.
Let me begin with the work of "Marnau". We are delivered an iconic scene after an iconic seen in this film. Although we can notice a rely on visuals, but this suites the film perfectly. For instance that shoot where "Mephisto" stands over the town and covers it with his plagues is really well done, and shows us how good this director is in conveying what he wants. The contrast of darkness and light is brilliant. The opening scene where "Mephisto" makes a wager with the angel or the "Dance of Mephisto" scene seems impossible to do at that time, but "Marnau" overcame the obstacles that would plague other directors. Since the film is an expressionist film, we don't expect to find many dialogues, on the contrary, "Marnau" relied on representation to tell us the story, even if the film had no dialogues, we'd still understand it. The effects that "Marnau" did were quiet revolutionary at that time; especially with the goodness they were done. The double imaging, the models that were used to represent size and the genius light show among many other things are just remarkable. Even some one from this period would thoroughly enjoy watching the film. "Marnau" cements himself with this classic as a master of horror. The "Flight of Mephisto" scene is so greatly done; I don't think CGI will do it its right, as well as the rest of the film.
The film revolves basically around three characters, "Faust" (Ekman), "Mephisto" (Jannings), and "Gretchen" (Horn). Each of these three gave an iconic role, from the aspiring "Faust", to the dastardly "Mephisto", to the tragic "Gretchen". A mark of a great actor/actress is to make us believe it all without uttering a single word. Yes we didn't hear any of the cast, yet they were so convincing that speech became secondary. It's hard to believe that it's the same actor who played the old and the young "Faust". From grace and temperament that old age has to liveliness and zeal that youth have, all were portrayed greatly. The greatest performance in this film I'll give it to "Jannings". This is what the character should be, mischievous, malicious, wicked, and all these combined with a bit of dark "humor". Thus was what we were delivered. His smile alone screams evil. "Horn" gave a heart rendering performance. The scenes with her and her baby are some of the saddest I've ever seen. These three are artistically triumphant.
The music composed for this film is criminally great! I honestly don't know why "Axt" was uncredited. This is probably the best film score I heard. It's like "Mozart" and "Wagner" decided to join forces in order to create this master piece. My favorite part is the part composed for the "Flight of Mephisto"; I never get bored from hearing that glory. Besides the "epic" factor, there's also the "sentiments" factor. The music speaks clearly of what the actors feel, to an extent that we really get absorbed in the whole flow. Those who aren't interested in this kind of films should at least see it for the music, it's that good. This is without a doubt a work of fine art. We can easily feel its influence on later film compositions.
I don't think I am able to give this film its deserved share. It might be hard to accept for those who don't watch classics now, but by all means you should try this film. Basically, a classic like this is greater than many of the things we see now. To those who do like to return to classics, I think it's a taboo if someone didn't see this yet. I tried finding some flaws in this, but I couldn't to be honest. As I mentioned, this isn't a "Goethe" adaptation, but something more general concerning the legend. I won't hesitate to watch this numerous times in the future.
Genre: Horror, Drama
Starring: Gösta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn
Language: German
Now would I give a film that old, from the year 1924, a perfect? There reasons for that, the genius directing and representation of "F.W. Marnau", the brilliant acting that we didn't even need to hear, and the majestic score composed for this film by "William Axt" (uncredited). Yes it's an old film, but the genius way which "Marnau" presented the film makes it seem as lively and as a dark as a film from this time, sometimes even better. This is the story of the classic German legend of Dr.Faust, a man who sold his soul to the devil, and the outcome of that is discovered. Although we can notice a main inspiration of Goethe's version in the script of "Hans Kyser", it's not an adaption. It also draws on the older traditions as well.
Let me begin with the work of "Marnau". We are delivered an iconic scene after an iconic seen in this film. Although we can notice a rely on visuals, but this suites the film perfectly. For instance that shoot where "Mephisto" stands over the town and covers it with his plagues is really well done, and shows us how good this director is in conveying what he wants. The contrast of darkness and light is brilliant. The opening scene where "Mephisto" makes a wager with the angel or the "Dance of Mephisto" scene seems impossible to do at that time, but "Marnau" overcame the obstacles that would plague other directors. Since the film is an expressionist film, we don't expect to find many dialogues, on the contrary, "Marnau" relied on representation to tell us the story, even if the film had no dialogues, we'd still understand it. The effects that "Marnau" did were quiet revolutionary at that time; especially with the goodness they were done. The double imaging, the models that were used to represent size and the genius light show among many other things are just remarkable. Even some one from this period would thoroughly enjoy watching the film. "Marnau" cements himself with this classic as a master of horror. The "Flight of Mephisto" scene is so greatly done; I don't think CGI will do it its right, as well as the rest of the film.
The film revolves basically around three characters, "Faust" (Ekman), "Mephisto" (Jannings), and "Gretchen" (Horn). Each of these three gave an iconic role, from the aspiring "Faust", to the dastardly "Mephisto", to the tragic "Gretchen". A mark of a great actor/actress is to make us believe it all without uttering a single word. Yes we didn't hear any of the cast, yet they were so convincing that speech became secondary. It's hard to believe that it's the same actor who played the old and the young "Faust". From grace and temperament that old age has to liveliness and zeal that youth have, all were portrayed greatly. The greatest performance in this film I'll give it to "Jannings". This is what the character should be, mischievous, malicious, wicked, and all these combined with a bit of dark "humor". Thus was what we were delivered. His smile alone screams evil. "Horn" gave a heart rendering performance. The scenes with her and her baby are some of the saddest I've ever seen. These three are artistically triumphant.
The music composed for this film is criminally great! I honestly don't know why "Axt" was uncredited. This is probably the best film score I heard. It's like "Mozart" and "Wagner" decided to join forces in order to create this master piece. My favorite part is the part composed for the "Flight of Mephisto"; I never get bored from hearing that glory. Besides the "epic" factor, there's also the "sentiments" factor. The music speaks clearly of what the actors feel, to an extent that we really get absorbed in the whole flow. Those who aren't interested in this kind of films should at least see it for the music, it's that good. This is without a doubt a work of fine art. We can easily feel its influence on later film compositions.
I don't think I am able to give this film its deserved share. It might be hard to accept for those who don't watch classics now, but by all means you should try this film. Basically, a classic like this is greater than many of the things we see now. To those who do like to return to classics, I think it's a taboo if someone didn't see this yet. I tried finding some flaws in this, but I couldn't to be honest. As I mentioned, this isn't a "Goethe" adaptation, but something more general concerning the legend. I won't hesitate to watch this numerous times in the future.
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