Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage

Plot synopsis:
The demon Mephisto has a bet with an Archangel that he can corrupt a righteous man's soul and destroy in him what is divine. If he succeeds, the Devil will win dominion over earth.
The Devil delivers a plague to the village where Faust, an elderly alchemist, lives. Though he prays to stop the death and starvation, nothing happens. Disheartened, Faust throws his alchemy books in the fire, and then the Bible too. One book opens, showing how to have power and glory by making a pact with the Devil. He goes to a crossroads as described in the book's procedure and conjures up the forces of evil. When Mephisto appears at the roadside, he induces Faust to make a trial, 24-hour bargain with the Devil. Faust will have Mephisto's service till the sand runs out in an hourglass, at which time the Devil will rescind the pact. At first, Faust uses his new power to help the people of the village, but they shun him when they find out that he cannot face a cross. They stone him and he takes shelter in his home.
Faust then makes a further deal with Mephisto, who gives Faust back his youth and offers him earthly pleasures and a kingdom, in return for his immortal soul. Mephisto tempts Faust with the vision of a beautiful woman. He then takes him to a wedding feast in Parma, to meet the subject of his vision, an Italian Duchess. Faust departs with her, leaving the Devil to kill her groom. Just as Faust is making love to her the sands run out. He is obliged to seal the deal permanently in order to continue his love-making; he is Mephisto's forever.
Faust soon grows weary of debauchery and yearns for "Home". Here Faust falls in love with an innocent girl, Gretchen, who is charmed into loving Faust by a golden chain left by the Devil.
Faust comes to Gretchen's room. The devil rouses the mother who sees them and drops dead from shock. The devil then incites her soldier brother, Valentin, to run home to catch her lover. Valentin and Faust fight a duel. The Devil intervenes and stabs Valentin in the back. He then goes around town shouting "murder". Faust and Mephisto flee on the back of a hellish steed.
Valentin condemns Faust for his murder and his sister as a harlot in his dying breath. She is put in the stocks and subjected to jeering. The girl has a child (by Faust) and ends up in the streets. In a blizzard she sees a vision of a warm cradle and lays her child down on the snow, where the child dies. Soldiers find her and she is sent to the stake as a murderess. Faust sees what is happening and demands Mephisto take him there. Faust arrives just as the fire has been started to burn his lover. Faust wishes he had never asked to have his youth back. Mephisto smashes the mirror with Faust's reflection and he loses his youth. He runs through the assembled mob towards Gretchen; and it is as an old man that Faust throws himself onto the fire to be with his beloved.
Gretchen recognizes Faust and sees him in her heart as a young man again as the fire consumes them together. Their spirits rise to the heavens. The angel reveals to Mephisto that he has lost the bet because Love has triumphed over all.

Tags: dark, murder, cult, good versus evil, tragedy, romantic

Review:
The story concerns Faust (Gösta Ekman), an old and disheartened alchemist who forms a pact with Satan's evil demon, Mephisto (Emil Jannings).
As God and the Devil wage a war over Earth, the two opposing powers reach a tentative agreement: the entire fate of Mankind will rest on the soul of Faust, who must redeem himself from his selfish deeds before the story is complete.Relying very heavily on visuals, 'Faust' contains some truly stunning on screen imagery, most memorably the inspired shot of Mephisto towering ominously over a town, preparing to sow the seeds of the Black Death.
In fact, aside perhaps from Victor Sjöström's 'Körkarlen (1921),' I can't remember double exposure being used to such remarkable effect.It's often difficult to judge performances in a silent film, but I've certainly got a generally positive attitude towards the acting in 'Faust.' I was particularly astonished by Gösta Ekman, whose character, given limitless evil control, is transformed from a withering old man to a handsome youth.
Whilst I wasn't completely blown away by young actress Camilla Horn as Gretchen  the woman with whom Faust falls in love  her acting is adequate enough, and she certainly shows some very raw emotion in the scene's final act, when her forbidden romance with Faust sends her life in a downward spiral.'Faust' was F.W. Murnau's final film in Germany, his next project being the acclaimed American romance, 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927).' At the time, the film was the most expensive ever made by the German studio, UFA (Universum Film AG), though it would be surpassed the following year by Fritz Lang's classic science-fiction epic, 'Metropolis.' Notably, there were five substantially different versions of 'Faust' produced, several of these by the director himself: these include a German original version, a French version, a late German version, a bilingual version for European audiences, and an American cut compiled by Murnau especially for MGM in July 1926.
Each of these altered particular scenes and camera angles, and often included material that would be more relevant to the target cultural audience (for example, the US version reportedly contains a joke about the American Prohibition era).At the heart of 'Faust' is a love story between the corrupted title character and his doomed love, Gretchen.
I felt that the scenes when Faust is trying to coax Gretchen into loving him were the slowest parts of the film, much less exciting and invigorating than the darker and more effects-driven sequences that preceded and followed it.
From both the technical and story standpoint, the film excels and despite being nearly eighty years old, Faust still stands tall as one of the greatest cinematic achievements of all time.
Satan sends Mephisto to Earth to offer Faust an end to the plague that is making it's way through the local population, and eternal youth, in return for Faust's soul...The way that Murnau creates the atmosphere in the film is nothing short of amazing.
Title: FW Murnaus Faust (1926) Director: FW Murnau Cast: Gosta Ekman, Camilla Horn, Emil Jannings, William Dieterle Review: Having seen Murnaus Nosferatu and having enjoyed it immensely I had to check out some of his other films.
I was actually amazed how with their limited technological resources Murnau managed to do this type of shot back in those days.The imagery is amazing...starting with Mephisto spreading his gigantic black wings over Fausts small town.
And Faust was full of them.Of special interest to me was that scene where Faust conjures up Mephisto by reading some words from a book, its truly a great movie moment with an incredible supernatural feel.
And actually I think that scene influenced Francis Ford Copolla in Bram Stokers Dracula because he uses the exact same image of circles of light emerging from the ground.Faust fantastical imagery truly demonstrates that Murnau had complete and total control over everything that he showed on the screen.
I also really enjoyed Camilla Horn as Gretchen, her scenes with her baby in the snow were great not only in the acting department but visually as well.Overall, Id recommend this movie to those of you interested in German silent cinema.
For those of you who enjoyed films like Murnaus Nosferatu or Robert Wienes The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari then you will most certainly love Faust.I would certainly say it is far superior to the films mentioned before, yet for some reason doesn't get as much recognition.
He was one of many German film artists and technicians that migrated to sunny California following the Parufamet agreement (Fritz Lang would follow a few years later, having refused Goebbels' offer to lead the national film department for Nazi Germany, along with others like Paul Leni, Billy Wilder, Karl Freund and Ernst Lubitsch).Weimar cinema wouldn't make it past the 1930's and FW Murnau's career would come to an abrupt end with his death at 42 in a car accident, but FAUST, as the last German production, not only in nationality, but also in style and finesse, definitely deserves its place next to 1922's NOSFERATU in the pantheon of German Expressionism.
Frontloaded in terms of spectacle and dazzling visuals, this retelling of Goethe's classic version of Dr. Faust's story is as slow paced and dark as Nosferatu but with the kind of fantastic, mystical and romantic blend that characterized German post-war cinema.
In that sense, Murnau's Faust is part escapism spectacle, part edifying fable on the corruption of evil and the redeeming qualities of love and forgiveness.And if the story is overwrought melodrama by today's standards, the magnificent sets constructed by UFA technicians and special effects work stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best from the 20's.
A lyrical fable version of Goethe's famous story, where Mephisto and an angel gamble with Faust's spirit, the entire film has an aura of delicate beauty.
Both Faust, as a young man, and Gretchen are lovely, and Jannings gives an excellent performance as the Dark Prince.
When the audience didn't like either of these films the company failed.Faust is a story about God and Satan who wager.
A great story of good versus evil in which love conquers all.What makes the movie very memorable is the visual look of it.
All the scene's with Mephisto and Marthe Schwerdtlein were shear comedy brilliance, also mainly thanks to Emil Jannings his acting.Mephisto himself really was one scary great villain character, especially when the character is first introduced to Faust.Maybe not entirely a classic masterpiece, the middle and the drama is bit too much dragging and lacking for it but certainly a movie historical important and memorable movie.
Faust is my favourite German film, a timeless tale brought to life visually perfect by Murnau in 1926.
There's so many memorable scenes: The Devil lowering over the town (Jannings having to spend hours perched uncomfortably over billowing soot until Murnau was happy with the shot); Faust throwing his books on the fire in his fantastic room (with piles of dangerous nitrate film deliberately going up to help); the un-cgi magic carpet ride; Gretchen with her baby in the snow etc.
Ekman and Jannings were especially superb in their respective roles, but everyone and everything played their parts well.The print is a knockout remaster, the menacing atmosphere whenever Faust or Mephisto are in shot is palpable as was only possible with nitrate film stock.
Moreover, since the Being is defined by the positivity of light, cognition and Good, the negativity of darkness, reflection and will must be defined by the Nothing, since in classical logic there is no third instance between them.Therefore, we may see Murnau's "Faust" not only as a movie dealing with the ethic categories of Good and Evil, but also with the metaphysical categories of Being and Nothing.
His intermediary position is shown by Murnau in the often overlooked scene where Dr. Faustus, who had meanwhile turned by aid of the devil into a young man, is charming a young Indian princess while a pendulum above them is vacillating between light and darkness.Murnau must have had in his mind a poly-contextural world when he shows us Mephisto holding the mirror in which the picture of the old Dr. Faustus appears, although he had already turned him into a youth.
Because the light-switch serves as a model for classical logic, we have to deal in Murnau's "Faust" with trans-classical logic and thus with a world in which there are not only the dichotomic contextures Here and Beyond, Being and Nothing, Cognition and Volition, but a never-land as a third instance between them, and thus we read on one of Gerhart Hauptmann's titles the phrase "At the Gates of Darkness", the gates representing this third instance between the dichotomic contextures of classical logic.When we read on another title toward the end of the movie "Death sets all men free", it is clear, that Dr. Faustus, after having entered the border-land between the Here and the Beyond by signing his pact with Mephisto, is on a trip that can only end in the Darkness, the Nothing and thus his Death.
The creative visuals are probably the most impressive aspect of the feature, although Emil Jannings's performance is also impossible to overlook.The Faust legend is interesting enough simply as a story that it would be easy for a film-maker to focus on the story alone.
But Murnau and Jannings make Mephisto appear interesting, powerful, and clever, while still never obscuring the shabby and hateful nature of his efforts to ensnare Faust.
My Rating : 7/10Theatrical, Arthouse, Expressionistic - a marriage of sight and sound from 1920's German cinema, Faust is a tale of an old man tempted by the Devil over a bet with God if an ordinary mortal can be corrupted so easily or not.It is rather well-paced but a bit too long, at least 20-30 minutes of cutting would be apt to maintain viewer engagement.
Not as good as some other movies from the same time so if you wish to watch just one film either make it The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or Sunrise - A Song of Two Humans and see if you like this type of cinema..
Camilla Horn and Wilhelm Dieterle (who later became a respected Hollywood film director) are also good value as the sister and brother who fall foul of the young Faust's amorality.The film is funny, moving, and effective.
In any case, those of us who are familiar with Goethe's *Faust* (as Germans tend to be) are seeing a rather different movie here from the one that others see--for better and/or for worse.From Goethe (himself borrowing from *Job*) this film takes the notion of a background wager between Heaven and Hell, here providing that if Faust falls, spiritually, Hell gets to rule the whole earth.
A maiden who appeals in vain to the aged Faust for medical help (for her mother) is a near look-alike to Gretchen, a nice touch.Jannings is a splendidly louche, unhandsome devil (here named "Mephisto," the only name bestowed upon this character in actual dialog in Goethe, though speech prefixes give "Mephistopheles").
The imagery and visual effects are quite impressive for a film over 90 years old, and the now ages-old device of a character selling their soul to the Devil ensures thematic elements such as human vanity and frailties, and the idea of "being careful what one wishes for".
Although the film ceases to be quite as interesting while Faust is aggressively courting Gretchen, it does get back on track for a truly haunting and despairing final half hour, when it becomes necessary for Faust to atone for his big mistake.The performances are fairly typical for the silent era in that they are highly theatrical, but there's no denying that Jannings is a superb villain.
And that's just in the first half hour!The film takes a little bit of a lighter turn when Mephisto (fantastically played by Emil Jannings) becomes a 'younger version' of himself when he gives Faust (Gösta Ekman) back his youth.
Rivaling director Murnau's better known "Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror" (1922) for haunting imagery and imaginative special effects, "Faust" tells the famous legend of the doctor (Gösta Ekman) who sells his soul.
The imagery in the film is outstanding, especially scenes of the immense, winged devil spreading pestilence into the surreal, expressionistic village or of Faust and his demon acolyte Mephisto (aka Mephistopheles) flying over otherworldly landscapes on spectral horses.
Ekman and Horn are excellent as the young lovers but the standout performance is Emil Jennings, who plays the sly, sinister, and wicked Mephisto (the story is typical in that the evil is much more interesting than is the good).
The story is a classic (I mean, this is Goethe we are talking about) but it is even more classic because of the way Murnau was able to present it in 1926, a time when special effects were in their infancy.The only unfortunate this is that Karl Freund had to drop out, as this would have been yet one more classic film to put on his resume..
Other noteworthy items are the sets, and backgrounds and sets which stand strong today.The main character, Faust is played well both by Gösta Ekman (playing both the young and old Faust), but it is Emil Jannings who truly steals the show as Mephisto who can works just as well as being the embodiment of all evil, to the funny scenes (read: intentionally funny scenes) such as the church scenes where Mephisto covers his ears from the church music, to a woman trying to seduce Mephisto.If there is a problem with Faust, is that it drops into Melodrama (specifically with the tagged on happy ending) between the middle and the end which drags the film down to a pace at time, but this hardly is much to complain about because Faust is one of the best Fantasy tinged Tragedies, and still holds up today as fine filming even if you don't think you could stand through a film made over 75 years ago.9/10.
The agony of Gretchen, the confusion and frustration of Faust, and the sheer evil of Mephisto are always apparent.The film is just plain great from the classic story through the characterizations and special effects.
The movie combines traditional stories of Faust with Goethe's version of the story about a man who sells his soul to the Devil.
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.
This film opens with one of the best visuals in film--- that one scene of the four horsemen sticks to my mind like glue--- the dry ice and puppets come to life--- in great puppetry fashion--- this is an actual relief from all the computer animation that is being deployed these days--- and then follows the story of the alchemist--- i wish that alchemists still existed--- i would major in a university if that were the case--- a beautiful mixture of folklore, science, art and experimentation--- The last thing that I will comment on is the way that Mephisto is dressed/looks reminds me of the way that the Chinese were demonised in the olden days--- giving the film a hard edge that it turns on--- I don't want to lead you too far into thins film--- just see it--- F.W. knows what he is doing---.
Murnau's 1926 Faust is an absolute masterpiece.Visually it is one of the great splendors of the silent era.
Image after image remain in the mind's eye long after viewing it: the devil looming gigantically above the city, his enormous dark wings casting the streets in shadow as he spreads the plague; the fantastic scene where Mephisto and Faust ride over the countryside and the mountains standing on his cloak, like a magic carpet.
Visually impressive, and with an absolutely marvelous, commanding performance by future Oscar winner (and future Nazi) Emil Jannings, Faust beside Nosferatu and Sunrise as F.W. Murnau's best work .
And here Murnau regenerates the tale by making Faust truly in love and coming back to see Gretchen again.
Murnau's 'Nosferatu' (1925) pales in comparison to this visually fantastic masterpiece!The first half is a perfect supernatural tale of God and the Devil (Mephisto) wagering over the soul of man: if Mephisto can win Faust, all of Earth belongs to Satan.
The final scenes are masterful as well: the death of Gretchen's baby and Faust's final salvation.Emil Jannings is so great as Mephisto it looks like the Devil is a sure winner.
But the evil Mephisto turns Faust back into an old man and..................................................I only have a couple of problems with this film.
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 found it distracting that the jump was made to smaller battles, but these smaller battles are on the emotional side, making them far more important and interesting.Though Faust isn't subtle with its themes, it tells a story that moves right along, despite being seen as "one of those old silent films." The acting can be appreciated without looking down on old styles or thinking them archaic.
W. Murnau silent film version of Faust from 1926 and it was surprisingly good.
The director was Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe, more known as Murnau, who worked on several of the most successful German silent films in the early days of movie-making and was probably second only to Fritz Lang at that point here in Germany.