Visually striking early telling of the German folktale.
Comment
09/25/07
3 Faust (1926)
94 %
Reviews Counted: 17 Fresh: 16 Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Synopsis: Murnau's FAUST stars the inimitable Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles, to whom the hapless and aging Faust sells his soul for renewed youth as well as wealth and power. Based on Goethe's interpretation of the age old legend, Murnau merely uses the story as a starting point for an incredibly... [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Gosta Ekman, Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Eric Barclay, Wilhelm Dieterle
Reviews
1 - 17 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top Critic
Murnau's version of the story of the man who sold his soul to the Devil (Jannings) in return for youth is visually extraordinary but dismally uneven in terms of its dramatic effect.
01/26/06
Top Critic
A great work by a great director, and one of the most instantly accessible silent films ever made.
06/09/08
Revisits the German legend of Dr. Faustus with an amazing use of expressionistic visuals.
11/16/07
This extraordinary piece of artistry and craftsmanship integrates its dazzling special effects so seamlessly that they're indistinguishable from the film's narrative, poetry, and, above all, metaphysics.
09/25/07
As atmospheric and menacing a work as the expressionist movement ever produced.
09/25/07
Faust an extremely stylish horror fantasy in the best tradition of German silent cinema, featuring brilliant photography, magnificent art direction, and magical special effects which still have the power to amaze.
08/29/06
Top Critic
Films from the German Expressionism era are famous for their fiercely stylized mise-en-scene, and to Murnau the medium's very artificiality provided the keys to locating its truths.
07/06/06
Here is a picture which is as far removed from the ordinary movie as a Tintoretto painting.
03/25/06
Top Critic
I sometimes feel, in this age of expert CGI, that I am being shown too much -- that technique is pushing aside artistry and imagination. The world of Faust is never intended to define a physical universe, but is a landscape of nightmares.
01/20/06
Top Critic
Still a classic example of eye-popping excess at a time when German filmmakers were among the most innovative in the world.
04/15/05
A masterpiece of expressionistic filmmaking, a silent classic that is unfortunately deeply flawed by a maudlin second act.
02/09/03
1 - 17 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
IGN RSS Feeds