This review may contain spoilers.

German expressionism pioneer F.W. Murnau’s Faust is so far amongst the strongest of the early movement that I have seen because the vision is striking and the end result is an epic piece of cinematic art. The production design is spectacular, performances are as commendable and the music, haunting but beautiful. Faust is not a perfect movie in my mind, nevertheless, it is worth your praise because cinema wouldn’t be where it is without Murnau’s efforts.

The story of Faust comes from a classic German legend about the titular character’s internal struggle with himself despite being honored, and dissatisfied, he sells his soul to the devil to gain unlimited knowledge and enjoy the pleasures of…

Murnau’s most baroque work - an instance of the director working both within maximalism and in examination of maximalism as well. It's opening and closing moments are Murnau at his most melodramatic - but everything in between is him at his most inquisitive. It's constantly stimulating to watch - shards of light blasting in from everywhere possible, constant smog, and some of the most haunting poses and faces in movies. This is what makes this film so interesting - rather than level the usage of these effects for simple sensory response, (ala, say, Walsh's Thief of Bagdad) Murnau appears to use these effects for the purpose of dialectic with the story - in turn becoming a critique of the trickery…

F.W. Murnau's "Faust" is often labeled one of the greatest horror films of the silent, if not any, era. "Faust," however, is more than a horror film, and categorizing the film in one genre box may sell it short. The film combines primitive horror conventions with those of the fable and fairy tale. Regardless of its true genre, the classic story of a man who trades away his soul for earthly pleasures is brought to life by Murnau with haunting imagery and classic storytelling devices.

The story has been told for centuries in a variety of forms, but, here, Murnau tells the classic, allegory-free "Faust." An angel and devil wager for the good of mankind with aged alchemist, Faust, caught…

"Goodness, gracious how pretty you are" -Some dude,

It's a really good thing that Archangel didn't bet on me.

Seriously, Faust takes some shit and he just keeps on believin' in God and good on him... that's the plot. Prepare to read A LOT because this is a detailed story with lots of title cards but if you are dutiful and watch the whole way through you are rewarded with a treat... a good movie! F.W. Murnau's classic film is a really handsome piece of cinema that belongs in the discussion with all-time greats of the silent era. I'm not sure that this film needed to be close to two hours but I loved it any way.

Faust is one…

I’ve been thinking about selling my soul to the Devil. It seems there’s a lot of it about. The unquenchable thirst for beauty, youth, power, and wealth is everywhere. Mine’s more of a professional imperative though, as I could do with a quick fix to my problems at work. So unless Letterboxders feel like chipping in and helping me come up with a tidy $1b, maybe a Faustian pact is my next best option. But if I’m going to sell my soul for the greater good, I might as well see about getting some eternal youth thrown in for free. That’s how corruption works, right? Anyway, I watched this instructional video and it turns out it might not be such…

Based on Goethe's highly regarded play, with a screenplay written by Hans Kyser, the direction in this silent classic serves as a further demonstration of German film director F. W. Murnau's mastery of cinematic techniques. While this adaptation of Faust may not be as well known as his earlier film Nosferatu, it certainly exists in a similar league as it exhibits an equivalently stunning use of stylised imagery.

Emil Jannings, who went on to play the teacher who succumbs to the gorgeous Lola Lola (Marlene Dietrich) in the Josef von Sternberg directed The Blue Angel, portrays the demon Mephisto who enters into a bet with an archangel that he can erode a mortal man's soul. Mephisto comes to earmark aged…

Being a firm atheist, my patience tends to be tested with films this overtly religious, but, had I been born a hundred years earlier and seen Murnau’s Faust in its theatrical release, I’d probably have been taking communion so often I’d have ended up hooked on the blood of Christ. Special-effects just don’t get better than this, German giants like Murnau and Lang never failing to put today’s avid use of CGI to shame. I can’t imagine the reaction people must have had to this on release, and I don’t much want to. Although the narrative straddles somewhat in the middle, digressing into a sort-of pantomime farcical which doesn’t fit well with its stark conviction, the imagery is ceaselessly powerful,…

***One of the best 150 films I have ever seen.***

F.W. Murnau is officially one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and is one of the directors that majestically created and popularized the horror genre in German filmmaking just after the films Des Student von Prag (1913), Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1919) and Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922) were created, giving birth to the beautiful and extraordinarily artistic German Expressionism. Murnau directed this astonishingly unique feast to the senses just after he had incredible cinematographic success with one of the greatest dramas ever made: Der Letzte Mann (1924). However, not even the artistry and supernatural mastery that German auteurs had implemented through the films by that time…

"A signature is more binding in blood." ~ Mephisto

There are many versions of the German legend referring to "Doktor Faustus," the man who sells his soul to the devil. The publication of the first "Faustbuch" in 1587 led to adaptations in the form of ballads, paintings, puppet-plays and theatrical productions, including Christopher Marlowe's 1604 stage play "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus," as well as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's two-part "Faust" in the early 19th century.

When German director F. W. Murnau decided to make a movie version of the tale, he chose to combine elements of the earliest legends with Goethe's classic telling. The result is a story not so much of human weaknesses like ambition, greed or…

Нужно уже Гёте прочитать, а то чувствую себя дауничем. В киноверсии Сокурова вообще ничего не понял, здесь уже лучше, но всё равно у меня проблемы с причинно-следственной связью: то в городе чума, то уже нет, то Фауст влюблён в Гретхен, а то у неё уже ребёнок, а он просто забил, то у неё есть хата, а то она по метели шляется — вот и попробуй пойми это в оригинале такой сюр или авторская интерпретация.

В плане фильма зашли эффекты, это прежде всего касается первой части, где всадники апокалипсиса, огромный силуэт дьявола над городом, призыв Мефистофеля на болоте со скрюченными деревьями, окутанными дымкой, полёты над городом, голова в финале — это кайф. Игра светотени также на уровне, но из-за плохого качества…