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F.W. MurnauFaust: Eine deutsche Volkssage (1926)

F.W. Murnau's last German production before leaving for Hollywood is a visually dazzling take on the Faust myth. Pushing the resources of the grand old German studio UFA to the limits, Murnau creates an epic vision of good versus evil as devil Emil Jannings tempts an idealistic aging scholar with youth, power, and romance. The handsome but wan Swedish actor Gosta Ekman plays the made-over Faust as a perfectly shallow scoundrel drunk with youth, and the lovely Camilla Horn (in a part written for Lillian Gish) is the young virgin courted, then cast aside, by Faust. The sheer scale of Murnau's epic and the magnificent play of light, shadow, and mist on his exquisitely designed sets makes this one of the most cinematically ambitious, visually breathtaking, and beautiful classics of the silent era.


This movie is part of the collection: Feature Films

Producer: F.W. Murnau
Audio/Visual: sound, black & white
Keywords: Drama; Occult; Faust; Goethe; Devil; Satan

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Reviewer: Kendra_Nelson@56msn.com - - September 17, 2009
Subject: Satan Is A Liar
YEAH ME TO!!!

Reviewer: Ian_Jones25@msn.com - - September 17, 2009
Subject: Faust
I HATE SATAN! HE IS A DEVIL!!!!!!!

Reviewer: B. Stockwell - - June 14, 2009
Subject: Not the Best Presentation, BUT . . .!
Like most restored silent films, "Faust" can be seen in several different versions of varying lengths, and with different soundtracks. There was the original German version, a longer American version that feels padded, and musical scores that feel either perfect or arbitrarily slapped on in a way that either works or doesn't. The version uploaded here is a matter of preference. If you've seen the KINO version with a score by Timothy Brock, you'll feel this version has an evocative score that doesn't really match the visuals. It SOUNDS good but it's just there as aural wallpaper, disconnected to the onscreen action. I mean, it's moody and appropriate but it's there on TOP of the film - not working WITH it. Sure, you can watch "The Wizard of OZ" with Pink Floyd playing but that means it's what they had in mind. Also - and this is a big drawback - this particular version is projected WAY too fast. People in silent films didn't move any faster than they do today. This is a great introduction to Murnau's "Faust" but there are better versions out there. Great film - especially the first half hour - but it wouldn't hurt to hunt down the KINO/Brockman version. One final note: this version preserves the original German title cards/intertitles and that's a BIG plus!

Reviewer: dns001 - - June 10, 2009
Subject: Masterpiece
This movie is a masterpiece of german expressionism.
I think the added musical score is by art zoyd, they also composed music for other silent movies like: nosferatu, häxan and metropolis

Reviewer: Mars Galliculus - - June 4, 2008
Subject: Impressive
Very impressive movie!
Can anyone include the information who has done the score to this version? The music helps to make the movie even more breath-taking.

Reviewer: Frank Menzel - - January 20, 2008
Subject: Move this to Feature Films
This movie is great(AND public domain!). I recommand moving to Feature Films.