Jan Svankmajer's Faust

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Horrorphile - October 2008

Jan Svankmajer's Faust

October 1st 2008 07:06

Faust: “How comes it then that thou art now out of hell with me?”

Mefistofele: “Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it. Thinks thou that I, who saw the face of God and tasted the eternal joys of heaven, am not tormented with ten thousand hells in being deprived of everlasting bliss?”

My wife found this film way too weird to get into, so she zoned out, but I relished every grotesquely poetic moment of it, like a hearty alchemic stew for the mind and soul. Czech filmmaker Jan Svankmajer studied at the Institute of Industrial Arts and the Marionette Faculty of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts in the 1950s. He then worked as a theatre director in association with the Theatre of Masks and Black Theatre. He began making short experimental films in the mid-60s until he finally received international acclaim with his long-held ambition to make a feature film based (loosely) on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (Neco z Alenky, 1988).

Peter Cepek as Faustus

Svankmajer has been a member of the Prague Surrealist Group since 1969 and it is his love of surrealism that permeates all his work. The myth of Faust is no exception. By freely adapting several incarnations of the fable; the plays by Christopher Marlowe (Shakespeare’s contemporary and rival – some say even his equal) and Johann Goethe and the novel by Christian Grabbe, Svankmajer has allowed himself to incorporate several elements of storytelling. Combined with his own elaborate puppeteering and marionette action, claymation and stop-motion animation, all integrated into a live action story, Svankmajer’s Faust (1994) is one wild, weird, and wonderful tale.

The Devil takes shape

The myth of Doctor Faustus is a classic tale of greed, corruption and comeuppance. It’s a diabolic tragedy: the man who sells his soul to the Devil. It’s been filmed for the big and small screen dozens and dozens of times, but Svankmajer’s version is definitely one of the very best. Another is the Spanish new millennium version Fausto 5.0 (but that’s for another time further down the track).

Drawing blood to sign Faust's soul away

Faustus (Peter Cepek), an ordinary, rather dreary-looking man, is handed a strange map upon exiting the subway station in downtown Prague. Later after discovering an egg inside his loaf of bread which he cracks open to find a key, he investigates (because he’s intrinsically curious, and we know what happens to that little kitty) an abandoned theatre after studying the map. It is there that he finds a copy of Goethe’s scripture and begins to read it aloud, probably fancying himself as a bit of a thespian. He unwittingly summons a demon who claims to work for Lucifer (although it’s pretty obvious it’s Old Nick himself in the unnerving guise of Faustus’s claymated/stop-animated doppelganger).

A quill for the Devil's contract

The devil offers Faustus everything his heart desires in return for his soul. Faustus sees this as an opportunity for a battle of wits and immediately agrees. What follows is a serpentine journey through the most outlandish scenarios, darkened back corridors and shadowy corners, and feverish pantomimes, all man-handled and haunted by skulking diabolical human messengers and life-size marionettes from hell.

The edition I have on DVD is the English language version with all characters brilliantly voiced entirely by Andrews Sachs (Manuel from Fawlty Towers). I would love to hear the original Czech/Latin language version with subtitles, but because 70% or more of the film is dialogue-free, it doesn’t really matter.

Svankmajer was also responsible for the art direction (along with Eva Svankmajerová) and the film’s production design is something truly special. It’s as if you’ve been immersed into the Gothic realm of Mervin Peake's Gormenghast, as interpreted by David Lynch collaborating with the Quay brothers (The Street of Crocodiles and The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer). It also reminded me of the bizarre, nightmarish world of the exceptional featurette The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (1993).

Hell as seen through the eyes of Jan Svenkmajer

Jan Svankmajer’s Faust is essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in the dynamic power of puppetry and marionettes in the context of storytelling, also in filmmakers who challenge traditional and classic myths and fables and re-envision them with exciting new techniques and perspectives. It’s not just surrealism for surrealist’s sake, Faust is oneiric in the purest, most enlightening sense of the word.

Here's the scene where Mephistopheles is conjured:

And here's the scene where Faust signs away his soul:

Jan Svankmajer's Faust DVD is courtesy of Siren Visual, many thanks!

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

4 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Jason King

October 1st 2008 07:48

Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness

This sounds cool - will add to my list and see if I can track it down! Thanks

Comment by Damo

October 1st 2008 09:34

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

Saw this some years ago,
Memorable.

If I to give a criticism I would say that you need to know the story before you see this. Otherwise I am sure you would easily get distracted and lost.

So I would advise people see the Richard Burton version first.

Other than that the puppets and the story line blend in such a strange way between dreams and shattered reality that it is hard to forget.

Comment by Cibbuano

October 1st 2008 11:49

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

I agree with Damo... I reviewed this some time back.... I'm not really familiar with the source material, so the latter half of the movie, which is insanely dialogue heavy, grew tiring for me.

The first half, though, was bliss... a uniquely surreal atmosphere, full of dark, dusty animation, and a terrifying labyrinth of secrets...

Comment by Bryn

October 1st 2008 12:39

Horrorphile

Damo, true it does help being familiar with the Faust story (and my wife wasn't so perhaps that's why she tuned out, feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the visual storytelling, not to mention the intense verse reading by the puppets) ...
I'd love to see Murnau's version of Faust.
I want to see Jan Svankmajer's interpretation of Alice in Wonderland too.

[ Previous - The History of the Devil ]

[ Next - In My Skin ]

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