I suppose you need to know the story of Faust to understand what's going on in this busy French film from female pioneer Alice Guy. My recollection of the tale is sketchy to say the least, despite seeing the silent German version a few years back. A doctor and a pact with the devil, I seem to remember. This is reminiscent of Melies - with whom Guy was no doubt attempting to compete with - because of its use of trick photography. To be honest, the only trick in Guy's bag is stop-motion and she uses it with abandon - I lost count of the number of times a character changes appearance following a tap on the head. The film's in fairly good condition, so it's easy to see what's going on even if it's not too easy to understand.
Review of Faust et Méphistophélès
