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Faust

Original title: Faust: Eine deutsche Volkssage
  • 1926
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
16K
YOUR RATING
F.W. Murnau, Gösta Ekman, Yvette Guilbert, Gerhart Hauptmann, Camilla Horn, Emil Jannings, and Hans Kyser in Faust (1926)
DramaFantasyHorror

The demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.The demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.The demon Mephisto wagers with God that he can corrupt a mortal man's soul.

  • Director
    • F.W. Murnau
  • Writers
    • Gerhart Hauptmann
    • Hans Kyser
    • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  • Stars
    • Gösta Ekman
    • Emil Jannings
    • Camilla Horn
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    16K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • F.W. Murnau
    • Writers
      • Gerhart Hauptmann
      • Hans Kyser
      • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    • Stars
      • Gösta Ekman
      • Emil Jannings
      • Camilla Horn
    • 76User reviews
    • 57Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos69

    Emil Jannings in Faust (1926)
    Yvette Guilbert and Emil Jannings in Faust (1926)
    Yvette Guilbert and Emil Jannings in Faust (1926)
    Gösta Ekman and Camilla Horn in Faust (1926)
    Gösta Ekman in Faust (1926)
    F.W. Murnau and Gösta Ekman in Faust (1926)
    Gösta Ekman in Faust (1926)
    F.W. Murnau and Emil Jannings in Faust (1926)
    Faust (1926)
    Faust (1926)
    Gösta Ekman in Faust (1926)
    Faust (1926)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Gösta Ekman
    Gösta Ekman
    • Faust
    • (as Gösta Ekmann)
    Emil Jannings
    Emil Jannings
    • Mephisto
    Camilla Horn
    Camilla Horn
    • Gretchen
    Frida Richard
    • Mutter
    • (as Frieda Richard)
    William Dieterle
    William Dieterle
    • Valentin
    • (as Wilhelm Dieterle)
    Yvette Guilbert
    Yvette Guilbert
    • Marthe
    Eric Barclay
    Eric Barclay
    • Herzog
    • (as Eric Barcley)
    Hanna Ralph
    Hanna Ralph
    • Herzogin
    Werner Fuetterer
    Werner Fuetterer
    • Erzengel
    Hans Brausewetter
    Hans Brausewetter
    • Farmboy
    • (uncredited)
    Lothar Müthel
    • Friar
    • (uncredited)
    Hans Rameau
      Hertha von Walther
        Emmy Wyda
        Emmy Wyda
          • Director
            • F.W. Murnau
          • Writers
            • Gerhart Hauptmann
            • Hans Kyser
            • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
          • All cast & crew
          • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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          Storyline

          Edit

          Did you know

          Edit
          • Trivia
            Due to the success of F.W. Murnau's previous film, The Last Laugh (1924), the studio promised him an unlimited budget with which to make this film.
          • Quotes

            Erzengel: [Last lines] The word that rings joyfully throughout creation, the word that alleviates every pain and sorrow, the word that absolves all the guilt of humanity, the eternal word. Dost thou not know it?

            Mephisto: What is the word?

            Erzengel: Love

          • Alternate versions
            There were several versions created of Faust, several of them prepared by Murnau himself. The versions are quite different from one another. Some scenes have variants on pace, others have actors with different costumes and some use different camera angles. For example, a scene with a bear was shot with both a person in costume and an actual bear. In some versions, the bear simply stands there. In one version, it actually strikes an actor. Overall, five versions of Faust are known to exist out of the over thirty copies found across the globe: a German original version (of which the only surviving copy is in the Danish Film Institute), a French version, a late German version which exists in two copies, a bilingual version for Europe prepared by Ufa, and a version prepared by Murnau himself for MGM and the US market (July 1926).
          • Connections
            Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Fatale beauté (1994)

          User reviews76

          Review
          Review
          Featured review
          A great film by Murnau
          I think of Murnau's Faust as a masterpiece not only of cinema, but of the human imagination. I understand that reviews at the time of its premier were lukewarm, but I honestly can't imagine not feeling grateful for the opportunity to see this film today. Moments and images from it are so powerful, they are vivid in the mind years after seeing them -- two hours in a dream world.

          The flying sequence has been commented-on more than once, and with good reason. It is a spectacular series of shots wherein the camera tracks through long miniature sets which gradually change from a dense cluster of medieval rooftops and steeples, to a tortuous countryside of mountain peaks and snake-like rivers, twisted trees, deep gorges with plunging waterfalls and stone cliffs, rapids, a field of long grass, elaborate renaissance architecture and an Italianate palace. Along the way there is an encounter with grotesque elongated black birds in the sky, their wings flapping in unison. The sets incorporate running water (with little bits of smoking material floating in the rapids to simulate splashes and spray), an illuminated moon, and smoke to simulate clouds and fog. The whole sequence can't be much more than a couple of minutes long, but the effort to design, construct and coordinate the sequence must have been staggering. The following palace scene is set on a huge multi-level set with female dancers stretching off into the distance. They are there for no better reason than to establish an atmosphere of sumptuous decadence, and young Faust arrives in the middle of this riding between two enormous elephants, which seem to be entirely artificial and crafted of fabric, wire, etc. So it goes throughout the production. Almost every scene is a feast for the eyes, and the darker scenes are vividly expressionistic in design.

          The acting is the old-fashioned silent-movie variety of big operatic gestures and vivid facial expression. It may seem odd to those not used to it, but it is NOT an example of ham actors overdoing it. This was a legitimate style of acting in its time, and offers genuine artistic beauty to those who can manage to appreciate it.

          The fact that there seems to be no video version of `Faust' at the time of this posting is criminal. Ditto for Murnau's "Sunrise." These things should NEVER be out of print.
          helpful•47
          8
          • Bobs-9
          • Nov 15, 2000

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          Details

          Edit
          • Release date
            • December 6, 1926 (United States)
          • Country of origin
            • Germany
          • Languages
            • German
            • English
          • Also known as
            • Fausto
          • Filming locations
            • Ufa-Atelier, Berlin-Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany
          • Production company
            • Universum Film (UFA)
          • See more company credits at IMDbPro

          Technical specs

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          • Runtime
            1 hour 47 minutes
          • Sound mix
            • Silent
          • Aspect ratio
            • 1.33 : 1

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          F.W. Murnau, Gösta Ekman, Yvette Guilbert, Gerhart Hauptmann, Camilla Horn, Emil Jannings, and Hans Kyser in Faust (1926)
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