Fausto 5.0

I had a fair idea of what i was looking for, coming to this film. This was a collaborative work, entangled between people coming from films, and people coming from live performances. La fura dels baus are, at the same time, a very interesting group, of people who try to extend and expand the notions of live performance and, more interesting, the notions of interaction with an audience. Basically, their trick is to increase the engagement of people, by bringing them closer to stage, actually, taking the stage to people sitting in front of it.

So i thought i was going to see something similar, regarding film. New ways to engage, a novel way to tell a story that includes the audience, while meaning something.

But film is a total different medium. Different tools, different tricks, different outcome.

The inventiveness and passion you get when watching a performance is here fully replaced by the commitment to build a world, over the real world, that could accommodate the story of the film.

So, we are given a city as if it was an artistic intervention, with all the implied stylization and artificiality. Wrapped Christo-like building, with its interior being actually that of a museum. Transformation of places in the city, by placing groups of people that just don't belong there. The catacombs of the hospital, a good use of space.

This is all great, but the problems of the film begin here. Although this world is perfectly presented, considering what you can do with a city to make it (more) suitable for the story you're telling, this isn't enough to pull us into the film with the same intensity that we are pulled into a show by La Fura. So, despite the effort, the film doesn't leverage the live performances, and i think that was intended.

But you get Barcelona, a fairly interesting one, and we get some great sequences, although disconnected. Of those, the one in the hospital catacombs (which is fundamental in the story) is the best.

My opinion: 3/5

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Different from everything you have seen, this movie's greatest achievement is transporting us into the real world, but being able to make it not so real. For this effect, the cinematography contributes a lot, and also the art direction. This movie is odd, it will gather enemies, but I think it had great moments and great visions. The oddity is an asset here. It has won the great prize on my country's Fantasporto.

I'm not generally a follower of this sort of "Art House"-ish cinema, but I found this film highly enjoyable. The combination of surreal imagery and gritty realism is pleasantly understated (unlike, for example, Trainspotting), and this serves to add to the subtle nature of the film.

Miguel Ángel Solá really brings Fausto to life... He can run a whole range of emotions without it feeling forced or hackneyed, and keeping everything suitably understated (which helps accentuate the rare occurrences where things go slightly strange all the more)

Forget Matrix Reloaded, trying to confuse you with philosophical babble; this is a film that will have you and your friends discussing what it was *actually* about all the way back from the cinema (and then some). Definitely worth at least two viewings: once to see it, once to *really* watch it.

It's Faust. If you know the story Marlowe and Goethe made famous, well this ain't it. But it's about the same thing -- the whole What Price My Soul thing. Does meaning well absolve us?

This movie is all about the nature of redemption and what price we would put on our soul. In the Goethe's version it's to save the babe he knocked up from being beheaded for killing the baby at birth. This guy's an MD -- that should be your clue.

It's got plenty of lurid stuff, human failings, falling into the pit of depravity and despair that's required of a tragedy. Is there redemption? That's what makes a story worth my time any day.

This film is not the greatest but it beats the hell (pun intended) out of that lame Pacino/ Keanu Devil's Advocate. I mean we can all see a LAWYER as the devil's pawn but the selfless head of a clinic for the terminally ill? And while we don't get Sex Goddess Charlize Theron as sole redeeming quality, we do get sex with the devil's own daughter, and that's got to be hot.

It's the prurient lurid stuff that makes me downgrade it from "Damned Good" to "Interresting". I like to keep those two separate. I like lurid and prurient movies like House of 1000 Corpses and examination of the soul stuff like Mystic River. But trying to mix it like these boys do in Fausto 5.0 is distracting to me. It's like if Rob Zombie got religion and decided to take on Goethe and Marlow and delve the deeper meaning of God the Devil and the Soul while listening to lots of industrial goth techno dance music.

All in all, I thought it was worth while watching and might rent it again some time, but it will probably not become part of my permanent collection.

I hadn't heard or seen anything about this movie before I saw it sitting on the DVD shelf of my local library, let alone have an idea what it was about. I was lured by the awards it had advertised on the cover and ambiguous statement, 'If you were to sell your soul what would you ask for?' I have no answer to the question but I'm pleased I parted with £1.50 to see this movie.

It is based on the Faustian legend that the central character's pact with the devil allows him to have energy, life and youth unless he becomes so entranced by the passing moment that he wishes that things will never change. When Faust succumbs unthinkingly into that wish, his life is forfeit to a demon. In this adaptation the central character Dr Fausto (Miguel Ángel Solá), a specialist doctor of terminal medicine, who has lost his zest for life working constantly with people on the brink of death. While attending a conference in Barcelona, he runs into the mysterious (and hilarious) Santos Vella, pronounced 'Vela', as in 'mozzarella', played by the excellent Eduard Fernández, a man who claims to have once been treated by Fausto but which Fausto has no recollection of. He follows Fausto everywhere and knows everything about him, using his wit and humour to make a bold pact with Fausto and reintroduce him to youth and fun and his daughter Marta (Irene Montalà). When Fausto abuses the pact with Vella, his life starts dismantling with horrific and explicit consequences and nightmares, such as dogs eating at his stomach, being arrested and the demon threatening to harm his medical assistant, Julia (Najwa Nimri).

The plot builds quickly and mysteriously through a blend of strange characters, such as the old woman on the train and the rail kill being hauled off the front train at the station, and psychedelic editing (which looks both original and a throw-back to cheesy 70s horror flicks). It keeps you hooked, especially the acting by Fernández, who comes across full of life and witty as the demon, towards the cold Dr Fausto, Solá. Both actors looked involved in the roles and came across frighteningly realistic as the plot evolved. The sets were also detached and chilling, which added to the suspense, such as the nightclub they go to, with the crazy naked women chained upside down and dancing to the hardcore rock music. It reminded me a little bit of the scenes in Fight Club. The sound affects when Fausto tears open the body at the lecture is sickeningly realistic and the music was jagged and sharp to add to the apprehension. There are very humorous scenes as well, such as smashing up the living room with a golf-club and the funny quips.

It was well directed by Álex Ollé, Carlos Padrisa and Isidro Ortiz. The plot flowed smoothly and the performances and the sets were flawless. However, the writer Fernando León I thought was trying his best to make the film more strange than he had to. For example, the girl Margarita who Fausto has sex with has blue arms – why? And why is it called Fausto 5.0? There's no explanation to this in the story and I think there's a few red herrings to try and throw people unnecessarily off course. Then again, it could be the director achieving what he wanted; for you to keep guessing. I know I still am. The film was out to shock, which happens quite often in Spanish movies. There's often an empty feeling, a detachment between the audience and the characters, which is both interesting and keeps you thinking about the plot for days afterwards. It's a unique trend in Spanish cinema, and Fausto 5.0 is a prime example. Dreams also feature a lot in Spanish cinema. Take Abre Los Ojos for example, which was also surreal and strange and ended up being one great nightmare. Along with Abre Los Ojos, there is a hint of Requiem to a Dream and Fight Club, due to the fact the characters in the films are on the edge of life and they include horrors and sci-fi elements and are all well-made.

I give this film eight out of ten. I was hooked, it was original, brilliantly acted and excellently made. Fans of sci-fi/horror movies will love it. I'm not particularly but I really enjoyed it. If the writer had been a little less pretentious with the weirdness, it would have received an extra mark.