A version of the German legend in which a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge.
Amid the onslaught of incessant talk, action, pantomime slapstick and carnivalesque gross-out, Faust’s journey feels ill-defined: the hollow centre of an over-detailed milieu.
Go and see; don't wait for the DVD.
A journey you’ll want – nay, need – to take more than once in order to soak up its many immaculate layers of detail.
This film moves in an eerie trance of disquiet.
A sense-scrambling work that conjures images of indelible potency: you won’t forget the dissection, the lyrical love scene, the pitiable homunculus, the chilling trek to hell or Adasinsky naked in a hurry.
There are occasional images that remain in the mind, but the film adds up to little within itself or as part of a tetralogy.
Certainly makes the notion of deals with the devil unappealing. Avoid seeing on a full stomach.
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Saturday July 7, 2012, until Sunday July 8, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
RSS feed of Cinema reviews