Faust (1994 film)
Encyclopedia
Faust is a 1994 Czech film directed by Jan Švankmajer
. It merges live-action footage with stop-motion footage and includes imaginative puppetry
and claymation. The Faust character is played by Petr Čepek
. The film was produced by Jaromír Kallista. Although the film does not serve to accurately portray the Faust
us legend, it utilizes the legend in a rather imaginative way, borrowing and blending elements from the story as told by Goethe and Christopher Marlowe
with traditional folk renditions. It has a distinctly Modernist, Absurdist, Kafkaesque feel, especially with the setting in Prague. The tone is dark but humorous. The voices in the English version were provided by Andrew Sachs
.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
.
on an ordinary grey morning with commuters bustling about. We are introduced to the figure of an Everyman
, played by Petr Čepek
, a colourless figure emerging from a metro station. On his way home, the man encounters two men handing out flyers, one of which he takes. It is a map of the city with a location marked in. He shrugs and discards it, returning to his dilapidated tenement building. As he is opening his mailbox, he sees a mother and child walking out of the building dragging a doll
behind them. He goes up to his lodging and opens his door, releasing a black cockerel that runs down the stairs. Entering, he sits down to eat, cutting himself a slice of bread. He discovers an egg
concealed inside the loaf and extracts it. He cracks it open but it is empty. As it breaks, the lights go out and the wind rises. Objects are thrown about the room. The commotion ceases and the man goes to the window and looks down to where the two men from earlier are staring up at him with whitened eyes. One of them holds the cockerel. He closes the blind and returns to the table, where he finds the map and, using his own map of the city, traces out the location marked.
The next day, he goes to the spot indicated and enters a large darkened building from which a man rushes in fear. The man presses on into the interior and descends to a dressing room, where he finds a charred script, a robe embroidered with sigils, greasepaint, a wig and beard and a cap. Sitting down he dresses himself as Faust
and speaks to himself, (the first words spoken in the film) Faust's opening declaration of intent to follow black magic. A stage light begins to flash and a buzzer sounds indicating ‘actors onstage’. Faust rises and makes his way through the backstage area, past a dressing room full of shrieking chorus girls and a resting marionette
to the stage. He peeps through the closed curtains and sees an audience assembling. Struck with stage fright, he pulls off his costume and wipes off his makeup. Looking around, he sees various stage-hands who regard him in a challenging way. He looks for a way to escape, opens his clasp knife and cuts an exit through the cardboard backdrop to find himself in the darkness of a Gothic vault. He walks on until his come to an alchemist
's laboratory, with alembics, bottles, skulls, candles and a grimoire
. He opens the stove and blows the embers under a large retort. They flare up and he leaps back. The liquid in the retort starts to bubble. Insects, birds skeletons scuttle over the table as the liquid thrashes about, eventually resolving itself into a foetus, then a child. The man smashes the retort and carries the homunculus
to the grimoire. Writing magic sigils on a piece of paper, he folds it and, using his knife, inserts it into the golem
's mouth. The clay child awakes and sits up, looking around. The child's face morphs three times first into a boy's, then into the face of the man (the protagonist himself), then into a mocking, laughing skull. The man becomes angry (for being reminded of his eventual death) and crushes the clay figure, who only 'dies' after he retrieves and tears up the magic paper.
A stage backdrop falls from above. Then descends a huge wooden marionette
of a good Angel
who proceeds to warn Faustus from practicing black magic
. The angel departs. There is a clap of theatrical thunder and the head of a Demon
is seen rolling down a mountainside to take the stage. The demon
exhorts Faustus to practice black magic. The fiend departs. A servant enters and tells Faustus that two men are waiting outside for him. Faustus rises and leaves. A Fool
enters and begins reading Faustus’ grimoire.
Jan Švankmajer
Jan Švankmajer is a Czech filmmaker and artist whose work spans several media. He is a self-labeled surrealist known for his surreal animations and features, which have greatly influenced other artists such as Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, the Brothers Quay, and many others.- Life and career :Jan...
. It merges live-action footage with stop-motion footage and includes imaginative puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
and claymation. The Faust character is played by Petr Čepek
Petr Cepek
Petr Čepek was a Czech actor associated with The Drama Club in Prague. His final film was Faust, directed by Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer.- Filmography :* 1961: Dva z onoho světa...
. The film was produced by Jaromír Kallista. Although the film does not serve to accurately portray the Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
us legend, it utilizes the legend in a rather imaginative way, borrowing and blending elements from the story as told by Goethe and Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
with traditional folk renditions. It has a distinctly Modernist, Absurdist, Kafkaesque feel, especially with the setting in Prague. The tone is dark but humorous. The voices in the English version were provided by Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayals of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated, and Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.-Early life:Sachs was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Katharina , a...
.
The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...
.
Plot
The story commences on the streets of PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
on an ordinary grey morning with commuters bustling about. We are introduced to the figure of an Everyman
Everyman
In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances...
, played by Petr Čepek
Petr Cepek
Petr Čepek was a Czech actor associated with The Drama Club in Prague. His final film was Faust, directed by Czech surrealist Jan Švankmajer.- Filmography :* 1961: Dva z onoho světa...
, a colourless figure emerging from a metro station. On his way home, the man encounters two men handing out flyers, one of which he takes. It is a map of the city with a location marked in. He shrugs and discards it, returning to his dilapidated tenement building. As he is opening his mailbox, he sees a mother and child walking out of the building dragging a doll
Doll
A doll is a model of a human being, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have traditionally been used in magic and religious rituals throughout the world, and traditional dolls made of materials like clay and wood are found in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Europe. The earliest documented dolls...
behind them. He goes up to his lodging and opens his door, releasing a black cockerel that runs down the stairs. Entering, he sits down to eat, cutting himself a slice of bread. He discovers an egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
concealed inside the loaf and extracts it. He cracks it open but it is empty. As it breaks, the lights go out and the wind rises. Objects are thrown about the room. The commotion ceases and the man goes to the window and looks down to where the two men from earlier are staring up at him with whitened eyes. One of them holds the cockerel. He closes the blind and returns to the table, where he finds the map and, using his own map of the city, traces out the location marked.
The next day, he goes to the spot indicated and enters a large darkened building from which a man rushes in fear. The man presses on into the interior and descends to a dressing room, where he finds a charred script, a robe embroidered with sigils, greasepaint, a wig and beard and a cap. Sitting down he dresses himself as Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
and speaks to himself, (the first words spoken in the film) Faust's opening declaration of intent to follow black magic. A stage light begins to flash and a buzzer sounds indicating ‘actors onstage’. Faust rises and makes his way through the backstage area, past a dressing room full of shrieking chorus girls and a resting marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
to the stage. He peeps through the closed curtains and sees an audience assembling. Struck with stage fright, he pulls off his costume and wipes off his makeup. Looking around, he sees various stage-hands who regard him in a challenging way. He looks for a way to escape, opens his clasp knife and cuts an exit through the cardboard backdrop to find himself in the darkness of a Gothic vault. He walks on until his come to an alchemist
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
's laboratory, with alembics, bottles, skulls, candles and a grimoire
Grimoire
A grimoire is a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons...
. He opens the stove and blows the embers under a large retort. They flare up and he leaps back. The liquid in the retort starts to bubble. Insects, birds skeletons scuttle over the table as the liquid thrashes about, eventually resolving itself into a foetus, then a child. The man smashes the retort and carries the homunculus
Homunculus
Homunculus is a term used, generally, in various fields of study to refer to any representation of a human being. Historically, it referred specifically to the concept of a miniature though fully formed human body, for example, in the studies of alchemy and preformationism...
to the grimoire. Writing magic sigils on a piece of paper, he folds it and, using his knife, inserts it into the golem
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
's mouth. The clay child awakes and sits up, looking around. The child's face morphs three times first into a boy's, then into the face of the man (the protagonist himself), then into a mocking, laughing skull. The man becomes angry (for being reminded of his eventual death) and crushes the clay figure, who only 'dies' after he retrieves and tears up the magic paper.
A stage backdrop falls from above. Then descends a huge wooden marionette
Marionette
A marionette is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms...
of a good Angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
who proceeds to warn Faustus from practicing black magic
Black magic
Black magic is the type of magic that draws on assumed malevolent powers or is used with the intention to kill, steal, injure, cause misfortune or destruction, or for personal gain without regard to harmful consequences. As a term, "black magic" is normally used by those that do not approve of its...
. The angel departs. There is a clap of theatrical thunder and the head of a Demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
is seen rolling down a mountainside to take the stage. The demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
exhorts Faustus to practice black magic. The fiend departs. A servant enters and tells Faustus that two men are waiting outside for him. Faustus rises and leaves. A Fool
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
enters and begins reading Faustus’ grimoire.