Description
Jan Svankmajer’s Faust is a rendering of the infamous Dr. Faustus fable of temptation and damnation. Borrowing freely from both Marlowe and Goethe and ancient folktales and timeless myths, the story follows a lonely Czech businessman who sells his soul to the devil in return for 24 years of self-indulgence. A visually fantastic combination of live-action, claymation, puppet theatre, stop-motion animation, and other special effects, Svankmajer creates an unsettling universe presided over by diabolic life-size marionettes and haunted by sinister human messengers from hell.
Reviews
“A totally bizarre mix of live action, animation and life-size puppets, there is both an unsettling nightmarish quality to this film, as well as an eccentric humour. Completely mad and not to be missed!”
—BBC
“[the film] throws you off balance more thoroughly than any other movie in town.”
—The New Yorker
“This is a film which galvanizes the mind and astonishes the eye. In a word, magic.”
— Time Out
Festivals
Cannes Film Festival
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
Fantasporto Film Festival
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
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