I thought this movie had some great elements and some pretty hokey parts as well. The first picture of Faust calling the devil was pretty amazing to me. The way the ring he drew in the sand caught on fire and then proceeded to move up in multiple rings to encompass Faust was clever and scary. I'd have been impressed if I saw that in a movie today, let alone a movie from 1926. But the moving picture above put me in mind of the silly oversized and obviously fake bats in Dracula. Smoke and fog does not make a bad prop better.
The movie dragged in some places and I thought that the transition from the Devil tempting Faust with power to the Devil tempting Faust with youth was a bit sloppy. The transition was not smooth.
I have a copy of the book "Faust" with illustrations by Harry Clarke that I will bring to class on Thursday. The illustrations are phenomenal, including the one below.
I agree the second posted clip is pretty hokey, but for 1926? The mere image of a moving skeletons of people and horses is pretty powerful, and thank goodness for the smoke and fog!
ReplyDeleteThe drawing is spectacular, Betcinda, thanks.