Silent Movie Day: Faust (1926)
- Tue, Sep 29
Director: F. W. Murnau Run Time: 116 min. Rating: NR Release Year: 1926
Starring: Camilla Horn, Emil Jannings, Frida Richard, Gösta Ekman, William Dieterle
Country: Germany
Languages: German, English
Silent Movie Day is an annual celebration of silent movies, a vastly misunderstood and neglected cinematic art form. We believe that silent motion pictures are a vital, beautiful, and often powerful part of film history, and we are united with others in the goal to advocate for their presentation and preservation.
About the film:
Mobilizing the full resources of the Ufa Studios, F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) orchestrated a colossal adaptation of Goethe’s FAUST that ranks alongside Fritz Lang’s Metropolis as the greatest achievement of the German silent cinema.
“One of the most astonishing visual experiences the silent film has to offer.”
—Dave Kehr for The New York Times
Gösta Ekman stars as the titular alchemist who, struggling with his faith amidst a devastating plague, is offered the power to cure and the gift of youth…in exchange for his soul. As the diabolical Mephisto, Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh) delivers a performance of operatic scale and intensity, by turns charming, comical, and horrific.
About the filmmaker:
F. W. Murnau was an influential German expressionist director, producer and screenwriter who crafted a total of 21 films, only 12 of which survived in their entirety. A master of light and shadow, Murnau experimented with new filming techniques, negative exposure, stop-motion, and low angle camera positions. His adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu (1922), is considered a masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema. His other features include The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926), and three films made with Fox Studio in Hollywood: City Girl (1930), 4 Devils (1928), and Sunrise (1927), which has been regarded by critics and film directors as one of the best films ever made, and, along with Murnau’s final film Tabu (1931), was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry.
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