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Jan Svankajer's feature film follow up to his masterpiece Alice is a rather free interpretation of the classic and often referenced tale of Faust. Like in 'Alice', Svankmajer approaches the story in a unique and original fashion, both conceptually and visually - as usual, he mixes various genres and art forms, combining live actors, puppetry and claymotion. Faust is sometimes an ordinary man playing the role of Faust, sometimes a puppet and sometimes Faust himself. The film shows Svankmajer's brilliant creativity and imagination, and his fantastic and unique stop-motion technique, at their best; even though I find it only slightly inferior to 'Alice' (the overdubbed voices are again annoying, but much better than on 'Alice'). It has a wonderful surreal and dark atmosphere, some brilliant character designs and even a couple of scenes that are quite entertaining (like the old man who collects legs). I adore the way Mephistopheles turns himself into a clay mirror of Faust himself, the head-changing puppet which is both devil and angel, and the delicate transformation of Faust turning from man to puppet and back. If for nothing else, then for the visual side by itself Faust is well worth seeing. If you're a fan of Svankmajer, or are interested in classic animation and puppetry, buy Faust now.

Jan Svankmajer's telling of the German folk tale "Faust" is--like his rendition of "Alice in Wonderland" (simply titled "Alice")--a refreshingly surreal treat of a film. It's confusing, disconcerting, and grotesquely tongue-in-cheek (the Jester character is at once obnoxious, amusing, and creepy). The plot plays out like a Greek Tragedy, with the ill-fated Faust (Petr Cepek) wheeling and dealing with the Devil and his minions, manipulating Old Scratch until finally succumbing to a seduction that results in his demise. The intricacies of story are thrown at the viewer in a consistent flurry, to the point where it's best NOT to try to piece it all together. Throughout my viewing, favorable comparisons to Homer's "Odyssey," David Lynch's "Eraserhead," and the early short films of Roman Polanski were crossing my mind. While the English dubbing is atrocious and Svankmajer sometimes lets the film lull too far into a dream-like state (to the point where I had to take a brief nap halfway through), that shouldn't inhibit you from seeing "Faust."

This is the first and only Jan Svankmeyer movie I have ever seen, and after viewing it I can't wait to see his others. Here, Svankmeyer basically juxtaposes a staged showing of the play FAUST with the story of the man who is kidnapped into playing Faust. As the film rolls on, the character's story and the actor's story become more and more indistinguishable. There are also a bunch of insane devil marionettes and the whole thing has the vibe of a medieval Punch and Judy show.

Probably the main thing I liked about FAUST was the fact that, although it is a fairly surreal film, it doesn't go out of it's way to be strange for strangeness's sake [like the Czech film DAISIES or the Georgian REPENTANCE, though those are okay movies]. Sure, you have bizarre goings-on like a stop-motion fetus in a jar growing old and turning into a skull, but many of the details you thought were unrelated to the story all wrap up in a very pleasing manner.

Of course, not all of your questions will be answered. I still don't understand the significance of the theater sets versus real scenery, or why Faust sometimes appears in his costume and sometimes in his regular trench coat. But I'm glad I don't completely get it--I like a movie to provoke thought rather than explain everything outright.

Also, man, what's with the other comments saying this is an art-house flik, or only pretentious snobs will enjoy it? I work at a video store. We played FAUST on our TV just tonight, and at least ten customers were intrigued enough to stop what they were doing and watch it for a little while--far more people than when we played JERSEY GIRL the other day. Sure, FAUST is not for everybody, because not everybody likes unusual or even minorly challenging movies. Don't let the reverse-snobs scare you away.

"Faust" is a wonderful blend of real-time and stop-motion storytelling by a master of the surreal. An apparently ordinary everyman is led by curiosity into a dilapidated building which turns out to be a strange blend of alchemical laboratory, theater, and puppeteer's workshop. Suddenly, the man finds himself becoming the legendary Dr. Faust, selling his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers.

Jan Svankmajer is the true sorcerer here. He blends stage sets with real locations and seven-foot puppets with live actors, making magic of it all.

The film has been dubbed for English audiences, but there has perhaps never been a less obtrusive film dub. The voice performances are excellent and actually add to the surreal quality of the film.

Jan Svankmajer is one of the best animators of all time and one of the best artists of the 20th century. There is simply no one else making animation like this: disturbing, hilarious, dreamlike. "Faust" is one of the best films I have ever seen, combining the visual sensibility of Salvador Dali with the philosophical sensibility of Mikhail Bulgakov. Powerful, surreal, and more intelligent than any animation anywhere.

Personally, I like this film. It's an imaginitive adaptation, and it definitely begs to be seen. I think, though, that Jan Svankmajer fans are likely to be disappointed. People unfamiliar with his work are likely to hate it. Now, I'm no expert in his work. I've seen three shorts and his version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, just called Alice in the U.S. The three shorts are all masterpieces in their own ways (my favorite being The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia) and Alice is a near-masterpiece. Faust is not nearly as inventive as those other works. Svankmajer is known as a stop-motion animator, but his Faust contains little animation. The animation that there is is universally stunning. I will bet that any fan of the medium will just love the sequence with the baby, and will probably wish that it were longer. Actually, the medium that is most abundant in Faust is marionettes. Most of the film is live action, as well. The marionettes are often replaced with actors wearing gigantic papier-mache heads. This isn't as interesting as stop-motion animation, but it still works. Some of the puppets can be annoying, especially the jester. I believe that the puppet characters are done in the kind of exaggerated style familiar to puppet shows. 7/10.

Surrealism tends to fall in one of 2 categories:

(1) Random, confounding, absurd images best enjoyed under the influence of psychomorphic drugs

(2) Careful, structured, lucid themes augmented by unusual visuals, all of which is designed to raise our understanding beyond what is "real"

Or, I could also say that Surrealism tends to fall in one of 2 categories:

(1) Sucky movies

(2) Awesome movies

I'm happy to report that in both cases, this film is a #2. It can be compared with the masterpieces of Jean Cocteau (Orphee, Beauty & the Beast), or if you prefer the modern stuff it can be compared with Terry Gilliam's early work. Svankmajer has that same creative spirit, the same eye for the bizarre and yet the same intelligence in presentation that makes for great art. He also has a slightly disturbing edge.

This is a great film for profound cinephiles as well as casual filmgoers in the mood for something completely different. This isn't simply a masturbatory showcase of "how much weird & pointless stuff we can throw at you", the way many famous Surrealists operate. Rather, this roots itself with a solid, philosophical foundation & excellent dialogue and takes it to the next level with creative visuals. Svankmajer has a fantastic sense of humour, too, so you never get the feeling that he's some pompous, pretentious jerk showing off what he can do with a camera.

This movie's hallmark, as with much of Svankmajer's work, is the fantastic use of puppetry. It can be both comedic and chilling, and it definitely puts you into a mind-warping state of mind which is perfect for a tale of this scope.

I'm rating this a 10/10, and you can see by my voting history that I don't give 10s casually. This is truly a fantastic work.

An important note: You should really read Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus" before watching this movie. And be sure it's the MARLOWE version (1604), not the Goethe version (1806) titled "Faust". Yes, the title of this movie is misleading.

I had wanted to see this film for a long time, and had big expectations I sat down with my purchased copy, but unfortunately it didn't quite make it for me. I think it's those annoying marionettes spending half the movie running around making silly noises. The movie didn't grip me. 'Alice' was better.

Faust embodies what it is to be Surreal. Svankmajer has captured the essence of a dream in full form and put its application to the archetypal story of Dr. Faustus.

The integration of live action, puppetry, and stop-motion animation is the work of a true genius/madman.

If you are looking for something to exercise the bizarre regions of the brain and the human imagination, WATCH THIS FILM. you shan't regret it.

This is my favorite one within the 4 works I have seen, which are Little Oik, Conspirations of Pleasure and Alice in different times. Every time, I saw Svankmajer's work, I was a bit shocked and excited.

And I can always see marionettes, tongue, biting food, juice, repeat (which quite annoying, cos the repeat is beyond the limit you can bear). Like the clown read spell to control the movement of the devil again and again, same thing happened in Alice.

I found Svankmajer like whipping, like close-up shots of the scene when people biting food.

I broke laughter when Faust had sex with the female marionettes and found she was the devil in disguise.

I think Frust will be much better if more conversations are deleted and some plots are cut. Cos people with patience like me are so few.

In conclusion, it is a nightmarish marionette movie for children but a funny one for adults, isn't it? hehe

The classic tale of Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil, is given a strange twist. In the film, an ordinary guy finds a map on a subway which leads him to an abandoned theater. He chants the phrases which cause the devil to appear. The devil offers him anything he wants in exchange for his soul. Then we are treated to creepy marionette puppets that act out the play. Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is most notorious for his nightmarish stop motion film "Alice"(1988). In "Faust" he also combines his usual elements of live actors, puppets and clay animation. Most memorable is the creepy baby made of clay. Svankmajer creates his own bizarre world that is creepy yet often humorous. So if you enjoy surrealism, stop motion animation or any film that is in a category of its own; you should definitely see Jan Svankmajer's unique vision of "Faust".

There has been numerous stage and film adaptations of Goethe's tragedy Faust, where the eponymous hero sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for the Devil serving Faust during his time on the Earth, as long as upon death, Faust will serve him in return in Hell. F.W. Murnau's 1926's Faust is probably the most acclaimed film adaptation, whilst Istvan Szabo's 1981 masterpiece Mephisto transformed the setting of the play to WWII-era Germany. I would imagine that there has never been such an imaginative and unpredictable interpretation than animator Jan Svankmajer's 1994 effort. Combining live-action, stop motion animation, and puppetry, the Czech's various talents come together to make a surreal, and brilliant, piece of art.

The film begins as Faust (Petr Capek) finds a map on a train that leads him to an abandoned theatre. When there, he accidentally creates a clay baby that develops quickly from a foetus into a fully formed baby. It quickly starts shifting its face into adults, as the Devil starts to attempt communication with Faust. He destroys the baby, and ends up unwillingly on a stage, in costume, accompanied by large wooden puppets who act as the supporting characters. The play and reality start to blend together, as even when our hero pops outside for a cigarette, the puppets follow dressed in human's clothes. The play/story goes on, as Faust plays with his new powers, and is frequently influenced by the Devil.

It's quite hard to write a formal review about a film that had its impact on me a couple of hours after the credits have rolled, and some scenes where I genuinely did not know what was happening. It plays out like a sort of medieval Punch and Judy show, with some strangely creepy characters. It's undoubtedly quite childish and playful, but at the same time it is dark and complex, and more than anything else, frequently surreal.

In my favourite scene, the Fool character who is reading Faust's textbook discovers that he can the Devil whenever he likes and dismiss him just as quickly. When dismissed, the Devil quickly legs it out the door, dressing himself up in an overcoat and hat and passing the smoking Faust in the street. As he is called back, he is forced to shed the clothes and rush back to the stage to make a explosive entrance. He goes back and forth for about 5 minutes. I couldn't help but laugh at the sheer absurdness of it all.

While quite not as stunning as Alice (his Alice In Wonderland adaptation), Faust does constantly surprise, entertain, and bewilder.

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Creative visually, but storytelling so poor that for me it became a real torture to finish. It's just one long surreal ride, hard to connect to or feel anything for. It needed balance, or I needed drugs.

Jan Svankmajer probably has visions and dreams that few of us would want to have, but luckily for us he's so creative and talented and all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips with a mound of clay and (in this case) marionettes that he can put them all on display on film. His version of Faust is sometimes confusing, bewildering, and, as I gathered from not reading the original play or (sadly) not yet seeing the Murnau silent feature, not altogether makes a lot of sense. This isn't to say the central premise is lost on me, which is of a man who conjures up the force that is Mephistopheles and sells his soul. This is of course shown at one pivotal moment in the film, but if you think you know what to expect from this outcome or how it's presented you might have to rethink things.

If you've seen Svankmajer's other films, however, like Alice, then some of his approach shouldn't seem too far out... Actually, it is always very far out, but in an approachable manner, told often in a classical style of cinema that relies often on the unspoken. In this case it's not as non-dialog laden as Alice, as there are often scenes with the marionettes going on and on with their dialogs, and then with the man and the Satan figure him/itself (whether it's a man or an 'it' I can't say for sure, as Svankmajer makes it a being who materializes first as some skull, then into a near reflection of the man himself as some crazy theologian). What draws one in is the lack of abandon for narrative, and the chances he takes in making it self-conscious. It would be one thing to present the puppets themselves, but the editing is feverish; cuts go between the puppets, their movements, and then those of the puppeteer's hands. We never see their faces, but we always know someone is pulling the strings. This is key.

But beyond simply that, it's just a pure pleasure to take in how the filmmaker mixes the elements, tricks it up on the audience (i.e. after the marionettes inside for so long, they bust out into the streets without puppeteer's hands), and with the stop motion, and the moments of Bunuelian surrealism with the man going between puppet form and reality, and then out in the middle of some field. I can hardly explain more, and it would be better, after all, if he was allowed to introduce himself. Staggering, near masterpiece work.

This is why I watch films. Every now and then I stumble across beautiful strange, unique films! Grotesque, macabre but with a very weird sense of humour present at all times, this stop-motion animation / puppet & real actors film has to be one of the strangest films. I am so happy to own it! Actually in the beginning I was not quite linking to the character Faust, as he was too alienated in whatever happened - but while it went on, it began to make sense in a deeper level than the simple surrealism I had thought in the first place.

For all people interested in strange, weird films, black humour & fed up with the trash Hollywood serves us, then go for this spectacular film!

The first time I saw 'Faust', I was instantly compelled, and completely indulged in it's content, framing, sound, atmosphere..if you are a Svankmajer fan, or just finding out about his work, this is one film that I recommend owning. Svankmajers 'Faust' has become one of my number 1 favorite films, of all time. I have watched it more than 1,000 times over the last 5 years, and still adore every moment of it. Definitely touches upon dissimilar content than 'Alice'. And I do think that it may be difficult for some viewers to get use to its random, and experimental aspects of sound and imagery. I do wish that I could find the Czech Language version..or does that not exist? I have the English language version on DVD and VHS...does anyone know if there is an original undubbed copy available somewhere?

One of those films where it's hard to even know where to start, when it comes to describing it. I guess at its most basic, it's a retelling of the story of Faust set in the modern day. The presentation is what makes it unique, though, as it's told with a mix of live action, stop motion animation/claymation, and puppetry (a surprising amount of puppets, actually).

Feels like the kind of movie where it's best to just soak up the weird atmosphere and creative visuals, but I'm also fairly sure if anyone watching wanted to break it down and analyse it, there's probably ample stuff here to look over and scrutinise.

I happened to watch this right after seeing David Lynch's Dune (1984) for the first time, and the two made for an interesting yet mind-melting double feature. I'd recommend the pairing, but at the same time wouldn't recommend the pairing. Offbeat sci-fi followed by offbeat fantasy/horror made for a wild few hours of Saturday night viewing.

A very artistically playfully free film with the use of stop motion which must take a hell of a lot of work. This film is full of alchemical humour with the use of marionettes and what not. This film gave me that nostalgia to visit Prague again. This film is not exactly scary but tremendously haunting and is bound to remain imprinted in your mind. It is so dreamlike that to some it can be pretty disturbing. I think that this film is bursting with magic. Svankmajer is profoundly imaginative and consistent in his creativity, his work is pretty astounding. Here he plays around with the myth of Dr Faustus with the use of very diabolical life size marionettes and demons from hell who offer our main Czech actor all that he could possibly want in return for his soul. This is shockingly unique stuff.

i watched this movie and it took quite a long time before i understood what was going on.

this movie definitely is a very different movie and i only continued to watch for the experience of the movie.

it is very creative though. like the use of claymation,stop-motion and life sized puppets for some of the characters. these creative ideas and the movie's massive "what the?" factor about it is probably why i gave it a 6 out of 10.

i would recommend this movie more for the cultural experience of different movies but thats all i can really give it.

The atmospheric trailer for this film made its viewing essential: Why were disembodied hands beating drums in the woods? Who is Mephistopheles? Why are life-size wooden puppets running through Prague without a puppeteer? Svankmajer's film uses a great range of archetypes in this film that appeal to our sense of symbolism. Many scenes in the film have the poetic resonance of dreams: a cryptic note hurriedly pressed into our hands by a stranger, a dimly lit vaudeville stage, dark, grimly portentous puppets at the threshold, magic, illusion, damnation. Using the Faust legend as a starting point, the film explores such themes as predestination, religion, fear, folly and conjures a mesmerising film that I will watch many times for its enchanting originality. A must-see for lovers of spectacle.