Fausto 5.0

I hadn't heard or seen anything about this movie before I saw it sitting on the DVD shelf of my local library, let alone have an idea what it was about. I was lured by the awards it had advertised on the cover and ambiguous statement, 'If you were to sell your soul what would you ask for?' I have no answer to the question but I'm pleased I parted with £1.50 to see this movie.

It is based on the Faustian legend that the central character's pact with the devil allows him to have energy, life and youth unless he becomes so entranced by the passing moment that he wishes that things will never change. When Faust succumbs unthinkingly into that wish, his life is forfeit to a demon. In this adaptation the central character Dr Fausto (Miguel Ángel Solá), a specialist doctor of terminal medicine, who has lost his zest for life working constantly with people on the brink of death. While attending a conference in Barcelona, he runs into the mysterious (and hilarious) Santos Vella, pronounced 'Vela', as in 'mozzarella', played by the excellent Eduard Fernández, a man who claims to have once been treated by Fausto but which Fausto has no recollection of. He follows Fausto everywhere and knows everything about him, using his wit and humour to make a bold pact with Fausto and reintroduce him to youth and fun and his daughter Marta (Irene Montalà). When Fausto abuses the pact with Vella, his life starts dismantling with horrific and explicit consequences and nightmares, such as dogs eating at his stomach, being arrested and the demon threatening to harm his medical assistant, Julia (Najwa Nimri).

The plot builds quickly and mysteriously through a blend of strange characters, such as the old woman on the train and the rail kill being hauled off the front train at the station, and psychedelic editing (which looks both original and a throw-back to cheesy 70s horror flicks). It keeps you hooked, especially the acting by Fernández, who comes across full of life and witty as the demon, towards the cold Dr Fausto, Solá. Both actors looked involved in the roles and came across frighteningly realistic as the plot evolved. The sets were also detached and chilling, which added to the suspense, such as the nightclub they go to, with the crazy naked women chained upside down and dancing to the hardcore rock music. It reminded me a little bit of the scenes in Fight Club. The sound affects when Fausto tears open the body at the lecture is sickeningly realistic and the music was jagged and sharp to add to the apprehension. There are very humorous scenes as well, such as smashing up the living room with a golf-club and the funny quips.

It was well directed by Álex Ollé, Carlos Padrisa and Isidro Ortiz. The plot flowed smoothly and the performances and the sets were flawless. However, the writer Fernando León I thought was trying his best to make the film more strange than he had to. For example, the girl Margarita who Fausto has sex with has blue arms – why? And why is it called Fausto 5.0? There's no explanation to this in the story and I think there's a few red herrings to try and throw people unnecessarily off course. Then again, it could be the director achieving what he wanted; for you to keep guessing. I know I still am. The film was out to shock, which happens quite often in Spanish movies. There's often an empty feeling, a detachment between the audience and the characters, which is both interesting and keeps you thinking about the plot for days afterwards. It's a unique trend in Spanish cinema, and Fausto 5.0 is a prime example. Dreams also feature a lot in Spanish cinema. Take Abre Los Ojos for example, which was also surreal and strange and ended up being one great nightmare. Along with Abre Los Ojos, there is a hint of Requiem to a Dream and Fight Club, due to the fact the characters in the films are on the edge of life and they include horrors and sci-fi elements and are all well-made.

I give this film eight out of ten. I was hooked, it was original, brilliantly acted and excellently made. Fans of sci-fi/horror movies will love it. I'm not particularly but I really enjoyed it. If the writer had been a little less pretentious with the weirdness, it would have received an extra mark.

Oh, How I wish all horror movies would be like Fausto 5.0 The movie reminded me of Jackob's Ladder, It was beautifully arranged and has a breathtaking scenes. It's a tale about a doctor, who specializes in terminal patients. On his way to a medical convention, he runs into a strange David lynch kind of character who keeps following him. From there we go through a series of half dream half reality occurrences which also has the most artistic sex scene I've ever scene.

The movie isn't too scary, It's the atmosphere which is creepy. The soundtrack also adds to the movie peak points. This movie is a must for every Lynch or Jackob's Ladder fans. Go and see it

The umpteenth version of a well-known story (check the title which is the hero's name).it begins well enough,but after an half-hour,it's run of the mill pact with the devil.The actor playing Rilla the "survivor" obviously tries to ape De Niro's style in "Angel Heart".But whereas Parker's work had a solid screenplay,this Spanish story falls apart in the second third and fails totally to convince in one of the most disappointing conclusions a horror movie has ever offered.The movie fills its quota of sex ,"surgery" and gore .Every Spanish director is not Amenabar,by a long shot.I must confess I have not understood the meaning of 5.0.....if it has one of course.

I had a fair idea of what i was looking for, coming to this film. This was a collaborative work, entangled between people coming from films, and people coming from live performances. La fura dels baus are, at the same time, a very interesting group, of people who try to extend and expand the notions of live performance and, more interesting, the notions of interaction with an audience. Basically, their trick is to increase the engagement of people, by bringing them closer to stage, actually, taking the stage to people sitting in front of it.

So i thought i was going to see something similar, regarding film. New ways to engage, a novel way to tell a story that includes the audience, while meaning something.

But film is a total different medium. Different tools, different tricks, different outcome.

The inventiveness and passion you get when watching a performance is here fully replaced by the commitment to build a world, over the real world, that could accommodate the story of the film.

So, we are given a city as if it was an artistic intervention, with all the implied stylization and artificiality. Wrapped Christo-like building, with its interior being actually that of a museum. Transformation of places in the city, by placing groups of people that just don't belong there. The catacombs of the hospital, a good use of space.

This is all great, but the problems of the film begin here. Although this world is perfectly presented, considering what you can do with a city to make it (more) suitable for the story you're telling, this isn't enough to pull us into the film with the same intensity that we are pulled into a show by La Fura. So, despite the effort, the film doesn't leverage the live performances, and i think that was intended.

But you get Barcelona, a fairly interesting one, and we get some great sequences, although disconnected. Of those, the one in the hospital catacombs (which is fundamental in the story) is the best.

My opinion: 3/5

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Spanish horror flick in the David Lynch style it was told to me and it took me years to finally get a grip on it. Maybe I had to many expectations but at the end it wasn't my cup of tea.

I won't go into the story because otherwise I would tell the plot. But if you like Lynch or Jacob's Ladder (1990) then this is surely your thing. We do have strange personalities, like the old woman, and the devil himself is walking around and his victim will meet his daughter who strips before his eyes and give head. And maybe that the most shocking part for some, the nudity involved. There's one scene were our victim goes to a Gothic bar and takes a teenager with him, she goes fully naked and do make love with him. To be honest, that's what we think because there are dreams in dreams.

Nevertheless, maybe the gore lays in the fact that we do have corpses being ripped open for research and we do have gratuitous nudity. But overall, I do like art flicks but Fausto was a bit to much of blah blah.

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 2,5/5 Comedy 0/5