Faust

Faust

1926. Germany. Directed by F. W. Murnau. Adapted by Hans Kyser from the play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Cinematography by Carl Hoffmann. With Emil Jannings, Camilla Horn, Gosta Ekman, Wilhelm Dieterle. Using the extraordinary resources at Ufa Studio in Neubabelsberg, Murnau and Hoffmann, through “the plastic effects created by lighting,” produced what one author called “a new visual quality that was called ‘abstract’ film architecture.” Murnau, probably the most influential of all filmmakers, had already established himself with Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, and other works, and he was now offered a contract with Fox in America to make Sunrise. Hoffmann, whose career dwindled with the rise of National Socialism, was praised by Fritz Lang: “What I dreamt up, as a painter wishing to evoke the plastic image, Carl Hoffmann accomplished, thanks to his effects of light and shade.” Silent, with musical accompaniment. German intertitles; English translation.. 93 min.