Post by Mrs Vindecco on Sept 11, 2012 22:09:56 GMT
This is something I have been meaning to watch for a while because I have seen it advertised on Netflix and as I really like Nosferatu and wanted to watch something else from Murnau, I thought I would give this a chance. I could have chosen The Last Laugh, but as I know the story of Faust and have never seen a dramatisation, I decided to start with this.
On the whole I enjoyed it. I believe Murnau was given a much bigger budget for this after Nosferatu and it really does show, then again cinema had technically come on leaps and bounds. The direction was great, much more epic and impressive than I would have expected. The sweeping camera shots especially in the flying sequences were really quite good. Actually I would go as far as to say that between this and Metropolis (made the following year), German cineman was outdoing Hollywood in the special FX front. I also loved the sets and right from the off, every scene was handled with great care and were incredibly atmospheric. I especially liked the plague scenes, the beautiful yet tragic scenes in the snow and even the romantic scenes were not as saccharine as some silent films. Special mention must be given Gosta Ekman and Camilla Horn who I actually think gave very moving and quite sexy performances.
The same can't be said for Emil Jannings. OK I knew a bit about this guy before watching the film. Yes he was the first actor to get an Academy Award, (though my research today suggests Rin Tin Tin actually beat him but Wikipedia said that, so who knows) and I know he was huge Nazi, but I tried to watch his performance objectively. However, I genuinely found him annoying and hammy even by silent films standards. His facial expressions were really unnecessary and while I don't mind actors trying to steal a scene, I think they should be subtle and not just be mugging or doing weird things with their tongue for the sake of it. If Faust was clever as he is supposed to be, I personally think he would have avoided Jannings Mephisto out of sheer irratation.
Thankfully Jannings didn't ruin the film for me on this occasion. However I do have a sneaky suspicion that if I was too watch it again, I would be the more irritated.
Still, I would recommend it.
