Faust (1994 film)

Faust is a 1994 film directed by Jan vankmajer. It merges liveaction footage with stopmotion footage and includes imaginative puppetry and claymation. The Faust character is played by Petr epek. The film was produced by Jaromr Kallista. Although the film does not serve to accurately portray the Faustus legend, it utilizes the legend in a rather imaginative way, borrowing and blending elements from the story as told by Goethe and Christopher Marlowe with traditional folk renditions. It has a distinctly Modernist, Absurdist, Kafkaesque feel, especially with the setting in Prague. The tone is dark but humorous. The voices in the English version were provided by Andrew Sachs. The film was selected as the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 67th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.

The story commences on the streets of Prague on a grey morning with commuters bustling about. We are introduced to the figure of an Everyman, played by Petr epek, a colourless figure emerging from a metro station. On his way home, the man encounters two men handing out flyers. It is a map of the city with a location marked in. He shrugs and discards it, returning to his lodging. As he opens the door, a black cockerel runs out. The man sits down to eat, cutting himself a slice of bread. He discovers an egg concealed inside the loaf. He cracks it open but it is empty. Suddenly the lights go out and the wind rises. Objects are thrown about the room. The commotion ceases the man goes to the window and looks down to where the two men from earlier are staring up at him. One of them holds the cockerel. The man closes the blind and returns to the table, where he finds the map and, using his own map of the city, traces out the location marked.The next day, he goes to the spot indicated and enters a dilapidated building from which just a man rushes in fear. The man presses on into the interior and descends to a dressing room, where he finds a charred script, a robe embroidered with sigils, greasepaint, a wig with beard and a cap. Sitting down he addresses himself as Faust and speaks to himself the first words spoken in the film Fausts opening declaration of intent to follow black magic. ........

Source: Wikipedia