Faust (1994)

Jan Svankmajer's reinterpretation of Faust won't please purists and will confuse and annoy many others. For those tuned in to this uniquely gifted filmmaker's wave, however, Lekce Faust will be a thrillingly disturbing joyride into nihilism. As usual with Svankmajer, the visual is paramount; while he employs a considerable amount of dialogue, the film achieves its greatest power from the director's bizarre clay animation and puppetry designs. As in Conspirators of Pleasure, however, Svankmajer also makes greater use of location settings, including a stunning and frightening vista of rocks atop which Faust finds himself while summoning the devil. (That summoning sequence is itself a visual feast, full of shifting, unsettling images that draw their power from their very oddness). Svankmajer also does a marvelous job of finding the evil horror in the everyday; the minions that initially lure Faust to his encounters with Mephistopheles are both ridiculously common and frightening. The narrative, while willfully obscure in places, is one that is obviously very clear to Svankmajer, and that assurance is felt throughout the film. Faust is not without its flaws; some will find it too slow, others will find it entirely hollow. But even those who do not share Svankmajer's sensibility should be struck by its visual power. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide