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Faust (1994)

Faust (1994)

7.5

The devil returns through creepy animation to make a deal in modern day Prague

Movie

Czech Republic, France
Czech, Latin
Animation, Drama, Fantasy
1994

TLDR

(translated from ancient demonic language) BLUHLUHLUHLUHLUHLUHLUH

What it's about

A map leads an ordinary man to find a puppet theatre inside a dilapidated building. As he explores the props and costumes, the man finds himself embroiled in a deal with the devil, and a strange production of the Faustian legend.

The take

With many iterations of Faust, Jan Švankmajer’s own take on the deal with the devil isn't absolutely terrifying, and can feel bizarre, sometimes even goofy, to those unfamiliar with the animation director. However, Lekce Faust is quite creepy, as he brings the legend to modern day Prague with a mysterious map and visually disturbing puppets that brilliantly mixes live action with stop-motion and claymation into folklorish cinematic magic. It's not the most faithful rendition of the classic tale, but it's one of the most inventive, proving that while the deals like this pop up only in past folklore, the devil still lingers in fairly absurd ways.

What stands out

I mean, it is a bit presumptuous to assume all devils and demonic entities only speak Latin, but it is quite funny to hear them speak gibberish.

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