Mephistopheles (Emil Jannings) bets an archangel (Werner Fuetterer) he can corrupt the soul of aging alchemist Faust (Gösta Ekman); and the stakes are the Earth itself. When a plague is unleashed and Faust is unable to find a cure, he rejects both God and science and invokes the aid of Satan. Mephisto appears and makes a pact with Faust: he will restore his youth in exchange for his soul. But its a pact the revitalized Faust wishes he never made when he falls for the innocent charms of Gretchen (Camilla Horn)…
THE LOWDOWN 1926’s Faust: A German Folktale (Faust, eine deutsche Volkssage) is FW Murnau’s last German film before heading to the US. Featuring stylized photography, set and art direction, and ground-breaking special effects, it came at the pinnacle of the silent era and alongside 1922's Nosferatu was Murnau's silent gift to German cinema’s rich heritage of horror.
THE RESTORED PRINT Although numerous editions of the film exist, there were only two original negatives from which all other versions issued. Using the nitrate duplicate negatives printed by UFA in 1926 and an array of international sources, Murnau’s favoured domestic German version has been reconstructed by Filmoteca Espanola from which this newly restored transfer is sourced. It makes this version the closest we will ever get to see the film as the director intended it to be seen. The Masters of Cinema Series presents the Friedrich-Wilhelm- Murnau-Stiftung http://youtube.com/v/8lmaBc9TAxc
