Faust

Profile of Jan Švankmajer

Directed by Jan Švankmajer, Czech Republic/France/Great Britain 1994, 97 min.

Jan Švankmajer has always been interested in the Faustian theme: he first developed it as a performance for the Semaphore Theatre of Masks; in the 1980s he wrote an unrealised script for the full-length programme of Laterna Magika. The long-gestating project eventually took the form of a feature-length combined film. The director filmed his second feature-length project (after Something from Alice, 1987) with a team of permanent collaborators for two years; he cast the excellent Petr Čepek in the lead role.

In his sarcastic reflection on manipulation, the author did not base his work on interpretations of the Faustian myth, but (like, for example, Petr Čepka) on the Faustian myth. The film itself, however, only offers the viewer's imagination rich material for further reflection.

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at 47. IFF Cannes 1994; at the XXIX. IFF Karlovy Vary 1994 was awarded the Special Jury Prize ex aequo. 

In orginal version.