FAUST - A German Tale
Director: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Screenplay: Hans Kyser, based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Christopher Marlowe and the old Faust-legend Cinematography: Carl Hoffmann Art direction: Robert Herlth & Walter Röhrig Music: Werner Richard Heymann Cast:
Gösta Ekman (Faust), Emil Jannings (Mephisto), Camilla Horn (Gretchen), Frida Richard (Gretchen's mother), Wilhelm Dieterle (Valentin, Gretchen's brother), Yvette Guilbert (Marthe Schwertlein), Eric Barclay (Count of Parma), Hanna Ralph (Duchess of Parma), Werner Fuetterer (Archangel), Hans Rameau (farmer), Lothar Müthel (monk), Hertha von Walther, Emmy Wyda u.a.
Production: Ufa Time: September 1925 - May 1926 Location: Atelier Neubabelsberg Premiere: October 14, 1926, Ufa-Palast am Zoo, Berlin Length: 2484 meters (115 minutes)
Kyser's screenplay opens with the prologue in heaven. The Archangel in reply to Mephistos' challenge, accedes to the devil's petition to test the integrity of Faust. Mephisto appears in Faust's study where a compact is sealed in fire and blood. The community is spared the further effects of a devastating plague, and Faust, having regained his youth, embarks on a search for pleasure, but should Faust find one moment of contentment, Mephisto will claim his soul. During the course of his travels through the world with Mephisto, Faust has a love affair with Gretchen, for whose downfall he is responsible. When Gretchen is condemned to be burned for infanticide, Faust has an awakening of conscience. He disregards the loss of eternal youth which bad been granted by Mephisto and rushes toward Gretchen at the place of execution. Faust ascends the funeral pyre and together they go to heaven purified.
In the hope of achieving a large share of the world market, Ufa endeavored to bring together an international cast for Faust. The studio achieved its goal in part. Emil Jannings was cast as Mephisto; Gösta Ekman, a Swede, played Faust; and Yvette Guilbert of France took the comic role of Martha. When the American actress Lillian Gish declined Ufa's invitation to play Gretchen, having insisted that Charles Rosher accompany her to Germany to photograph the film, the studio accepted Murnau's choice of Camilla Horn, a German, who had never appeared in films.
Murnau entrusted the photography to Karl Hoffmann, who worked in close collaboration with art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig. The unorthodox but imaginative Murnau encouraged Herlth to draw the characters first and allow the sets to grow around them. Murnau believed that simple interiors would allow the actors to dominate the setting. Herlth's design for the room of Gretchen's mother, for example, became merely a frame for the robust presence of Dieterle, who was playing Valentin. And Faust's study was not designed as a single room but in accordance with the shots that bad been decided on, in four separate parts built one after the other.
Murnau did not hesitate to embrace the ideas of his art director when they accorded with his own thinking. He was particularly enthusiastic when Herlth suggested that the marketplace be constructed obliquely in order that the townspeople, panic stricken by the plague, would be forced to move in a confused pattern. Herlth's solution allowed Murnau to achieve the effect in precisely the manner he had sought.
For Murnau the lighting became part of the actual directing of the film, Herlth recounted. He would never have shot a scene without first "seeing" the lighting and adapting it to his intentions. After Hoffmann bad lit the first set of Faust, Murnau inquired: Now how are we going to get the effect in the design? This is too much light. Everything must be made much more shadowy. Hoffman then cut the lights, using screens twenty-three cm wide by fifty cm high to define the space and create shadows on the wall and in the air. Stimmung (atmosphere) was also achieved by smoke. A pile of flammable film stock would be ignited in the doorway of the studio while technicians directed the smoke toward the scene being photographed. The danger was very great, not to mention the discomfort for cast and crew, but the image which resulted contained a marvellous chiaroscuro worthy of a Rembrandt etching.
The creation of the prologue in which the Archangel and Mephisto engage in a celestial colloquy and lay a wager on Faust's soul was no less ingenious. Steam was emitted from pipes against a clouded background while arc lights, arranged in a circle, gave the steam the appearance of rays of light. The Archangel was placed in the foreground brandishing a flaming sword. We did it several times, and each time it was perfectly all right, Herlth recalled, but Murnau was so caught up in the pleasure of doing it that he forgot all about time. The steam bad to keep on billowing through the beams of light, until the Archangel-Werner Fütterer-was so exhausted he could no longer lift his sword. When Murnau realized what had happened, he shook his head and laughed at himself then gave everyone a break.
The photographing of the demon's flight over the town bearing the curse of the black plague taxed the resources, skill and patience of all concerned. No other director, not even Lang, ever succeeded in conjuring up the supernatural as masterfully as this, Lotte H. Eisner has written in The Haunted Screen. The entire town seems to be covered by the vast folds of a demon's cloak (or is it a gigantic, lowering cloud?), as the demoniac forces of darkness prepared to devour the powers of light. Jannings was suspended for three hours, his black cape billowing from the force of three electric fans, as soot, ejected from a propeller, enveloped the miniature village beneath him. Jannings finished the shot tired and cursing. The crew was no less exhausted. Murnau remained perfectly calm, however, and when he handed his soiled white jacket to the studio manager, he said simply, If it's too much for you, don't bother to come. Completely dedicated to his art, Murnau reminded Herlth of a scientist performing an experiment in a laboratory or a surgeon during a complicated operation.
Arno Richter, assistant to Robert Herlth, remembered that All those not immediately concerned in the work were refused admission to the studio. This even applied to the great Erich Pommer... Murnau wouldn't even let him come to the daily rushes. So from that point of view everything was peaceful in the studio, but the ardour we put into our work involved us in many arguments and discussions. Herlth often glimpsed Murnau sunk in an armchair, trying to improve on some unsatisfactory move by an actor, or ticking off the studio manager. But on such occasions he was always good humoured; he was never really angry when he sounded angry.
pictures:
the Apocalyptic Riders // Mephisto and the Archangel // Faust and his students // Mephisto carries the plague // a monk speaks to the crowd // Faust is asked for help // the desperate Faust // Faust calls the devil // Mephisto at Faust's laboratory // Mephisto's compact // Faust retreats from the cross // Mephisto's transformation // the rejuvenation of Faust // Faust rides on Mephisto's coat // Mephisto offers him a crown // Gretchen in her room // Faust looks through Gretchen's window // Mephisto and Marthe Schwertlein // Faust, Mephisto and Gretchen // Mephisto shouts: "Murder... Murder!" // Gretchen stands in the pillory // a munching spectator // the ghost of Gretchen's mother // Gretchen is wandering through the snow // the funeral pyre____________________________________
