FIRST DIARY ENTRY OF 2014

What an impeccable work of art!

The first thing that stands out from Aleksandar Sokurov's (Russian Ark [2002]) brave adaptation of Goethe's immortal piece of German tragedy is its remarkable cinematographic fluency, which may remind the connoisseur viewer of Pasolini's poetic and free-flowing visual literature with glimpses of incontrollable moral disorders, including the omniscient narrative that pervades the storytelling structure, with thoughts and voiceovers interrupting the characters' psyche (Fellini popularized this film trend from 8½ [1963] to Satyricon [1969], until the world saw Pasolini's Trilogy of Life for the first time).

Sokurov's only weakness is his sudden obsession with distorting the dimensions of objects through his digital lens. The purpose is understood, that is, to…

”If God doesn't exist then it means that devil can’t exist too.”

Ingmar Bergman could have turned Faust into a melancholic and shattering film but Alexander Sokurov’s adaptations of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s famous poetic drama is a more or less disappointing and lazy film which instead of creating lively and believable characters who are struggling with their faith and desires introduces some dull and vague individuals whose motives and actions are not explained and the sluggish and boring pace of the film ruins the whole experience, Bruno Delbonell’s fascinating and eye-catching cinematography makes the film a bit more tolerable but overall Faust is an adaptations which suffers from Sokurov’s overambitious approach to a story which is hard to adapt…

33/100

This must be what it was like for folks who hated The Counselor: two solid hours (and significant change, in this case) of people spouting philosophy at each other in a series of disconnected, essentially modular scenes. Difference for me is that McCarthy's characters collectively embody a singular, personal worldview, however blinkered it may be, whereas Sokurov, as ever, just regurgitates the Masters. (I'm not a fan.) This time around, the movie itself appears to have been vomited up; I lack the color vocabulary to do justice to its deliberately repulsive look (which Michael Sicinski dubbed "Piss Faust"), but the effect seems to me more punitive than evocative. Anamorphic distortion, too, seems less purposeful than it has in his…

"I have no money for ink, Soon I'll have to sign in blood." ~ Faust

Some 85 years after F.W. Murnau's original film adaptation of the Doctor Faustus legend, Russian director Alexander Sokurov decided to give the story a more modern makeover. This time, the tale based on German fables and Goethe's classic play is set in the 19th century and there is no "wager" between ephemeral beings representing good and evil. It's a much more gritty, down-to-earth interpretation, which opens with a bloody autopsy being conducted by Professor Heinrich Faust (Johannes Zeiler) and his devoted assistant Wagner (Georg Friedrich).

There is no Mephisto or Mephistopheles, per se. Instead, Faust meets a moneylender named Mauricious (Anton Adasinsky), who runs the…

Someone, a friend of mine, I can't remember which, used to or still does hate when movies spell out their theses in the dialogue. I don't think this film's only idea is that unhappy people are very dangerous, but it's such a prevailing part of the dialogue and the plot that it felt distinctly off-putting, and I couldn't help but think of that friend's (roobz, maybe? apologies if I'm wrong there) pet peeve. Despite that, I quite enjoyed this madhouse.

Sokurov's vision of some ante-modern Germany is grim and gory, viewed as if through some sort of strange window, clipped and crafted to allow you to watch as this story focuses on the build up to Faust's bargain more than…

Now here is something new and daring. My tolerance for people just repeating what others have done is very low these days. Most of the big names in cinema are just playing it safe. Even Martin Scorsese (who still makes good films) is not doing anything daring, and has not since he did Bringing out the Dead.

There are few heroes out there. Guy Maddin is one, Trier is another and Aleksandr Sokurov is in that group of real artists. This film really captures the feeling of being in the presence of the devil. It is filmed like a nightmare. People are constantly getting stuck in corridors, doorways and narrow streets. Clothes are stuck to their body and strangers are…

Faust (фауст) is a Russian film directed by Alexander Sokurov. The film is a free interpretation of the legend of Faust and its respective literary adaptations by both Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Thomas Mann.

Heinrich Faust is a man who seeks to understand the very nature of life and how it makes the world go round. His urge to understand the depths of certain things takes him to the extreme, to the point of digging up corpses and rummaging through their guts only to locate the home of the soul. While Faust continues to do his experiments, he meets the racketeer Mauricius (a worldly version of Mephistopheles and considers himself an Übermensch).

Mauricius takes Faust to the twilight zones…

«فاوست» سوکوروف را بعد از سال‌ها دوباره دیدم، همچنان تماشایش تحمل‌ناپذیر بود اما این بار برایم به یکی از بهترین، شخصی‌ترین و پیچیده‌ترین اقتباس‌ها در تاریخ سینما بدل شد. سوکوروف با «فاوست» چرخه‌ به قول خودش دایره‌ای چهارگانه‌ قدرتش را کامل می‌کند و فیلمی می‌سازد در دیالوگ (و دیالکتیکی) پیچیده با درون‌مایه‌ها و پارادوکس‌های سوکوروفی: مرگ و زندگی، روح و بدن، معنویت و جسمایت، جهانبینی آلمانی و روسی، ادبیات (قصه) و تاریخ (واقعیت)، رستگاری و دوزخ، نقاشی و سینما، زیبایی و زشتی. و این آخری شاید مهم‌ترین ویژگی سینمای سوکوروف برایم باشد که جذبم می‌کند و دلزده، جهان سوکوروف توأمان زیبا (نقاشی‌گون و پرعطوفت) و زشت (گروتسک، بی‌رحم، دسترس‌ناپذیر) است؛ این زشتیِ مهیب در «فاوست» به نهایت می‌رسد.
فیلم با…

“El bien no existe pero el mal sí”, dice Wagner. “¿Te das cuenta de lo que dices?” le replica Fausto. 

“Yo no caí en la tentación” alega Mauritius, a lo que Fausto le responde: “tú eres la serpiente”.

“¿Quién puede creer hoy en Dios?” pregunta soberbio Fausto a Margarita/Gretchen y el diablo en una esquina responde en voz baja: “yo”.

El Infierno en la Tierra alegórica de Dante, tal y como se ve al final es la caída y no la redención final de un Fausto tan humano como insecto. Tras firmar el pacto con Mefistófeles, éste se lo lleva directo a un Infierno que nada tiene de metafísico por el túnel de las ratas. Aunque vaya urdiendo mientras tanto…