Faust

dir. Jan Svankmajer, 97 minutes In Czech, with English subtitles

Jan Svankmajer’s Faust is a rendering of the infamous Dr. Faustus fable of temptation and dam-nation. Borrowing freely from both Marlowe and Goethe and ancient folktales and timelessmyths, the story follows a lonely Czech businessman who sells his soul to the devil in return for24 years of self-indulgence. A visually fantastic combination of live-action, claymation, puppettheatre, stop-motion animation, and other special effects, Svankmajer creates an unsettlinguniverse presided over by diabolic life-size marionettes and haunted by sinister human mes-sengers from hell.