Faust and Mephistopheles

Alice Guy constructs her version of the legend on the contrast between Faust's static, pensive figure and Mephistopheles' dynamic, almost disembodied presence. She relies on visual metaphor and the power of editing to convey the essence of a pact with the devil without a single intertitle.

What lingers after viewing is a sense of witnessing the birth of cinematic fantasy, where every second is charged with meaning, and the magic of turn-of-the-century special effects fascinates with its naive power. — MovieFinder Editorial