Rating: 4.5/5
From the moment the horsemen appeared, my jaw was agape. How does this movie look so good? The lighting is perfect, the makeup and costuming are excellent, and the cinematography is perfect — the last time I felt like this while watching a silent film was watching Nosferatu — no surprise, same director
The second half does take a considerably slower pace, but the slow build of tension helps anchor the story and pull it out of “boo hoo, a boy who got everything he wanted still not satisfied” into “getting what you want costs more than you know.”
All ancient parable bullshit, rendered beautifully
Stray Thoughts
- It also helps that I don’t know the Faust story, so I didn’t have any story beats to anticipate or what changed in this adaptation
- I’ve watched Supernatural. I know what happens at crossroads
- I didn’t realize Fantasia ripped off so much from this for the Night on Bald Mountain section
- “We still live, we still love, we shall die dancing in each other’s arms” — this would be a good song lyric
- The vial Faust carried around looks like a vape
- Oh, queer-coded villains are as old as story, huh?