Rating: 3.5/5
A turn on the Faustian legend, where Roland, a mediocre painter with a dissatisfied girlfriend, buys a talisman that grants him any ability his heart desires. The seller sold it for half of what he bought it for, because it must be sold at a loss. He bought it for two pennies, and sells it for one.
A weird little guy keeps following him around. After a year, he’s looking to get his due. It’s ol’ Lucifer himself, and the painter can’t sell the talisman for a loss, so he must trade his soul.
Roland sucks! He’s a total tool to everyone, especially his wife, so his bad fortune is welcome.
The art made for the movie is cool! The paintings are sinister surrealistic works with shadows haunting men with knives. The movie also has some animated interstitials that are rad as hell.
The highlight of the movie is a scene with Roland at a dinner table during Carnivàle. I won’t say anything else, but it’s visually one of the most playful and entertaining sequences I’ve seen in a French movie from the era.
In a post-Twilight Zone world, this story has no major surprises, but it has some fun little turns here and there. I ended up enjoying this a lot!