Faust (1960)

Movie
Original title	fist
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Publishing year	1960
length	128 minutes
Rod
Director	Peter Gorski
production	Divina film ( Ilse Kubaschewski )
music	Mark Lothar
camera	Günther Anders
cut	Walter Boos
occupation
Will Quadflieg : Faust Gustaf Gründgens : Mephisto Ella Büchi : Gretchen Elisabeth Flickenschildt : Gretchen's neighbor Marthe Schwerdtlein Hermann Schomberg : theater director Eduard Marks : Wagner Max Eckard : Valentin Uwe Friedrichsen : student Heinz Reincke : Frog Hans Irle : Altmayer Friedrich G. Beckhaus : Brander Karl Heinz Wüpper : Siebel Heidi Leupolt : Lieschen Gustl Busch : Witch Konrad Krauss : Archangel Raphael

Faust is a 1960 film adaptation of the production of Goethe's Faust I by Gustaf Gründgens at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus .

History of origin

Gustaf Gründgens had already played Mephisto more than 600 times in 40 years before he staged Faust again as the director of the Hamburg theater in 1957 and was on stage in his favorite role. This production proved to be a complete success and gained international fame with guest performances in Russia and America.

Ilse Kubaschewski , owner of Gloria-Film GmbH & Co. Filmverleih KG , tried hard and successfully to overcome Gründgens' resistance to filming. Gründgens was able to enforce his ideas about filming: “It has to be the task of this filming, ” said Gründgens, “ to find the exact middle between filmed theater and pure film. The result of a 30-year effort for Goethe's 'Faust' must neither be photographed nor softened by cinematic interest. “With his staging, Gründgens turned away from any kind of mysticism and vagueness; this goal should not be falsified at the expense of beautiful images .

The film was directed by Ilse Kubaschewskis production company Co. KG DIVINA-FILM GmbH & manufactured. Peter Gorski , Gründgens' adopted son and partner at the same time, was ultimately directed .

presentation

The film is a compromise between filmed stage play and independent cinematic art, whereby it uses cinematic means such as panning and close-up and consequently goes beyond the viewpoint of the theater visitor. But he always leaves the theater stage in the picture in order to remind the audience of the origin of the film image. The staging is extremely true to the work, the text is condensed, but otherwise not significantly changed. Updates to the classic drama can only be found in the set: For example, an atomic bomb explosion is faded in on Walpurgis Night . The actors do not speak as in a film, but as if on stage, as if their voices had to penetrate the entire theater.

Special representation of Mephisto by Gustaf Gründgens

Because Gustaf Gründgens had played the character Mephisto over 600 times, he had developed his own feeling for this role. Gründgens shows Mephisto as a pale man with red lips and sharply drawn eyebrows. Instead of hair, the figure wears an eye-catching black hood. As in Goethe's original, she appears very ironic and criticizes a lot. In addition, Gründgens shows with the smallest of gestures how to understand the figure of the devil .

Reviews

“The famous“ Faust I ”production in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg under the direction of Gustaf Gründgens. The recording does not want to be an independent film adaptation, but captivates mainly as a stage reproduction. "

- Lexicon of international film

literature

• Rosemarie Clausen , Faust in Bilder , Braunschweig: Westermann [1960] 1964, 7th ed.
• Georg Seeßlen : Faust. Materials for a film by Peter Gorski. Gustaf Gründgens masterpiece . Atlas-Film and AV, Duisburg 1992, 130 pages, ISBN 3-88932-050-3

Web links

• Fist in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Faust at filmportal.de
• Faust in the Lexicon of International Films

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The education lock , Der Spiegel , June 8, 1960
2. ↑ Ralf Sudau: Faust I and Faust II , p. 109.
3. ↑ Faust. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .