The atmospheric trailer for this film made its viewing essential: Why were disembodied hands beating drums in the woods? Who is Mephistopheles? Why are life-size wooden puppets running through Prague without a puppeteer? Svankmajer's film uses a great range of archetypes in this film that appeal to our sense of symbolism. Many scenes in the film have the poetic resonance of dreams: a cryptic note hurriedly pressed into our hands by a stranger, a dimly lit vaudeville stage, dark, grimly portentous puppets at the threshold, magic, illusion, damnation. Using the Faust legend as a starting point, the film explores such themes as predestination, religion, fear, folly and conjures a mesmerising film that I will watch many times for its enchanting originality. A must-see for lovers of spectacle.
