SILENT FILM CONCERT

In a majestic opening of shooting ames and vaporous light, Mephisto and an archangel dispute the ownership of Earth. To prove his superiority, Mephisto wagers that he can turn Faust away from God. He then grants Faust the power to cure the plague and entices the stooped old man with an image of his lost youthful beauty. Inebriated with possibility Faust signs over his soul to the Devil.

Murnau drew from several sources for this visually extravagant masterpiece of both silent and Satanic cinema namely old folk tales and Goethe s tragedy.