on the oft-told tale of a scientist (Johannes Zeiler) who trades his soul to Satan for a glimpse of the secrets of the cosmos. Like the former film, FAUST unfolds as a leisurely journey through a series of allegorical set pieces which mirrors the title character’s explo- ration of the meaning of exist- ence. Faust’s guide along the way is a muddled, misshapen, Mephistophelian pawnbroker (Anton Adasinsky) whose iconic bargain with the scientist adds an unexpectedly exultant twist to the story’s familiar conclusion. In this thematically inverted version of the tale, Faust is much more con- cerned with the earthly charms of Margarete (Isolda Dychauk), a lo- cal peasant girl, than with intel- lectual apotheosis. His demonic tempter draws him into the realm of metaphysical longing obliquely, using the nihilistic doctor’s appe- tite for food and fleshly pleasures to embroil him in a progression of seemingly mundane moral co- nundrums with subtly profound connotations.
Claustrophobically window- boxed at 1.33:1, and maintaining a muted color palette throughout, Kino Lorber’s DVD nevertheless offers the viewer a quirky visual feast, beginning with the film’s opening shot of the decomposing penis of a cadaver. Like the pawn- broker, the film takes its time re- vealing its secrets and does not emphasize or linger upon them once they are exposed. FAUST’s fantastic elements blend naturally with the densely detailed period setting and off-kilter atmosphere and the film crosses the line into unabashed horror/fantasy in only a few, carefully chosen in- stances, including an interlude with a homunculus which is not to be missed.
Kino Lorber’s DVD release of- fers a German soundtrack in both Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1, though the latter provides only
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Johannes Zeiler is the scholar venturing into strange areas in his search for cosmic wisdom in Alexander Sokurov’s FAUST.
a modestly deeper sound field. Optional English subtitles are available.
REEL ZOMBIES
2008, Synapse Films, 89m 9s, $19.95, DVD-0 By Chris Herzog
This clever, shot-on-video, Zombcom mockumentary de- serves more attention than its bland title will probably generate. Directors Michael Masters and David J. Francis, the Canadian auteurs behind ZOMBIE NIGHT (2003) and AWAKENING (2006), play themselves as clueless ama- teurs attempting to produce the third film of their trilogy in the midst of an actual zombie apoca- lypse. Sweetening this meta-twist, many of the cast and crew of the previous films show up to also play themselves as self-absorbed, indie-film ditzes. The film’s humor flows quite naturally, as it should in this subgenre, with very few forced or set-up gags. This par- ticular zombie apocalypse seems decidedly mild. Civilization has not collapsed and the filmmakers
and other citizens go about their lives normally, until the occasional pesky walker wanders in to cause momentary havoc. While the cast and crew of the film-within-a-film seem decidedly inept from the start, things begin to go seriously awry when budgetary concerns inspire Masters and Francis to try using real zombies instead of ex- tras. When the first inevitable fa- tality occurs, Masters vows to make things right by dedicating the film to the memory of the lost sound tech, “and anybody else who doesn’t make it.” When their lead actor is bitten, the crew re- sorts to extreme measures to get his scenes in the can before he turns into a zombie, including adding a colorful sombrero to his wardrobe to conceal his rapidly decomposing facial features. With a somewhat restrained deployment of zombie gore and a
significant amount of nudity, REEL ZOMBIES supplies many more genuine laughs than actual chills. The film’s satire targets the Millennial explosion of DIY digital filmmakers with more aspiration than talent in equal measure with
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