Faust in the Underworld
About Faust in the Underworld
After Marguerite's death, Mephistopheles takes Doctor Faust on horseback down into Satan's realm. The film passes through a gloomy pass, a stream, dissolving grottoes, an ice cavern, a ballet, and a furnace full of demons. It ends with the triumph of Mephistopheles, played by Georges Méliès.
Cast & crew
More about Faust in the Underworld
Star Film catalog numbers 527–533. Méliès made it as fifteen tableaux, using pyrotechnics, substitution splices, superimpositions, and dissolves. The grotto tableau peels back in layers so the actors can advance without moving the camera. A hand-colored print was sold at a higher price. In the United States it was called The Damnation of Faust, and in Britain The Condemnation of Faust.
Themes
Technique
Painted scenery rolls and, in the grotto, peels back layer by layer so Faust and Mephistopheles move deeper into the set while the camera stays fixed.
Preservation
Prints survive, including a copy published in 1981 by the Centre national du cinéma. A digital copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Méliès's 1905 American catalogue calls it a grand fantastical fantasy inspired by Berlioz's La damnation de Faust.
- The dancing demons wear costumes from his 1903 film The Infernal Cake Walk.
- It is his third Faust film, after Faust and Marguerite (1897) and an 1898 Damnation of Faust, and it came before Faust and Marguerite (1904).
- The length is listed at 493 feet.
Scenes
- Faust is carried off on horseback toward the lower regions.
- The grotto dissolves through several painted layers.
- Demons dance around the furnace before Mephistopheles takes the last tableau.
Influenced by
- Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons
