Doctor Faustus [DVD] [1967] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Back in 1967 when this film was first released the critics jumped all over it as a Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor vanity project which it was but that's all they saw. Now 40 years later with Liz and Dick having been supplanted by the likes of Brad and Angelina it's time to revisit the film which is ripe for rediscovery for there is much to discover that was overlooked the first time around. The beauty of Christopher Marlowe's play lies in the poetry of the lines and the philosophical and theological points the poet raises. Burton wanted to transfer the recent Oxford University stage production that he had appeared in onto film. The movie captures the stage origins but has been cleverly opened up for the screen in a number of ways which makes it a fascinating cinematic experience thanks to an imaginative use of lighting, beautiful cinematography, and a memorable music score from Mario Nascimbene (ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.).

Then there is Richard Burton. His intense portrayal of the title character is a marvel to behold and serves as a vivid reminder of just what a charismatic performer he could be. His glorious voice speaks the Elizabethan text as if it were everyday conversation but with a power and conviction that must be heard to be believed. There are even DVD subtitles available if you wish to follow the text. The rest of the cast is made up of members of the Oxford Dramatic Society and they fufill the other roles as required with Andreas Teuber a standout as a rather melancholy Mephistopheles. Last but not least there is Elizabeth Taylor who has to do nothing more than look exotic in a variety of guises (she has no dialogue just as in the Oxford production). Taylor certainly fufills the role of the classical ideal of woman especially back then when she was so beautiful. Some find her presence a distraction but it fits when you consider the obsessive nature of Faustus. No one seems interested in remaking DOCTOR FAUSTUS anytime soon so there is even more reason to celebrate this version which is not without its flaws but clearly shows what the play has to offer as a graet precursor to Shakespeare and how to make a major film on a minor budget. Unfortunately for most viewers in the U.K. only Region 1 copies are available at this time.

Burton and Coghill's adaptation of Marlowe's last, and perhaps most famous play, is a garish mixture of camp and culture, and deserves to be better known. Although there are at least two other filmed versions, neither Svankmajer (1994) or Murnau (1927) utilise the Marlovian text, which is often as distinctive, and as great, as the playwright's more frequently filmed contemporary Shakespeare. Coghill has reduced the content to the essentials, stripped out a lot of the original bawdiness, done some modernising, and has even borrowed the occasional line from another play to make the project more accessible to the general viewer. The result is bizarre and compulsive at the same time, a film entirely characteristic of the time.

Marlowe's morality tale tells the story of the German scholar and conjurer, Faustus, who abjures philosophy, learning, and religion to sell his soul to the devil in return for 27 years of youth and pleasure. During the time of this blood-sealed pact on earth, he has Mephistopheles as his servant. The lustful and arrogant Faust indulges his earthly appetites, sees the seven deadly sins, performs magic for the emperor, and has fun whilst invisible at the expense of the Pope, before being dragged down to hell at the hour of reckoning.

None of this would seem out of place if reworked in a Hammer horror film, and memories of the Bray studio's sensibilities duly spring to mind as the film unfolds. Entirely set-bound, the film has a claustrophobic feel, entirely in keeping with Fausts' self-centredness. As he experiences the diabolic freedom to indulge himself it is a delusion, as at the same time he is by necessity trapped and inevitably condemned to hellfire. The rooms he moves in are artificially cluttered, full of colours, skulls, books, furniture and costumes. The trappings of the world impinge upon the viewer, constantly emphasising just how transient it all is.

Unfortunately for this adaption, matters are thrown off balance by the casting. A busty Elizabeth Taylor, appears as Helen of Troy, the continuous source of Faust's lust and fantasy ("The face that launched a thousand ships"), mute throughout. While the decision to maximise the presence of this star is understandable, her overexposure tends to push the matter of damnation into the background, reducing Faustus' longing for material fulfilment to that of a school boyish crush. The rest of the cast, drawn from the Oxford Dramatic society, is overshadowed by Burton and Taylor, whose stellar status tells in every scene.

One or two unintentionally ludicrous aspects do not help matters of dramatic gravity, but have their own appeal. For much of the first act, before he is damned and made young again, Burton wears a thick pair of black glasses, presumably to emphasise his learning. While these also allow for some interesting photographic effects, his comic aspect is distracting. Further on, Faustus is confronted by three of the deadly sins at once, who appear as knights. Those like myself who treasure the Knights Who Go Neh! from `Monty Python and The Holy Grail' can savour this moment in a way completely unintended. In contrast, when Faustus plays farting tricks at the Pope's court further on, Burton seems ill at ease at the light footed and earthy humour required. As a tragedian he was a famous Hamlet, and would have made a marvellous Tamburlaine (Marlowe's grandest tragic hero). The scholar-magician Faustus by contrast, who spouts Latin off the cuff and has studied all knowledge, requires a different presence. Burton's rich delivery of lines cannot ultimately overcome this basic issue of miscasting. Occasionally, (as in the great "Christ's blood streaming in the firmament" speech) and in some of the grander soliloquies, he makes himself felt. Otherwise one yearns for an actor like Nichol Williamson (a notable Merlin in Boorman's `Excalibur'), at his prime at this time, to be in the role.

Actors aside, the film boasts an evocative score by the prolific Maro Nascimbene, who also did fine work on Hammer's `One Million Years BC' (1966) around the same time as well as `Barabbas' (1962). As already mentioned, Gábor Pogány's cinematography is also a stand out, which captures exactly the peculiarly hallucinogenic nature of Faustus' incantations, spells and visions. Optical tricks and double exposure abound and are generally well conceived and carried out. Having said that, there is no sense of horror in Faustus' fate or in his eventual descent into a small scale hell. This is partly to do with budget of course, but one is tempted to make unflattering comparisons with other representations, such as in `Dante's Inferno' (1935) - which achieved a greater sense of awe of damnation, in black and white, and with fewer camera tricks, almost thirty five years before.

But there's much entertainment to be had from the film, representing a colourful attempt to translate one of the greatest plays of the day to the screen. Those who enjoy the contemporary horror product will find it a change and lovers of serious drama will be intrigued too, even if ultimately there's rather less cinematic magic than one might have hoped for.

Transferring the 16th century theological, political, and moral questions of a Marlowe play into 20th century cinematography was never going to be an easy task. It's perhaps relevant to consider the relative absence of Marlowe from the cinema - he does not transfer well, not in the way Shakespeare manages. Here, Richard Burton gives us a low-budget adaptation of an Oxford student production which leaves you wondering, if it's tedium enough to have to sit through your child's school play or musical, why would you want to subject yourself to this?

What we get is an obviously finance- and imagination-challenged extravaganza of gaudy images and kaleidoscopic camera mixes which obscure and overburden an over-Burtoned monologue. The music score attempts to impart some gravitas to the production but in places becomes a relentless drone. The sets appear claustrophobic and fragile; the low level lighting, far from adding atmosphere and a sense of bleakness, seems designed to conceal the inadequacies of the set from full view.

Much use is made of skulls and skeletons, symbolising mortality and the fragility of the human condition, but it becomes a hackneyed caricature of death and damnation, its use as metaphor overstated and oppressive. 'Hamlet' demonstrated the dramatic use of a single skull; here, we get hundreds - some press reviews comment that these reduce the film to a Hammer horror burlesque, but it's less animated, less atmospheric than a Hammer production.

Burton is the only professional actor in the film - the rest were Oxford students. Elizabeth Taylor, of course, is present as Helen of Troy; she appears from time to time as Faustus's idealised woman. But Taylor's presence was solely to provide a marketing ploy - this is a Burton/Taylor movie! You suspect it also massaged her ego - she is cast in the role of the (allegedly) most beautiful woman in antiquity. Thankfully, she is silent throughout; her acting is sterile enough without being further overburdened by the need to mouth lines. As Helen, she appears about as desirable as a woodwormed horse, a fading Hollywood myth out of her depth in classical theatre, a graceless, over-painted mannequin, capable, at best of launching only a canoe or two.

Burton dominated the film. Visually. The play is an exploration of Faustus's mind, of his rationale and reason, if not his soul. It is almost a soliloquy in five acts. And Burton dominates. His image fills the screen, his voice booms out, richly, but at times monotonously. He seems to ape Hamlet in places - he dresses that part certainly. Before he sells his soul he appears wearing grotesque spectacles, seemingly to emphasise that he is an intellectual - thereafter we get a variety of dramatic and heroic poses. But he never convinces - you recognise him as the star of the film, you never get a real feel for the character behind the star, never quite identify with Faustus and his struggle. You get 20th century Burton, not 16th century Faustus.

Stage performance and film acting styles clash in this production. There are moments when Burton's overacting embarrasses, scenes where he appears to be contesting the stage for the camera's approval, contesting it with the frivolous and intrusive photographic trickery and editing techniques. Faustus remains an image, never becomes flesh and bone.

Marlowe does not transfer well to the screen. There is little plot - Shakespeare offers dynamic plots and an endless variety of characters. "Faustus" is virtually a monologue; its minor characters are there as adjuncts, as facilitators, mere deliverers of lines and sounding boards off whom Faustus will bounce his words.

The plot - man sells his soul for wealth, power, and knowledge - rapidly grinds to a halt. Faustus achieves nothing. He ends the play, not as a man who rules the world and knows everything, a man who has sated himself with unlimited pleasure, but as an empty husk wherein echo doubts and recrimination. The play is about his struggle with his conscience, it's an exploration of a man doomed by his fabricated destiny and inability to escape Destiny.

As an allegory for religious doubt and the Calvinist doctrine that some are born saved, some born damned, it may have made sense to an Elizabethan audience, but this subtext is entirely lost to a modern audience.

Dialogue and action become obscure. This is a film to be watched only by those familiar with the play and its literary history/criticism. And, even then, its audience must necessarily be alienated by the monotonous tone and pace of this production. It's a 60's film, and already fatally dated.

All in all, a tedious film. Burton is overbearing and unconvincing, Taylor superfluous, the rest of the cast barren of life, direction over-clever and pretentious, the imagery a succession of tricks without illusion. Watch, if you must; it may give you some critical insight if you are studying the play at school, college, or OU, but have a box of chocolates and bottle of wine handy to boost your morale ... and maybe try to follow the script in book form as well.