This video shows the result of my experiment to find a way to combine the 'domestic cut' of Murnau's film Faust with Timothy Brock's brilliant score, written for another version of this film, the so-called 'export version', but first let me put things a bit in perspective.
F.W. Murnau's masterpiece-film 'Faust' was released in 1926 and there are seven known versions of the film. The most well known version is the so-called 'export version' with english titles, that premiered in december 1926 in the USA. That export-version is 10 minutes longer than the newly discovered 'domestic version' a couple of years ago, the domestic version being the original 'German print', the one with German titles that was shown at the time in German cinema theatres. The export print is slightly darker and softer, lacking the detail and clarity of the domestic version. Incidentally, the differences between the export and the domestic version are considerable. There's no difference in terms of the overall structure of scenes and storyline, but the pacing and lengths of scenes often vary greatly and there are often striking differences in the order and in the composition of shots, the domestic version certainly being the superior of the two. Timothy Brock's orchestral score, written for the Faust-export version is a masterpiece, a fantastic accomplishment, perfectly keeping with the operatic and epic nature of the film. The way Brock uses operatic- and leitmotif-storytelling and storydeveloping techniques in his music for the export version of the film is absolutely stunning. But, as soon as Brock's score is played with the domestic version, picture and sound are almost evrywhere out of sync, that is, numerous details and leitmotifs of the score then miss the point, lose their 'iconic' meaning and strength and simply can't work as they do so perfectly in the export version. Isn't it possible then to combine Brock's music with the greatly cut and very clear print of the domestic version? The answer is 'no' when you play the music along with the domestic film in its original speed. The answer is 'yes' (that is, in my opinion) if you manage to adjust the speed of numerous sequences of the domestic film. Only when countless sequences are 'manipulated' in terms of duration the music is able to work once more on the pictures (and vice versa) as it does in the export version. Now, I took it as a challenge to try to make Brock's music work as well in the domestic cut version of Faust and with this aim in mind I've edited the complete domestic Faust. Here I'm showing only a 10-minute segment to show how my experiment worked out (and this part is really representative for how I took care of the whole film). I think the result of my editing is quite interesting and after the changes I made in the duration of countless sequences - a time consuming job that requires precision and a lot of patience - I personally think this brilliant music now also works very well for the complete domestic version. For me the result has been quite spectacular. I've tried to keep the duration manipulation of sequences within reasonable measures, in order to maintain as much as possible the natural look and tempo of the domestic Faust version. I use all of Brock's score and all of Murnau's film, there's no material left out by me. Enough said, hope you'll find this 'experiment' as fascinating as I do and I hope you'll enjoy this video. You should see the rest of the material... it's like I said...really spectacular! [Pieter de Rooij, 9 May 2010]
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gooble gobble.mp4by shroomhead6,376 views
@Neurotrash1982 : I agree. Brock's export version-score is a masterpiece. I sometimes wish for a revival of a silent film+music genre in our time. The genre vanished all too soon around 1930, with so many possiblilities left to explore ! It can evoke things normal film can't (& vice versa btw). Hope I'll find time to finish this project somewhere next year to demonstrate that Brock's music works great as well for the domestic version, after making the adjustments that I've explained earlier.
PieterdeRooijHolland 1 year ago
@PieterdeRooijHolland
Intriguing project you got going there... I agree, this soundtrack is far superior to any that I have heard of... I dont agree much with a lot of the experiments to put a contemporary soundtrack to this film... Especially when it comes to the music, the export-version was just perfect for me
Neurotrash1982 1 year ago
btw: I've only done a 'first edit' so far, this being the first result. I'm still making adjustments - and certainly also in these ten minutes, call it 'fine tuning' :) - at many places where improvement is possible and/or often very necessary...
PieterdeRooijHolland 1 year ago