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The Last Faust

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The Last Faust

The Last Faust is a 2019 feature art film written and directed by the German artist Philipp Humm. Set in 2059, it is a contemporary interpretation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1808 Faust and the first film directly based on both parts of the tragedy. It stars English actors Steven Berkoff (Dr. Goodfellow) and, Martin Hancock (Faust). Its music is based on Richard Wagner with tracks from Swiss electronic music duo Yello.

The film is part of a bigger project with the same name - The Last Faust, it is Humm's Gesamtkunstwerk (total works of art) and "entails more than 150 artworks including a feature artfilm, an illustrated novella and collections of drawings, sculptures, fine art photographs and paintings."

It is 2059 and Tech CEO Dr. Goodfellow is hiding in the townhouse of his late mother. The house is safe as it is not connected to the AI-neural network, a creation of Goodfellow, which is now on the verge of eliminating the human race. Goodfellow is accompanied by his latest creation, an advanced android, Paris, to whom Goodfellow tells the story of his predecessor, Faust.

The story begins with God and Devil (Mephisto) making a bet, over a game of chess. God, believing in humankind, says that Mephisto cannot corrupt Dr. Faust, a faithful scientist, and CEO of Winestone Inc, a Silicon Valley company. Mephisto disagrees and thus visits Faust on Earth, first disguised as a poodle and then as a hedge fund manager. His attempts are successful, Faust’s desire to emulate God and create a superhuman is so strong that he agrees to exchange his soul for unlimited access to knowledge.

However, Mephisto, the mischievous devil, tricks Faust and exposes him to carnal lust instead of giving him access to so greatly desired knowledge. Deceived by the Devil, Faust falls in love with 16-year-old Gretchen, a love story ending with her tragic death, the death of her and Faust’s child, and the death of her mother and brother.

Unperturbed by this tragedy, Faust, still full of carnal lust, demands to meet Helen of Troy, the most beautiful woman ever known, who he had seen in a vision. Faust, Mephisto, and Homunculus, the AI-robot created by Faust, travel back in time 4000 years and end up in Greek mythology. Faust finds and marries Helen which leads to the birth of a child named Euphorion. With another turn in tragic events, Euphorion dies and Helen disappears.

Faust, grieving and all alone, is finally freed from the shackles of his lust. He joins forces with Mephisto and time travels back to help his reigning Emperor win a war. Following their victory Faust is granted an estate. He shifts his focus towards regaining land from the sea and enjoying his life as a capitalist. On his deathbed, Faust writes a Manifesto of an egalitarian society, later compared to the Communist Manifesto. After Faust’s death, his soul is resurrected and reunited with Gretchen, pointing to the strange moral standards of the catholic church.

As Dr. Goodfellow finishes the story of Faust, Paris stops recording and sends it off into cyberspace where it is safely stored in a time capsule for future generations to discover. In the meantime, the AI-neural network finds Goodfellow’s hide-out indicating the end of mankind.

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