- VENICE: Acclaimed Russian director Alexander Sokurov returns to the theme of corrupting power in his new film “Faust,” the fourth and final part of a series on the topic but the first to depict a fictional character.
The first three movies in the tetralogy were “Moloch” (1999) about Adolf Hitler, “Taurus” (2000) about Vladimir Lenin and “The Sun” (2005) about Emperor Hirohito. Faust, which has its world premiere at the Venice film festival on Thursday, is loosely based on German writer Goethe’s take on the myth about a man who sells his soul to the devil. It is one of 23 movies in the main competition lineup, and eligible for prizes including the coveted Golden Lion for best film at the closing ceremony on Saturday.