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Sokurov’s Faust wins Golden Lion at Venice int’l film festival

The film is a free interpretation of the Faust legend

VENICE, September 11 (Itar-Tass) — Russian director Aleksander Sokurov's "Faust" won the Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

German actor Johannes Zeiler plays the role of Faust. This German-language film marks the final chapter in Sokurov's four-film look at the relationship between man and power that began with "Molokh" in 1999 about Hitler, "Taurus" a year later about Lenin and the 2005 film "The Sun" about Japanese Emperor Hirohito.

“Faust” had a big budget, and several countries were involved in its production.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Sokurov said that his creative life had been aimed at winning the Golden Lion prize. He didn’t forget to mention about a day of mourning that was held in Russia on Saturday for the members of the Yaroslavl ice-hockey team Lokomotiv who died in an air crash near Yaroslavl on September 7.

Sokurov thanked representatives of 79 countries who had worked over “Faust” together with him. He also thanked the audiences for their understanding of the 134-minute-long screen version of Goethe’s work. He added that was the biggest award for him.