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The Last Faust

2019 film directed by Philipp Humm

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ83987738
Source-derived summary

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."

Plot

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.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Last Faust” as 2019 film directed by Philipp Humm. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Last, Faust and film.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2019, 2059, 1808—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2019-12-02. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Last, Faust and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Last Faust”, the useful work is to connect “2019 film directed by Philipp Humm” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q83987738. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2019, 2059 and 1808.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Last Faust”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Last Faust primary sources, The Last Faust archive and Last research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Last Faust”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Last Faust” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.