A video editorial by Black Madeleine Studio inspired by Theatre: the Doctor Faustus of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Mann, the Faust by Goethe and various works based on them such as "Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights" by Gertrude Stein, the 1912 film " The Student of Prague" and the 1955 French movie "Marguerite de la Nuit". A female (or rather feminist) version of Faustus, a Doctoress, is portrayed ìn the rooms of her laboratory, after a deal she has made with a supernatural being that gave her faboulous wealth, the ability to play instruments, the knowledge contained in books. The interior decorations of her house are full of symbols, such as angels that seem to crown her as a bride and the armour of a mysterious knight that represents the man she plans to seduce and marry.
The most representative moment is her entrance in the last study room, where there's a religious icon on her left and a strange wooden bas- relief on her right that is an allegory for science, mystery and alchemy. She slowly looks to her right, choosing the path of alchemy.
This editorial could be interpreted as a metaphor for humanity's uncontainable thirst for knowledge and power. The impatience with the limitations of consciousness and the attempt to overcome them, this time seen through the eyes of a woman. The protagonist indeed has long blonde hair and angelic qualities to her. She resembles closely to the traditional image of Gretchen, the woman loved by Faust, but in this vision she is no longer a victim or fragile creature but rather a self confident seductress that experiences the same ambitions, the same temptations and desire for independence of a man.
Written & Filmed by Black Madeleine Studio
Fashion by: Maison Valentino, Emilio Pucci.
Model: Margot @2Morrow Model Milano
Hair & Make up: Alice Fadda
Courtesy of Museo Bagatti Valsecchi Milano