Wow what wonderfully terrific logic! If the general public hasn't heard of it - at least not as much as they've heard about "Alien" or "The Shining," than it must not be good! Forget the past! The 726 voters who gave this film a high rating are just "bullies" obsessed with seeing the film make its way to the top of an internet movie site.
Of course, who knows, maybe if another 10,000 people voted for the film it would still maintain a high score. But that's not the point.
Or maybe, just maybe, this is actually a great film. It was just added to Roger Ebert's list of "Great Movies," and is a highly regarded film in many circles.
There aren't a lot of people out there who watch very many old films - I happen to be someone who does and I'm glad to see films like this get the respect they deserve.
Murnau is widely considered one of the greatest silent directors, making such masterpieces as "Sunrise," "The Last Laugh," and "Nosferatu." I don't have a hard time believing this isn't another one - even if it is not that well known. After all, the general public probably couldn't name a film by Truffaut or Lubitsch or Godard if their life depended on it - that doesn't make any of their films inferior. Just because people don't recognize the wide influences such directors have had (and Murnau has had) doesn't make them any less important. I also doubt that most people could name a single silent film.
I would say that "Faust" is probably one of the most influential films of its genre - of all time. Whether a lot of people recognize that or not doesn't really matter.
Note: The above comments are exclusively my opinion.
---Respect---
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