The Golem (Restored Authorized Edition)
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Actor: Ernst Deutsch, Paul WegenerBrand: Kino International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: 2552
Studio: Kino Video
Product features:
- DER GOLEM-WIE ER IN DIE WELT KAM (DVD MOVIE)
DVD Reviews of The Golem (Restored Authorized Edition)
DVD Review: Gothic tale of horror
Summary: 4 Stars
Based on a legend that began in 1580 Prague, this early example of German Expressionism is also a fine example of an early horror movie. The lighting and shadows, Gothic/Expressionist surroundings, the dark forces swirling around, and the creepy-looking Golem all contribute towards making this a landmark film. It's set in the abovementioned 16th century Prague, in the Jewish ghetto of the city (one can see the pointed hats and the strange-looking badges a number of the characters are wearing, a common practice in many areas of Europe prior to the Enlightenment and something the Nazis, 15 or so years down the line, only had to look back in history for). The much-revered rabbi-astrologer of the ghetto, Rabbi Löw, in his desperation to stop an anti-Semitic royal edict forcing the community out of the city, begins making a man out of clay, and with the help of his assistant conjures up Astaroth, who gives them the magick word that will bring the Golem to life when written down and put in the amulet on his chest.
Rabbi Löw, who has successfully done a horoscope for the emperor in the past, is invited to his court again to entertain the more fortunate people who don't have to live in a ghetto and who look all fresh, sunshiny, and happy, a far cry from the people in the ghetto, who are almost all old, dressed in black, poor, and beaten-down looking. While the rabbi is at court with the Golem, who is being passed off as his mute servant, his daughter Miriam is getting busy with the rather feminine-looking Knight Florian, who delivered first the banishment edict and then the edict demanding Rabbi Löw appear at court. (Florian is actually more feminine-looking than Miriam!) All is going well at court till everyone, against his explicit warning, starts laughing at the images of his ancestors he's conjured up, and the building starts collapsing. However, after the Golem saves the day, the banishment edict is reversed, and all seems to be going well. After they get home, he turns on his master and is deactivated; conveniently, a bad astrological portent has just begun, in which the Golem will be compelled to turn against his creator. Rabbi Löw is about to destroy him when his servant summons him to the synagogue to lead the thanksgiving prayers for the edict having been reversed. Not knowing that the Golem has just become anything but a protector and benefactor, the servant reactivates him, and all while Florian is still in Miriam's room, both of them desperately trying to figure out a way get him out of there without anyone finding out what just happened. At this point the Golem totally goes berserk, and things are not happening according to plan for anyone as he goes on a rampage through the ghetto. (I just wish his rampage had lasted longer; it would have made for a lot more dramatic tension!)
It's kind of stunning to realise just how close this film was made to the rise of the Nazis, what with its rather fair and sympathetic portrayal of the Jewish characters. These characters might be poor, living in a ghetto, and made to wear distinguishing badges and hats, but they seem like more sympathetic and human characters than the Christian Czechs, who party, frolic, and flirt all day long, not having any more important priorities, like survival or dignity in the face of prejudice and blood libels. Although it does seem kind of ironic how one of the charges on the banishment edict is the practice of witchcraft and black magick, which Rabbi Löw uses in order to try to save his people! Even the inaccuracies weren't offensive, more like unintentional errors from someone well-meaning and who didn't know any better, such as references to praying in temple (that word was not used to describe a Jewish house of worship, bar the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, till the 19th century, and this takes place in 1580!) and using the name Jehovah to refer to God. No observant Jew, past or present, would ever use that word, which is the result of a 16th century Christian scribal error, not the way the Tetragrammaton, YHVH, was pronounced. (No one has known the correct pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton for nearly 2,000 years anyway.) Still, all things considered, those are relatively minor errors; it's not like these characters are big-nosed money-grubbing Shylocks.
Extras are excerpts from Julien Duvivier's 'Le Golem' (1936), comparisons of the creations found in the film and in Chayim Bloch's novel, as well as a comparison with the scene in 'Faust' (1926) where Mephisto is conjured up, and a gallery of pictures and artwork.
This perhaps isn't the best choice for a first silent (some of the characters do have the exaggerated makeup and eyes that a lot of people falsely assume was the case in all silents, although this is 1920 and not 1926 or 1928, by which time actors looked more natural and less heavily made-up for the bright lights), but it is a classic Expressionist film, as well as a classic silent horror film and a classic early German film.
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