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Siskoid's avatar

Siskoid

The Golem (How He Came Into the World) is a 1920 piece of German Expressionism, about a Medieval rabbi who animates a clay figure to protect his people from an antisemitic king, but also to make him do the shopping (Frankenstein's Monster never did that, though this film looks like a clear influence on James Whale's 1932 classic). Let's just say that while it does have some interesting effects and good performances, it's not exactly the most exciting horror film to come out of the era. Even without the Golem, the rabbi seems to be a pretty powerful wizard who you might think wouldn't need a magical servant, and in the end, beware what you ask the monster to do as it could come back to haunt you. What's perhaps most intriguing is the set design, which affects vaginal openings and womb-like chambers, as if commenting on the creature's unnatural origins. How should we then interpret the ending where little children are the cause of the Golem's destruction? Little blond children outside the ghetto at that. I have a hard time getting a handle on what the film is saying about the Jews, or who it is siding with. There are probably some postgraduate theses about this somewhere.
3 years 8 months ago
essaywhu's avatar

essaywhu

Interesting, but like others have said, it is a little hard to get through. I also agree that it has great sets and special effects.
8 years 6 months ago
Armoreska's avatar

Armoreska

There's an edition with rock OST by Black Francis. It omits several less-important intertitles though, compared to Restored Authorized Edition
9 years 4 months ago
ucuruju's avatar

ucuruju

Sorcerer-slash-Rabbi summons an ancient demon to get control over a powerful servant made of clay called the Golem. The Golem's terrible first task? Getting groceries.
1 week 3 days ago
clydeumney's avatar

clydeumney

https://youtu.be/p6dvWPN8OMA

Gorgeous HD copy free on YT.
10 months 1 week ago
thestuman101694's avatar

thestuman101694

The antisemitism in this film is quite disconcerting as a 21st century viewer (I'm amazed no one else commented on that), but . . . I guess the cinematography is aesthetically pleasing. Hearing that Black Francis recorded an album for this movie has reinvigorated my appreciation of the film retroactively, however, and I think I will definitely watch his version of it.
3 years 11 months ago
Gary OldMan's avatar

Gary OldMan

http://www.archive.org/details/TheGolem_893
13 years 7 months ago
dombrewer's avatar

dombrewer

Quite highly regarded, but actually quite rubbish. The sets are magnificent but the story is nonsense and Wegener's self-directed wide eyed turn as the title character is unintentionally ridiculous. You could argue that all that is forgiveable because it was made in 1920 - but there are plenty of better silents including Keaton's early shorts and within a few years Nosferatu and Haxan - which both still stand up as film classics.
12 years 2 months ago
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