The Golem (1920)

Originally posted to Facebook on 2/3/2017

The Golem was the fourth film we watched from 1920, and our second German feature, after The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from earlier in 1920. Like that film, The Golem is one of the handful of silent movies that still has a certain residue of fame. It is actually the third in a series, but the first two are lost outside of a few clips. All three not only featured Paul Wegener as the Golem, but were co-written and co-directed by him as well. The first two were set contemporaneously, but this film was a prequel of sorts, and set centuries earlier, when the Golem was first created by a Rabbi in a Jewish ghetto. Needless to say, any inter-war German film about Jews immediately raises some concerns. Upon actually seeing the film, though, it struck me as mostly sympathetic to the Jewish characters -- the Golem of course being created mainly as a defense against expected attacks. Also, the Jewish villagers are not portrayed monolithically; neither as saints nor villains. However, they are not quite portrayed as ordinary human beings -- and are shown to possess odd powers -- including not just the power to bring the Golem to life, but also the ability to cast various spells. I do not think this is as much of a classic as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari -- in fact it is probably my third favorite film we’ve seen in 1920 -- but that speaks more to how strong a year 1920 has been than to the faults of this film. Probably the most analogous film we’ve seen in a similar genre was the 16 minute version of Frankenstein we saw from 1910 -- which, though only ten years earlier, is virtually an eternity ago in terms of film technique and sophistication. Interestingly the closest thing to a villain in the film is the character of Rabbi Famulus, the assistant to Rabbi Loew (played by Albert Steinrück) who brings the Golem to life. He is played by Ernst Deutsch who, three decades later, had a significant role in The Third Man.

Next week we watch our fifth and final film from 1920, which will also be the fourth feature we’ve seen by D.W. Griffith, and the second starring Lillian Gish: Way Down East. The list, as always, is here: https://bit.ly/2lZtfmT