The Golem: How He Came into the World

The Golem: How He Came Into the World
Directed by	Paul Wegener Carl Boese
Produced by	Paul Davidson
Written by	Henrik Galeen Paul Wegener
Starring	Paul Wegener Albert Steinrück Lyda Salmonova Ernst Deutsch Hans Stürm
Cinematography	Karl Freund
Release date(s)	October 29, 1920
Running time	85 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	Silent film German intertitles

The Golem: How He Came Into the World (original German title: Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam) is a 1920 silent horror film by Paul Wegener. It was directed by Carl Boese and Wegener, written by Wegener and Henrik Galeen, and starred Wegener as the golem. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink.^[1][2][3] The film was the third of three films that Wegener made featuring the golem, the other two being The Golem (1915) and the short comedy The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917), in which Wegener dons the Golem make-up in order to frighten a young lady he is infatuated with. It is a prequel to The Golem and is today the most widely known of the series.

Plot

The film concerns itself with the legendary creation of the Golem, which had appeared in the earlier film, by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel. In the 16th century, the Jews of Prague face persecution. Rabbi Loew creates a giant Golem out of clay to protect the people. Unfortunately, the creature rebels, setting fire to the ghetto, and wreaks deadly havoc. In the end, a small girl stops the Golem by removing the amulet in the shape of a pentagram from its chest. After the triumphant final scene the movie ends with the image of a hexagram, symbol of Judaism.

Production

Wegener had been unhappy with his previous attempt to tell the Golem story (Der Golem, 1915) due to compromises he had to make during its production. This second attempt is meant to more directly mimic the legend as he heard it told in Prague while he was filming The Student of Prague (1913).^[4]

Architect Hans Poelzig designed the sets, a reproduction of the medieval Jewish ghetto of Prague. He designed them specifically to be filmed, creating highly expressionist imagery. The cinematography of Karl Freund, in collaboration with Poelzig and Wegener, is cited as one of the most outstanding examples of German Expressionism.

Cast

• Paul Wegener as The Golem
• Albert Steinrück as Rabbi Loew
• Lyda Salmonova as Miriam
• Ernst Deutsch as Famulus
• Hans Stürm as Rabbi Jehuda
• Max Kronert as Temple Servant
• Otto Gebühr as Emperor Luhois
• Dore Paetzold
• Lothar Müthel as Knight Florian
• Greta Schröder as a Lady of the court
• Loni Nest as Little girl

See also

• List of films made in Weimar Germany

External links

• The Golem: How He Came Into the World at the Internet Movie Database
• Der Golem is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The Golem: How He Came Into the World at AllRovi
• The Golem at Rotten Tomatoes

References

1. ^ Noah William Isenberg, Weimar cinema: an essential guide to classic films of the era, p.332
2. ^ Douglas Kellner, Passion and rebellion: the expressionist heritage, p.384
3. ^ Dietrich Scheunemann, Expressionist film: new perspectives, p.273
4. ^ Hardy 1995, p. 27.

Citations

• Kevin Hagopian. "Film Notes: The Golem". New York State Writers' Institute. http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/filmnotes/fns05n1.html. Retrieved 2006-07-23. 
• Matei Chihaia: Der Golem-Effekt. Orientierung und phantastische Immersion im Zeitalter des Kinos, transcript, Bielefeld 2011 ISBN 978-3-8376-1714-6
• Hardy, Phil, ed. (1995), The Overlook Film Encyclopedia, 3, Overlook Press, ISBN 0-87951-624-0, http://books.google.com/books?id=3-ehQgAACAAJ&dq=overlook+film+encyclopedia