The Golem (Der Golem). 1920. Directed by Paul Wegener.

(12/24/99)

The thing I remember most about this film is the art direction. This was German studio design at its best. Thern there are the contrasts--between the frivolousness of the court and the gravity of the Jewish ghetto and later between the old men and the little children.

The story is told in a slow, stately fashion. It takes a while for things to get going and for the Golem to make his appearance.

Memorable scenes include when Rabbi Loew summons forth the demon Astaroth, when he presents a "movie" of the history of Jews at court which is met with jeers and laughter and, of course, the ending in which the Golem is immobilized by the little girl.

The Golem itself veers between being comical and being menacing. It looks kind of silly when it goes into a shop with a bag on its arm and a shopping list. But it does begin to get menacing when it starts to take on a personality of its own.

Rabbi Loew deals with the powers of darkness in order to save his people. In doing so, he takes a risk. He thinks he has everything under control, but the dark powers are not so easily constrained. The power of the Golem is unleashed through human weakness. The rabbi's young assistant re-animates the Golem out of jealousy and sends him against Florain, whome he discovers is the lover of the rabbi's daughter. At this point the Golem begins to act of its own volition.

From what I see, the powers of darkness are defeated by pure innocence. A little girl offers a piece of fruit to the Golem. He picks her up and we don't know what will happen. Will he kill her? Instead, she blithely plucks the power-bestowing amulet from the Golem's breast and he falls.

I don't know what to make of the image sitting on the Golem, plucking flowers. I also am not quite sure what happens when Rabbi Loew seems to pray and then the Golem releases his daughter whom he has been dragging by the hair and goes away. It seems like he is able to affect the Golem's behavior, but only to a limited extent.