{"id":2514,"date":"2012-11-20T16:56:48","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T15:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2012-11-20T16:57:16","modified_gmt":"2012-11-20T15:57:16","slug":"the-golem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/11\/20\/the-golem\/","title":{"rendered":"The Golem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
The Golem<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

\nFormat:<\/B> Cinema

\nScreening date:<\/B> 28 November 2012

\nWith live piano duet accompaniment by Robin Harris and Laura Anstee <\/A>

\nVenue:<\/B> Barbican

\nDirectors:<\/B> Cark Boese, Paul Wegener

\nWriters:<\/B> Henrik Galeen, Paul Wegener

\nOriginal title:<\/B> Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam<\/I>

\nCast:<\/B> Paul Wegener, Albert Steinrück, Ernst Deutsch

\nGermany 1920

\n85 mins\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Despite the best efforts of writer, actor and director Paul Wegener, the Golem has never quite achieved the status it deserves, lagging behind the vampires (F.W. Murnau\u2019s Nosferatu<\/I><\/A>, 1922), insane scientists (Robert Wiene\u2019s The Cabinet of Dr Caligari<\/I><\/A>, 1920) and disfigured fiends (Rupert Julian\u2019s The Phantom of the Opera<\/I>, 1925) that occupy the \u2018first tier\u2019 of silent movie monsters. Inspired equally by Hebrew mythology and 19th-century literature, Wegener\u2019s 1920 classic Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam<\/I> (\u2018The Golem, and how he came into the world\u2019), is the last of three Golem films he starred in, and the only one to survive. Like many of the iconic films of silent cinema, Der Golem<\/I> has appeared in a variety of running times and print qualities, but restored and remastered versions are readily available. <\/p>\n

Der Golem<\/I> begins in 16th-century Prague, in the Jewish ghetto, where the Rabbi Loew foretells disaster for the Jewish people. Sure enough, the emperor announces that the Jews are to be driven from their homes. In order to protect his people the Rabbi creates the Golem, a stone being reanimated by the demon Astaroth. The Rabbi takes the Golem to the imperial court, where the assembled company are suitably impressed. After the creature prevents the palace roof from falling on their heads, the emperor agrees to let the Jews remain in their homes. Unfortunately the Golem is later possessed by Astaroth, who allows it to rampage through the streets of Prague, burning and destroying.<\/p>\n

Although he co-directed Der Golem<\/I> with Carl Boese, Wegener\u2019s most important contribution to the film is his performance as the Golem itself. Despite portraying a creature made of stone, he manages to create a surprising level of emotional expression, primarily through his eyes. A victim of man\u2019s weaknesses, the Golem is the archetype for all subsequent tragic creatures, most obviously Boris Karloff\u2019s monster in James Whale\u2019s classic Frankenstein<\/I> (1931). After Wegener\u2019s Golem, architect Hans Poelzig\u2019s set design is the star of the film; his portrayal of the sprawling Prague ghetto is nothing short of incredible. A riot of lopsided angles and bizarre shapes, it\u2019s one of the finest cinematic cityscapes ever created. <\/p>\n

Like a great deal of Der Golem<\/I>, Poelzig\u2019s designs have been tremendously influential. Edgar G. Ulmer\u2019s surreal horror-noir<\/I> The Black Cat<\/I><\/A> (1934) appropriated both the architect\u2019s images and his name for Boris Karloff\u2019s satanic villain, Hjalmar Poelzig. It has sometimes been claimed that Ulmer worked on Der Golem<\/I> \u2013 often by the man himself \u2013 either as a set builder under Poelzig or as a cameraman under visionary cinematographer Karl Freund, but corroboration for such assertions is scant. Already one of the most sought-after cinematographers in Europe, Freund would later work on Fritz Lang\u2019s science-fiction masterpiece Metropolis<\/I><\/A> (1927), as well as several of F.W. Murnau\u2019s greatest films. After moving to Hollywood in 1929 Freund shot Tod Browning\u2019s genre classic Dracula<\/I> (1931), before directing The Mummy<\/I> (1932), a sombre mood piece that has much in common with Wegener and Boese\u2019s Der Golem<\/I>. <\/p>\n

Periodically, news surfaces of a possible remake of the story of the Golem \u2013 Italian special effects maestro Sergio Stivaletti has often said he would love to direct a new version \u2013 but so far nothing has become of such rumours.<\/p>\n

This screening is part of the Step into the Dark season of films exploring dystopia, the sublime and the surreal at the Barbican throughout November.<\/div>\n

Jim Harper<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inspired equally by Hebrew mythology and 19th-century literature, Wegener\u2019s 1920 classic is the last of three Golem films he starred in, and the only one to survive.
\nReview by Jim Harper<\/B><\/I><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[516,209,520,521,168],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-check-it-out","category-cinema-releases","tag-creatures","tag-german-cinema","tag-hebrew-mythology","tag-monsters","tag-silent-film"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","wps_subtitle":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/purUP-Ey","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":145,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2007\/08\/01\/jan-svankmajer-the-complete-short-films\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":0},"title":"JAN SVANKMAJER: THE COMPLETE SHORT FILMS","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"August 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Czech filmmaker Jan \u00ed\u2026\u00c2\u00a0vankmajer is probably best known in this country for Alice, his full-length animated version of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; but for a fuller sense of his achievements it's to his short films that we should look, as this magnificent triple DVD box set from the BFI\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Home entertainment"","block_context":{"text":"Home entertainment","link":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/category\/dvds-and-blu-rays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2522,"url":"http:\/\/www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk\/reviews\/2012\/11\/30\/die-nibelungen\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":1},"title":"Die Nibelungen","author":"VirginieSelavy","date":"November 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Fritz Lang's five-hour hallucinatory epic take on mythic tale Die Nibelungen is available now from Masters of Cinema (Eureka) in a spectacular new HD restoration DVD\/Blu-ray set. 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