The Golem (1915)

Original title

Der Golem

Directed by

Henrik Galeen, Paul Wegener

Genre

drama film, fantasy film, silent film, horror film

Country

Germany

Runtime

1h 25m

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 44 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A rabbi in 16th century Prague creates a clay giant to protect his community from persecution. The creature begins as a guardian but gradually becomes a source of fear and chaos.

hauntingatmosphericslow-burnmelancholicmythicsomberuncannystark

What happens

Der Golem (German: Der Golem, shown in the US as The Monster of Fate) is a partially lost 1915 German silent horror film written and directed by Paul Wegener and Henrik Galeen. It was inspired by a Jewish folktale, the most prevalent version of the story involving 16th century Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel who created the Golem to protect his people from antisemites. Wegener claimed the film was based on Gustav Meyrink's 1915 novel The Golem, but, as the movie has little to do with existing Jewish traditions, Troy Howarth states "it is more likely that (the screenwriters) simply drew upon European folklore". The film was the first of a trilogy produced by Wegener, followed by The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917) and The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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