Watch The Golem: How He Came into the World For Free

That was an excellent one.

Purely Joyful Movie!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Yes this movie is precursor to the amazing 1931 Frankenstein. Everything you love about Frankenstein; first came from this movie. The way that Paul Wegener as the Golem move is similar to Boris Karloff's monster. The way, the clay monster is unsure what to do with the child is the same as Frankenstein's monster when meeting the girl at the lake. There are countless influences from the Golem that help how James Whale's Frankenstein's monster come alive on film. Even the old Golem Jewish legend would be used by Mary Shelley in her novel, Frankenstein. Paul Wegener was great in the role. His great facial expressions, Paul use is just awesome. The costume may looks funny because it looks like something that the star burst berries and cream little lad would wear, but Paul Wegener makes the Dutch-boy look scary with his astonishing make up. In my opinion, the Golem with its' forehead is written the Jewish word EMETH, which means "truth" looks scarier than this. The film was the last of three films about the Golem that Wegener made. It's the only one of three movies not to be lost due to time. The other two movies are 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. This movie is a prequel to The Golem and is the best known of the series. This silent horror film by Paul Wegener serves as a great example of German Expressionism. German cinema was amazing in those silent era times with such hits like Nosferatu, Caligari, and the Golem is no exception! The Golem works well as a silence film character. The story goes like this, in 16th-century Prague, Jewish Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinruck) creates a giant creature from clay, called the Golem, and using sorcery, brings the creature to life in order to protect the Jews of Prague from persecution from the Holy Roman Emperor. However, the rabbi's assistant, Famulus (Ernst Deutsch) takes control of the golem and sends it forth to do his nefarious bidding, which includes abducting the beautiful Miriam (Lyda Salmonova), the Rabbi's beloved daughter. So the creature turns against its creator, and become loose in the city creating havoc. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink. That novel is based on Jewish folklore based on real-life person of Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague who is believed to have made a real-life golem at the time. I love the flickering images, the "Brandenburg Concerto" soundtrack, and the film's angular sets I like the newer DVD version, that had the newly composed soundtrack by Aljoscha Zimmermann incorporates Jewish melodies with folk dance material and is very actual. Here are the faults of the film. First off, the name is 'Golem' which means in Modern Hebrew as dumb or helpless. It's doesn't have that ringing of powerful creature. I miss the old bible meaning of 'my unshaped form', which makes more sense than the Modern Hebrew or Yiddish meaning. The film ending is a bit disappointing. Who knew a little girl can do that to a powerful monster? Even the restored print of the film, there are some cracks and imperfections still there. As a result, brightness varies moment to moment and the edges of the screen are generally quite muddy. The movie is a bit anti-Semitic, while it's somewhat portray the Jewish right, it's kinda doesn't. While they don't portray these characters are big-nosed money-grubbing Shylocks, but they do portray them as Wizards and witches that practicing the black arts, hints why the Emperor wanted the eviction of the ghetto Jews. Just think about this: this movie is made in 1920 Germany after it's defeat in 1918 in WWII. It's foreshadow a lot of what will happen in less than 15 years later. It is said that the house having that Golem was boarded up. Also that when Hitler invaded Prague, he ordered that that house be left alone. And, that it is still boarded up today. Something scared the people back then. Overall: for any silent era horror fan, it's a must watch. If not a silent era fan, it's not too hard to watch. It's very interesting. If the story doesn't get you, the music will. Give it a try as well.

The Golem may not be quite as well known as that other silent creature feature of its era – F.W. Murnau's extraordinary Nosferatu – but is nevertheless a fascinating work of expressionist cinema from German film-maker Paul Wegener. Based on Gustave Meyrick's 1915 novel, the film is moodily lit and pictorially powerful, providing cinema with an early example of one of its most perennially popular motifs: the 'rampaging-monster-on-the-loose'. Even a film as celebrated as King Kong owes much to Wegener's vision in terms of plot and structure. The story is set in medieval Prague. Rabbi Loew (Albert Steinrück) reads in the stars that disastrous events are on the horizon and urges his assistant Famulus (Ernest Deutsch) to gather the Jewish elders to tell them the bad news. The very next day, a decree is issued by the Holy Roman Emperor Luhois (Otto Gebühr), stating that every Jew must leave the city by the end of the month, or else face the ultimate penalty. Desperate to protect his people, Loew creates a clay giant called The Golem, and invokes the malicious spirit of Astaroth to bring the creature to life. Animated by this sorcery, the Golem (Paul Wegener) becomes Loew's hulking ally helping him to protect the Jewish community. When Emperor Luhois sees the Golem – and witnesses its incredible strength first-hand when it prevents his palace from collapsing – he decides to reverse his decree and let the Jews stay. Later, however, Loew learns that Astaroth's sinister influence still lurks within the Golem… and this proves only too true when the creature goes on a destructive rampage through the city. Wegener's film is perhaps most impressive for its visual design, with Hans Poelzig's sets evocatively replicating the Jewish ghetto of medieval Prague. The whole film is beautifully shot around these sets – the maze of alleys, crooked towers and dingy rooms create a perfect atmosphere. The Golem itself is a brilliantly designed creature with a distinctive Eskimo-like hair cut and physically imposing appearance. It may not be as iconic as Nosferatu, but the image of the creature is still one that stays with the viewer long after the film is over. Inevitably, the film's primitive technical 'look' will affect how much of an audience exists for it any more. If you have no interest in silent cinema or expressionism, there will be little to entice you to see The Golem. For true movie buffs, though, this is a real treat. There's so much here that has gone on to influence and inspire future film-making generations – watching the film, you are actually witnessing the birth of ideas and techniques that have survived and evolved over ninety two years and counting. A humbling experience indeed for any film fan.

Once again a real appreciation for the importance and influence of a classic can be tempered a bit by its portrayal and themes. Paul Wegener's The Golem is a masterful expressionistic film with obvious influences on Frankenstein and other imagery that has subsisted throughout film history. It's well-directed, the editing is especially amazing for the time, the acting is great (the method has gone out of style and is sometimes mocked and mugged, but at the period it came out it was a very good way to get the point across), and a very precise use of color tinting adds dimensionality.And it's also antisemitic. There's just no denying it, like as to appreciating the narrative influence of Birth of a Nation while not being able to ignore its racism. At least the Jews in this movie are not so animalistic and cannibalistic as in Birth of a Nation, but here they are portrayed as blackmailing sorcerers tampering with natural laws unto their own destruction. If anything has aged and dated poorly in this movie, making it laughably kitsch. it's not the expressionistic acting, it's not the silent film, it's not the film techniques, it's the portrayal of Jews.However, at least the Golem itself is an interesting character. Wegener's acting and the suit, arguably silly looking but definitely clay-like and picturesquely animated by his movements, are really quite engaging, and the movements again are both immediately haunting and echo through to portrayals of Frankenstein, zombies, and other horror film monsters throughout history.It's still a worthwhile film. Just take it with a grain of salt.--PolarisDiB

Monday January 26, 7:00pm, The Paramount, SeattleIn sixteenth century Prague, the Emperor declares that all Jews will be banished from the city. A rabbi using magical powers creates a man made of earth to protect his people and summons a demon to give the ‘Golem’ (Paul Wegener) life. When the Emperor is saved by the creature, he rescinds his edict, but the Golem is abused by the rabbi’s assistant and embarks on a rampage of terror in the ghetto.Told in the manner of a folk tale, The Golem: How He Came Into the World (1920) features an abundant use of complex lighting, dramatic composition and striking design elements with Gothic overtones. Remade from a story Wegener brought to the screen in 1914 which is now considered lost, The Golem was a recognizable influence on Hollywood, while it offered proof of his skill as a filmmaker and established Wegener’s role in the development of German Expressionism.