Der Golem
Paul Wegener and Carl Boese
1920
In some films, prehistoric animals appear whose description as "monsters"may be debated. Another set of “monsters” have a less complicated ontology, although they vary by type and a number of these kinds of creatures exist. These are things that were in some way human and include such critters as Vampires, Werewolves, Mummies, zombies and perhaps the least human of all – the Frankenstein monster. The first three were at one time living normal humans who have become altered – vampires and werewolves through bites, mummies through natural death followed by a revitalization. Zombies are similarly re-animated dead. All of these have been approached scientifically as well and we may get to discuss this later when we get to some of the films about these.
Edison’s "Frankenstein" 1910 (USA)
Der Golem: Wie er in die Welt Kam
(Germany)
1920
Carl Boese and Paul Wegener
Around the Weimar Republic era, German Expressionist film makers would significantly influence later films. Paul Wegener's The Golem (1920), Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. (1920) and The Man Who Laughs (1928), based on the Victor Hugo novel of the same name, were influential films at the time. The first vampire-themed movie, F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), was made during this time, though it was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
The 1920 film is the last part of a trilogy: part one: Der Golem (1915 - 60 minutes); Part 2: Der Golem und die Tänzerin (1917 - unknown running time. A comedy horror about an actor impersonates the monster he made famous). Both the first and third films were written by Henry Galeen and Paul Wegener who plays the creature in both films. Wegener alone wrote the second and co-directed with Rochus Gliese.
Parts 1 and 2 are considered to be lost films, although there are rumors that all or parts of them are still extant.
WHAT’S A GOLEM?
The golem as a word appears long before this story, and can be found omly once and that is in the Old Testament’s Book of Psalms (Psalm 139:16) where it refers to an “unshapen body). It has come to mean an “uncultivated person” or “dumb” or “helpless”. It is used to indicate someone who serves people under some circumstances and is hostile under others.
The relevent passage from Psalm 139 says.
16
Thine eyes my substance did behold,
yet being unperfect;
And in the volume of thy book
my members all were writ;
Which after in continuance
were fashioned ev'ry one,
When as they yet all shapeless were, [= Golem (galmi; my golem)]
and of them there was none.
Talmudic material holds that Adam is created as a “golem” when the material of which he is made was kneaded into a lump.
Stories continue through the middle ages and deal with the mechanism by which the golem is brought to life. These often deal with writing a “shem” (any one of the names of God) on a paper and putting it in his mouth or writing on this forehead. Removing it caused the golem to stop working. One of the words claimed to be use was “emet” (meaning truth). Removing one letter “aleph” changes the word to “death” and this would stop the golem.
The earliest indications that anyone had actually create one appear between 1630-50 when it was reported that Rabbi Eliyahu of Chelm (eastern Poland) had done so (1550-1583) and the golem did menial work for him. The stpry was elaborated in 1748 which held that when the rabbi saw the creature getting larger and larger he feared it would destroy everything and he managed to remove the magical name on his forehead but was injured in the battle.
The most famous of the stories however involves Rabbi Loew ben Bezalel of Prague, Czechoslovakia who created a golem to protect the Jews from persecution. The story holds the creature was made from the mud of the Vlatava (Moldau) river and was named Joseph or Yossele and had magical powers (summon the dead and become invisible) It could not be active on the Sabbath and the rabbi removed the shem every Friday. It goes on a murderous rampage. There are stories about what happened to the golem after that. The first writers on the Prague Golem were:
Two other names that appear in the film
Asteroth: A male demon whose name is related to Ishtar, and Astarte and his name is derived from the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth although the figure goes back to the Phoenician goddess Astarte (Babylonian Ishtar) and Sumerian Inanna. Sometimes seen as part of a trinity of evil with Belzebub and Lucifer. Like most “demons” a complex figure often involved with leading people into “hell” by supplying them with things that are generally condemned, (Talismans, amulets) Things which give people control rather than recognizing only god has control.
Wandering Jew: Ahasuerus A mythological figure whose story began to spread in the 13th century. It deal with a Jew who mocks or taunts Christ on the way to the crucifixion (compare Kundry in Parsifal: First she-devil! Rose of Hades! Herodias were you, and what else? Gundryggia then, Kundry here! There is no mention known of such a character although Wagner claims it meant weaver of war which is a possible etymology). The wandering jew is then condemned to wander until the 2nd coming) The name appears several times in the Old Testament – in Esther, Ezra and Daniel In the frst 2 it may refer to Xerxes I of Persia or Artaxerxes II. In Daniel it is the name of the father of Darius the Mede In the Apocrapha’s Book of Tobit it is an associate of Nebuchadnezzar. Catholics identify this Ahasuerus with the one in Daniel 9:1
Kant refers to the Wandering Jew by this name in his work: The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God
Schauerfilm(e) (shiver film(s)) The period after WWI is one of turmoil in Germany and the Schauerfilme, or “shiver films” are associated with this period.
Caligari is a dead end in the sense it could go nowhere. Some Russians attempted to duplicate it, (for a dream sequence in sci-fi film, but it was in a comedy – just not what those sets work for. An American film tried similar sets for a film dealing with drug addiction (Human Wreckage 1923). Perhaps after the arrival of sound, the 1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue (photographed by Karl Freund) is the closest.
Der Januskopf (an altered version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – altered to avoid problems with the Stevenson estate over royalties – piracy goes back a long way). Der Steinerne Reiter (The Stone Rider) (1923), and Orlacs Hände (1924) (Orlac’s Hands) ( and a 1926 remake if the 1913 Der Student von Prag (The Student of Prague) with the same German title but known in English as The Man Who Cheated Life) (1926) all exemplify this trend. Murnau’s famous 1922 Nosferatu Eine Symphonie des Grauens (Nosferatu A Symphony of Horror) and Lang’s 1924 two part epic Die Nibelungen may be the high points.
With the re-establishment of economic and social order the period comes to an end and fantasy films are replaced with psychological dramas, which starts about 1926 is more or less complete by 1932 The film is photographed by Karl Freund 1890-1969. He started his career with a number of short films which he began in in 1911 when he was 21. The first is a film called “Gypsy Blood”. In 1914 he shot Der Hund von Baskerville possibly the first filmed version of the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles which has had as many as 20 incarnations In 1919 he worked with F.W. Murnau on his first film – The Emerald of Death, and on several other films including Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) (1924). He also shot Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927). In 1929 he came to America and shot some of the Universal Horror films – Dracula (1931) Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932). He also shot Key Largo. By the time TV arrived he moved to television and developed the 3 camera approach to shooting programs like Our Miss Brooks and I Love Lucy. Freund also went on to direct a number of films including the 1932 film The Mummy with Boris Karloff Among the performers, watch for Greta Schröder as Ein Mägdelein mit der Rose (Little Girl with Rose. She is known for playing Ellen Hutter in Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922). AFTER THE FILM
THE GOLEM story bears resemblance to a number of other stories. Frankenstein is the most obvious Although the film is seen as a forerunner of Frankenstein, the Edison 1910 version predates the 1920 Der Golem: Wie er in die Welt kam by some 10 years. but there are similar aspects in the story about Samson and Goethe's poem "Der Zauberlehrling" ("The Sorcerer’s Apprentice").
In terms of other films there are clear resemblances: The calling of the devil Mephistopheles in Murnau’s Faust (1926) through Kong’s Entrance through the gate in the original King Kong (1933); the Golem playing with the child and Frankenstein’s monster playing with the child at the lake
Creation stories:
Many stories involve humans “creating some being” Creator and creation (should people meddle in creation). Even Alex Proyas' I, Robot (2004) comes close. Usually there are bad results and the inevitable line that “man should not meddle in…”
Sets and Costumes:
Clearly the expressionist style is still strong. There are many diagonal lines and images to generate a kind of claustrophobia. The cramped streets of the Ghetto contrast with the look of the palace. The huge doors dwarf the people
It is almost unavoidable to see that the relationship between creator and creation not only mirrors the relationship found in Western religions of God and People – but might even be extended to the relationship between a creative artist and the work of art.
There is a question about whether the supernatural represents something anti-rational, not irrational (i.e. art).
Like Les Diaboliques and Les Yeux sans Visage, the stress in this film is not psychological as it is in many of the American horror films which are often seen as having "the eruption of the repressed" as their main subtext - a psycho/sexual one. This film, as in the two French films leans towards a more socio-political subtext. While France was occupied in WWII, which precedes the two French horror films mentioned, Der Golem is a German film made shortly after WWI which the Germans had lost. Like the 1920 Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) it has implications about control of people by the government.