Saturday, August 15, 2009

Der Golem (1920) - Film Review


An excellent silent film made in Germany and making great use of the expressionist style of filmmaking from that era. Made by the same studio that produced THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI that same year. It could be considered one of the first "monster" movies as well. This movie was a huge influence on James Whale when he made FRANKENSTEIN in 1931. It involves a Jewish community being persecuted by Christians. The Jewish rabbi uses "black magic" to bring a clay statue to life in order to protect them from the Christian emperor. The cinematographer, Karl Freund, would go on to lens Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS in 1927 and Tod Browning's DRACULA in 1931; and in the 50's he was the director of photography for the "I Love Lucy" show.


Der Golem (1920) Rating:
4 out of 5 Tombstones: A Bone-A-Fide Crypt-Licker
"Influential German expressionism"

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