By – Gareth Jones

For fans of Jewish folktales, independent Israeli filmmaking, modest horror films

In preparation for the No Longer Silent/ Under the Mountain screening of the classic 1920 film, The Golem: How He Came Into the World, I have been watching many other iterations of the Golem, including the wonderful X Files episode “Kaddish” and the Simpsons Treehouse of Horrors episode where Bart creates his own golem. The tale of the Golem that is created to protect but ends up damaging the creator, has been around for 100s of years, but it really moved to the forefront of popular culture at the beginning of the 20th Century with a series of three films about the Golem co-directed by Paul Wegener with the last being the 1920 version.  Wegener was German, but not Jewish.  As such, I was very excited to see that there was a 2018 film version written by Ariel Cohen and directed by two Jewish Israeli filmmakers, Doron and Yoav Paz.  After the success of their horror film, JeruZalem, they were able to get the funding for a bigger budget film and decided to tell this story.

Unlike earlier versions, this film is set in the 17th century and in Lithuania, as opposed to the well-known story set in Prague.  Another major change is to have the person who brings the Golem to life be a woman, Hanna, played with strength and intensity by Jewish/American actor Hani Furstenberg.  The story is about a small town or shtetl, that is isolated from the other villages but lives in peace celebrating weddings and births. Hanna is married to Benjamin, the son of the rabbi, who sneaks books out from his father for Hanna to read.  It has been seven years since they lost their son. The peace of the shtetl is destroyed when after a relaxing swim, Hanna and her sister Rebecca run into a group of gentiles disposing of their dead from the plague. They are spotted and soon the leader of the nearby plague-ridden town shows up with his sick daughter blaming the Jews for the plague and demanding that they heal his daughter or he will slaughter everyone.  Hanna decides to create a golem to protect the village, but anyone familiar with the tale of the golem will know that this is a dangerous idea that will backfire.  In fact, this is presented in the opening flashback sequence of a previous creation of a golem at the beginning of the film.

The changes made by these filmmakers give the film a modern resonance for audiences.  By changing the person who summons the golem, it opens up a whole new level, connected to motherhood and grief.  It has a well-developed feminist theme that makes the relationship between Hanna and the Golem stronger and more relatable.  Moving the location is also significant.  Having it in the countryside, as opposed to the city of Prague, connects it to a post-Holocaust world even though it is set in the 17th century.

The film is in English, has a moderate budget, which unfortunately are used at times for ineffective CGI effects. However, the acting is strong across the board and the production design of the village is impressive. Ultimately, for me, the story and characters ultimately make this film worth seeing. The film is definitely worth a viewing for  the perspective of Jewish filmmakers.  For a story so connected to Jewish folktales and how people perceive Judaism, it is unfortunate that this is the first time a film version has been made by Jews. Watching this film deepened my appreciation of Wegener’s classic from 1920. 

Hopefully, you can join us for our screening with a live score at the O’Neill Library on Sunday, October 6 at 6pm.  Then go watch this version on TUBI or Freevee.