I didn’t like it. It was interesting, specially from a scholar’s point of view, but I didn’t like it. I thought it was boring and annoying. Visually there were interesting scenes indeed, specially the house, but I didn’t like the story.
The story in details:
Chapter 1
A rabbi sees in the stars that something terrible is about to hit their community, and soon enough there is the order that every jew must leave their homes, leave the ghetto, the judenstadt, and go away. Rabbi makes a golem, believing that it will save his people.
The emperor, the kaiser, sends a count to deliver the news. He’s incredibly smug, in fancy clothes, white horse, even with a flower in his mouth... the big door is opened for him so he can enter the ghetto, and he flirts with the rabbi’s daughter.
Chapter 2
The golem is made. The count comes with a new message and then flirts some more with the girl - it seemed quite a sensual scene I didn’t expect to see in a silent movie, with the two of them breathing heavily and touching each other’s hearts... but I often forget that they seemed to be more free in the 20s than in the 50s/60s.
The emperor accepts to see the rabbi. The rabbi tells his daughter that she’ll soon have a guard, and then he finishes the golem, putting an amulet on his chest, with a word that gives it life, the shem.
The golem is now alive as long as he wears it. To do that the rabbi read a necromancy book on how to give life to the dead or to inanimate objects: if you know the right spell you can force Astaroth to tell you the right word, when planets are in the right way... so he does the spell, there’s a circle of smoke and a green light, flying flames all around, and he calls Astaroth. A big, smoke-breathing-face appears, only the face, and the demon reveals the word. The rabbi writes Aemaet and puts it inside the amulet and then on the golem, and it finally opens its eyes, and moves.
The golem pushes the assistant on the floor, so the rabbi takes the amulet away for now.
Chapter 3
The golem is working as a servant, they need to explain it what to do and it does it: chopping wood, going shopping making everyone scared... whatever.
The rabbi goes to see the emperor taking the golem with him. The daughter exchanges secret messages with the count, who sneaks out to go meet her while her father is at the court festival.
Everyone’s open-mouthed-scared at seeing the golem, but then a girl gives it a flower. The rabbi shows them images, illusions, for them to better understand his people.
He asks the emperor not to laugh or speak while he’s working his illusions, but he does and with him everyone else. The place starts breaking but the golem won’t let them out, and some of them try to escape jumping off the window. The roof is coming down on them, and the emperor promises to show leniency with his people if he saves him, so the rabbi calls the golem and it holds the roof up over their heads.
Chapter 4
The rabbi goes home, tells the people they are safe now. His daughter wakes up in bed with the count. The golem won’t let the rabbi take away the amulet now, he seems angry, but also slow and the rabbi manages to get it.
Now the rabbi reads more about what he did, and it says to be careful because if you give life to something then one day Astaroth will claim it back and it will bring death and destruction...
His servant goes to call Miriam, and he’s waiting outside her room when he hears a male voice, and he’s so jealous because he wanted her for himself, so he activates the golem again.
The count tries to fight but of course he can’t kill a man made of clay, so he can only run. The golem reaches him and throws him off the tower, killing him.
Miriam faints, the golem sets the house on fire, fighting off the servant who now wants to take the amulet off.
Chapter 5
The golem takes the girl away by the hair; the servant goes to warn the others about the fire.
Everyone’s looking at the rabbi to save them, to do a spell against the fire or else they’ll die... :-/ not one of them actually trying to do anything though :-/
The rabbi does, and then he finds Miriam alive. The servant promises to keep her secret if only she forgives him.
The golem goes out of the ghetto, and all the children run away scared, only a little child stays behind and gives him a gift - an apple?
The golem lifts the child up and the child takes the amulet. The golem falls backwards, now inanimate.
They thank God who saved them for the third time in a day and bring the golem inside.
The end
:-/
I loved the shot of the cat walking on a roof at the beginning, the inside of the house, a few scenes visually interesting.
ITA il golem, come venne al mondo
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