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OverviewProvides an aesthetic and historical overview of and new critical insights into Paul Wegener's great 1920 film, recognized at the time as a breakthrough in German cinema. Actor and director Paul Wegener released his 1920 silent film The Golem, How He Came into the World in the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War I. The film's innovative cinematography, lighting effects, modernist architectural design, and thrilling plot all led contemporaneous viewers and critics to pronounce that Germany had finally succeeded on the film front if not on the battlefield. The Golem, How He Came into the World, Wegener's third golem film, narrates how Rabbi Loew, here an astrologer and sorcerer as well as a spiritual leader, forms and animates an artificial clay anthropoid in order to save the Prague Jewish community from an edict of expulsion. Maya Barzilai situates the 1920 film in the historical and social context of post-World War I Germany, taking into consideration Wegener's violent and traumatic service on the Western front. She closely analyzes the film's expressive sculptural aesthetic, enhanced through poetic cinematography, arguing that Wegener's animation of cinema also served a postwar ethical purpose: revealing the human face of the golem and offering a redemptive escape from the the film's Christian-Jewish conflict through nature on the one hand and Zionism on the other. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Maya Barzilai (Royalty Account)Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd Imprint: Camden House Inc Volume: v. 6 Dimensions: Width: 13.30cm , Height: 0.60cm , Length: 19.10cm Weight: 0.144kg ISBN: 9781640140301ISBN 10: 1640140301 Pages: 86 Publication Date: 15 September 2020 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of Contents"Introduction: The Ethics of Animation How Wegener Came to the Golem Light and Clay: A Sculptural Aesthetic Poelzig's ""Golem City"" Cinematic Jewishness The Clay of War Combat at Court The Face of Things Epilogue: The Afterlives of The Golem, How He Came into the World Credits Notes"ReviewsAuthor InformationMAYA BARZILAI is Associate Professor of Hebrew Literature and Jewish Culture, University of Michigan. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |