THE GOLEM   1920 (Der Golem - wie er in die Welt kam) Directed by Paul Wegener und Carl Boese 91 minutes German intertitles and English subtitles

This is considered to be one of the very first horror movie ever made, and it came out during the silent era. It was part of the German expressionist genre, and it continues the style of movies such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Der Golem had a huge impact on a lot of future cinema, influencing everything from the original Frankenstein movie of the 1930s to Paul Verhoeven's techno-update Robocop. In Jewish folklore there are many dark myths of the underworld, and the story of the Golem is one of the crucial ones. Several expressionist Golem movies were made in Germany before this one, but two of them were destroyed and today are considered lost. This was the only one to survive, and works as a prequel, focusing on how this legendary 'monster' was conjured into this world. Even this movie was broken and fragmentary up until now, missing pieces and even entire scenes. It has only recently been restored to the original directors cut.

The story is set in the 16th century, as Jews are being persecuted in the Prague ghetto. A local Rabbi studies astrology and sees a bad fate for his people in the stars, so he makes a giant Golem out of clay and brings it to life to protect the Jewish population. The huge clay creature rises and enters the streets of Prague... and I'll let the rest of the eerie story unfold for itself. It is a mix of shadowy expressionism, mysticism and philosophy, pondering ideas that are unfortunately still relevant today, such as how we are blindly giving power to others to protect us. Beautifully crafted, visionary cinema.

This will be a high-definition screening.