This
creature of Kabballah looks nothing like German silent film star Paul Wagener.
Instead, he resembles the young son still mourned by the woman (now presumed
barren) who created him. That will make him especially dangerous when he turns
against those he is supposed to protect (like Skynet or Cujo) in Doron &
Yoav Paz’s first English language film, The
Golem (trailer
here),
which premiered during this year’s FrightFest in the UK.
Frankly,
in this isolated 17th Century Lithuanian Jewish village, there are
not a lot of educational opportunities for women in general, but the study of
Kabballah and mystical texts is strictly prohibited. Nevertheless, Hanna
eavesdrops on the Rabbi’s lectures and pours over the books her husband Benjamin
reluctantly smuggles home for her. Alas, she is not nearly as intimidated by
the subject matter as are the Rabbi’s properly male students. That means only
she will have the guts to create a golem to protect the village from a
rampaging feudal lord, but she might not have the strength to destroy the
creature when it brings out all her maternal instincts.
Stylistically,
the Paz’s Brothers’ Golem is dramatically
different than the found footage conceit of their first feature, JeruZalem, but it definitely taps into
some deep Jewish folkloric themes and tropes. This is as much a dark fable as
it is a horror film, but it shares a kinship with the Frankenstein/Modern Prometheus and Faust archetypes, along with the Golem legend. Fate is a killer in
this film, just like the Golem.
Israeli
thesp Hani Furstenberg (recognizable to hardcore cineastes for her starring role
in Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Place)
is pretty impressive as Hanna, fully connecting with both the maternal and
feminist elements of her character. Daniel Cohen makes quite a creepy kid
playing “Hanna’s Son.” Frankly, none of the other male characters is a well-developed
as Hanna, but they look and act era appropriate amid all the chaos and carnage.
Despite
the dissimilarities of their two features, the Paz Brother consistently show a
knack for projecting a vibe of ancient, soul-shattering evil. It is a moody
film, sort of like The Witch, but it
also seriously portrays the harsh realities of shtetl life in Old Europe.
Recommended for fans of serious period horror films, The Golem is slated to open theatrically next year, following its
premiere at this year’s FrightFest.
