The Golem: How He Came Into the World

Paul Wegener's definitive retelling of the Jewish legend of the Golem is one of the great achievements of German Expressionism — and a direct ancestor of every Frankenstein film that followed. In 16th-century Prague, Rabbi Loew shapes a giant figure from clay and uses kabbalistic magic to bring it to life, hoping to protect the Jewish community from imperial persecution. But the creature, once animated, develops a will of its own. The towering sets — all leaning walls and impossible angles — create a Prague that feels like it exists outside of time. The Golem's rampage through the ghetto gates remains one of silent cinema's most powerful images: a protector becoming the very thing it was built to prevent.