The Golem
Last night, we went to the Rubin Museum on 17th Street to see Paul Wegener's 1920 film Der Golem, with an original guitar score by Gary Lucas.
Wow.
I haven't seen a lot of early silent film, so I'm not sure whether what I noticed is a function of early German Expressionistic Fantasy, the work of Paul Wegener, or silent film in general. But, for me, watching Der Golem was a lot like reading a comic. The story unfolds in discrete scenes, many of which last only as long as one action (looking over a parapet, turning a page), very much like comic panels. And there aren't a lot of words--only a few title cards, only two or three of which convey dialogue. Everything is done with gesture and attitude and expression and lighting.
See for yourself:
Things we loved about this movie: The pointy hats. Knight Florian's Very Big Feather. The Emperor's round hat. The Golem's elevator shoes (yes, I'm all about the costumes). Miriam's mud-repellent velvet dress. The slightly Gaudeyesque ghetto of Prague. I wasn't too enthralled with Miriam falling into the arms of the Blond Aryan Kight, but was slightly mollified by the unexpected way that plot thread worked out. (See what grammatical knots I tie myself into avoiding spoilers for you? You're welcome.)
I also loved Gary Lucas's wonderful guitar score, which segued seamlessly from "The Ride of the Valkyries" to horror movie shrieks and riffs and rock-inflected dance music for the Emperor's Rose Ball, and a bunch of other stuff I'd have to see the whole performance at least twice again in order to catch, because I kept getting caught up in the whole, enchanting gestalt of music, image, and story, thereby losing the ability to pick it all apart.
A lovely evening. I adore the Rubin and it's Cinema Cabaret. We shall certainly go again--even when the current run of SF classics is no longer running.
Wow.
I haven't seen a lot of early silent film, so I'm not sure whether what I noticed is a function of early German Expressionistic Fantasy, the work of Paul Wegener, or silent film in general. But, for me, watching Der Golem was a lot like reading a comic. The story unfolds in discrete scenes, many of which last only as long as one action (looking over a parapet, turning a page), very much like comic panels. And there aren't a lot of words--only a few title cards, only two or three of which convey dialogue. Everything is done with gesture and attitude and expression and lighting.
See for yourself:
Click to viewThings we loved about this movie: The pointy hats. Knight Florian's Very Big Feather. The Emperor's round hat. The Golem's elevator shoes (yes, I'm all about the costumes). Miriam's mud-repellent velvet dress. The slightly Gaudeyesque ghetto of Prague. I wasn't too enthralled with Miriam falling into the arms of the Blond Aryan Kight, but was slightly mollified by the unexpected way that plot thread worked out. (See what grammatical knots I tie myself into avoiding spoilers for you? You're welcome.)
I also loved Gary Lucas's wonderful guitar score, which segued seamlessly from "The Ride of the Valkyries" to horror movie shrieks and riffs and rock-inflected dance music for the Emperor's Rose Ball, and a bunch of other stuff I'd have to see the whole performance at least twice again in order to catch, because I kept getting caught up in the whole, enchanting gestalt of music, image, and story, thereby losing the ability to pick it all apart.
A lovely evening. I adore the Rubin and it's Cinema Cabaret. We shall certainly go again--even when the current run of SF classics is no longer running.