"The Golem is an unfinished film by the Czech director Jiří Barta, best known for his stop-motion animations during the communist era. After the fall of soviet rule, Barta was unable to find funding for his work during the nineties. The film as it exists today is a short pilot completed in 1996. Beautifully animated and darkly foreboding, it follows the terrifying visions of a rabbi as he walks through the alleys of Old World Prague, which morph and turn to stone like the mythical golem.
In Jewish folklore, the golem is a mythical being made of clay described as monstrous and unintelligent. One prominent narrative takes place in 16th century Prague, during a time of antisemitic pogroms under the Holy Roman Emperor. The chief rabbi, through mystical incantation, summons the creature from the banks of a river in defense of the city’s Jews. Over centuries, the golem has become part of tradition and storytelling in mainstream Europe, particularly in the Czech Republic where its namesake is part of the country’s popular imagination.
The golem is also an enduring figure and trope in cinema. During the Silent Era, German director Paul Wegener produced a trilogy of films about the golem, followed by a sequel in 1936 by French director Julien Duvivier. Most recently, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds featured a Nazi-killing “Bear Jew” (played by Eli Roth) rumored to be a golem among German soldiers."
From evilmonito.com
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