Der Dibuk

This is like no other film, while the one that comes closest to it is Paul Wegener's "Der Golem" from 1920, it's the same kind of dense mystery enwrapping everything and all people in it, like a fairy tale although it's all reality - Rabbi Löw was a true legendary celebrity of Prague; but this is no silent film, it is the most famous and probably greatest film in Yiddish ever made, and although it is all fantasy and speculation, it is all a very Jewish reality, and the story is universal, dealing with problems of fate. Two very close friends promise each other, that if one gets a son and the other a daughter, they shall be married when they grow up. They actually do get a son and a daughter, bit they never get the chance to see them grow up, while the children instinctively feel they belong to each other, while the adoptive family of the daughter prevents their union, with fatal consequences. It is actually a monumental tragedy but wrapped up in an incredible and comprehensive play involving many people, festivities, ceremonies, dances, songs, enormous circumstances and overwhelming passions, while it's the music that is especially impressing. It is as if music was the dominating element in the lives of these Polish Jews, and the film gives a very strong impression of the vital importance of music in all aspects of Jewish life. The film is unforgettable in its overwhelming richness of images and feelings, the unique filming of services, celebrations and ceremonies inside the Synagogue, in brief, everything in this film is exceptionally fantastic.