Friday, February 01, 2019

The Dybbuk

The Dybbuk is a 1937 Polish fantasy film. From Wikipedia: "The Dybbuk is considered a seminal play in the history of Jewish theatre, and played an important role in the development of Yiddish theatre and theatre in Israel". It is a type of ghost/possession story, a tragic tale of love and loss and fate. This is not horror and not scary at all. This version has inter-titles and some subtitles:


The Chicago Reader has a consideration which says, "it's hard not to think of the three million Polish Jews who would be slaughtered during the Shoah only a few years after the film was made; if The Dybbuk is at all scary, it's as a harbinger of real-life horror."

8 comments:

  1. Just the description reminds me of the "nighmare" Tevya in "Fiddler on the Roof" has when he's trying to persuade his wife that their eldest daughter should not marry the butcher.

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    1. I love that movie! We still quote from it sometimes, because you know the world is filled with cues for movie quotes lol

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  2. What an incredibly sad story. Reminds me of our current situation with people asking for asylum from a president who married an immigrant.

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  3. sad, but interesting story.
    have a great day

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    1. I was surprised by it. I was expecting more of a horror story, when it's a different kind of film entirely.

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  4. I was brought up on tales of dybbuks!But the shoah which followed later was much worse than a horror story. Valerie

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