Starring: Leon Liebgold, Lili Liliana, Abraham Morewski
Directed by: Michał Waszyński
There is little left of Yiddish art from between the World Wars. In the 1930s European Jewish artists sowed the seeds of a cinematic and theatrical star system that later became the international standard. The Habima Theatre, then based in Moscow and now Israel’s national theatre, brought Hebrew works to non-Jewish audiences from the first decade of the 20th century and hazzan cantors toured Europe like opera stars.
Yiddish artists also attempted to create their own cinema. Dybuk (The Dybbuk) is based on the 1914 play of the same name by Russian writer S. Ansky. The play was a huge hit in Warsaw in 1920 and Waszyński’s cinematic version was made in the Polish capital 17 years later featuring some of the biggest Jewish stars of the time, including the hazzan cantor Gerszon Sirota and a severe but enticing Lili Liliana. Waszyński, who eventually settled in Italy after filming on the front line at the Battle of Monte Cassino, succeeded in revamping this modern classic of Jewish theatre.
Waszyński included outdoor shots and made use of chiaroscuro effects to light the most sumptuous scenes of the film. The Expressionist element is reinforced by the use of ghostly special effects much loved by German cinéastes in the 1920s, including F.W Murnau, who Waszyński worked with as assistant director.
Interspersed with monotonous chants and consuming invocations to Yahweh, this macabre parade of god-fearing characters is all that remains of a Yiddish cinema tradition that was cruelly nipped in the bud.
Originally published by The Krakow Post on May 02, 2012