Events ______________

DYBBUK

dir. Michał Waszyński / 1937 / Poland / 123 min

Yiddish w/ English subtitles


Boundaries separating the natural from the supernatural dissolve as ill-fated pledges, unfulfilled passions, and untimely deaths ensnare two families in a tragic labyrinth of spiritual possession. The Dybbuk is based on the celebrated play of the same name by S. Ansky written during the turbulent years of 1912-1917 and inspired by Ansky’s ethnographic research of Jews living in the Polish-Russian countryside just before World War I. The Dybbuk reflects Ansky's deep perception of the shtetl's religious and cultural mores, as well as his insightful appreciation of its hidden spiritual resources. The film's exquisite musical and dance interludes evoke the cultural richness of both pre-World War II shtetl communities and Polish Jewry on the eve of World War II. The film was made on location in Poland in 1937 and brought together the best talents of Polish Jewry—script writers, composers, choreographers, set designers, actors and historical advisors. "... one of the most solemn attestations to the mystic powers of the spirit the imagination has ever purveyed to the film reel."
- Parker Tyler, Classics of the Foreign Film

London