The Ancient Law
A long-lost 1923 German silent classic restored to its original glory with live music!
19/20 Hop FilmPainstakingly restored from prints from five different countries, tonight’s screening features a new score composed and (performed live) by pianist Donald Sosin and Klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals.
A rabbi’s son leaves his rural shtetl for the bright stage lights of 1860s Vienna, but as his star ascends, he feels the pull of his faith and homeland. Pre-dating The Jazz Singer by four years, this remarkable story is a testament to the creativity of Jewish filmmakers in 1920s Germany. More comedy than tragedy, the movie paints a complex portrait of the tension between tradition and modernity and was made at the last moment when the future of German and Austrian Jewry still looked hopeful. D: E. A. Dupont, Germany, 1923
"Like many of the best comedies and tragedies, this Weimar-era silent film understands how each mode is often a hair’s breadth from the other."
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