Peretz Hirschbein And The Dybbuk: Film Analysis

Produced in the late 1930s, Peretz Hirschbein’s The Vow and S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk follow similar storylines with acute differences that portray a vast array of thematic messages to the audience. In The Vow, Hirschbein depicts two close friends in yeshiva who took an oath that their children would marry. As time passes, the two children, Jacob and Rachel, are born. However, they live vastly different lives. Jacob is sent to the prestigious Vilno to study the holy scriptures and commentary of the Torah. Meanwhile, Rachel is living with little wealth, relying on selling apples to make a living. Despite these circumstances, the divine power of the vow that their parents took leads Jacob and Rachel to meet and eventually wed each other. Similarly, …show more content…
Hirschbein and Ansky express various themes in their respective films, such as the power of true love and generational differences, conveying their own interpretations and criticisms of society as a whole to the viewer. The Vow and The Dybbuk use similar themes, storylines, and styles of film production to emphasize Hirschbein and Ansky’s viewpoints and ideas. Both films have similarities in their storylines and production, both being set in yeshivas and villages. The setting portrays shtetl life in the 1900s and is complemented by similar songs in each film, most of which are religious hymns such as the Song of Solomon (cite). Furthermore, both films employ similar special effect techniques of introducing mystic archetypes, employing fog machines to introduce Prophet Elijah in The Vow and Satan’s wrath in The Dybbuk. The consistent setting, music, and special effects of both films contribute to a shared mood upon which Hirschbein and Ansky develop characters and themes to portray to their …show more content…
The playwrights utilize similar film production techniques as a base upon which they express their unique thematic messages to their