Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen

[parrot_knight]

Die Nibelungen - Siegfried was made in 1924, and is perhaps the most involving silent film I've seen. I don't know Wagner's Ring cycle so had no preconceptions about the story. Lang's film depicts a Siegfried who has a lot in common with the Perceval of mediaeval Arthurian legend, naively pursuing goals which he does not fully understand. Mime, his

Comments

[foradan]

The first section sounds like it is based on Wagner (or on the Eddas, which Wagner bases his story on), but the second part (with the Burgundians) is more based on the Nibelungenlied, which is a medieval German version of the same story with all the gods, magic and monsters removed, and is the source of the German version of the names even for Wagner.

As an aside, the bypass road than loops around modern Worms is known as the Niebelungenringen.

[parrot_knight]

I suspect that Lang was keen to avoid the suggestion that he was directly borrowing from Wagner... though my more musical hosts thought some of the music reminiscent.

I shall pass on your information on the Worms bypass...

[dreiviertel]

I really like this film - admittedly it is a child of its time, but I like the way it exposes the glaring modernity of most "medieval" movies of our own time. And it is refreshing to see certain visual and narrative elements still used freely without the stigma of Nazism attached to them.

[parrot_knight]

The dedication is 'To the German People', and I read into it a story relating to Germany's defeat in the war, of idealistic youth let down by elders. This is a flawed interpretation, after all; Siegfried is hardly guiltless as he learns only imperfectly from his experiences.

I noticed the late Roman influences on costume and design (though Brunhild [at least when we first meet her] and Hagen wear the costume of a later period) but one of the friends with whom I watched it emphasised the Bauhaus elements in the sets (which I wouldn't have noticed). The dragon was superb, complete with poison dripping from its mouth, and a realistic eye to be gouged by Siegfried's sword. We thought that the film had to be known to Messrs Gilliam and Jones, as there were some foreshadowings of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[dreiviertel]

The Pythons must have known it - and both their films are a brilliant illustration of the fact that you don't have to splash out on CGI and fancy animation if you know what you are doing - you can still have impressive special effects even if the range of materials is limited.

[parrot_knight]

Very true. I'm looking forward to seeing the second part (as currently arranged) of Die Nibelungen the week after next.

[widsidh]

I am not familiar with Wagner's version either, but I know the Nordic and German versions of the stories.

I love these films (originally a trilogy, later restored to to parts) - pretty much all I've seen of Fritz Lang's (admittedly not that much) has taken my breath away.

It's a while since I've seen the film(s), but I seem to remember that there is an element of mockery in them of the "genre" itself. Siegfried is just that bit *too* blond and heroic, and Hagen just *so* much the villain, physically.
By 1924 national romanticism had long lost its innocence, and I'm sure Lang is making some subtle commentary, quite aside from telling a good story...

[parrot_knight]

I think that this is the first Lang I've seen - perhaps shamefully, I've never actually seen Metropolis.

I wasn't sure whether there was an element of mockery or not - the warrior maidens who accompanied Brunhild did have the air of boarding school girls on the last day of term, or perhaps (more cruelly) the girls St Trinian's didn't want.

[widsidh]

I've never actually seen Metropolis.

That may need to be remedied :-)

'To the German People'

Presumably like the rather prominent inscription on the Reichstag building in Berlin...

[widsidh]

do'h - wasn't signed in.
Trying again.

I've never actually seen Metropolis.

That may need to be remedied :-)

'To the German People'

Presumably like the rather prominent inscription on the Reichstag building in Berlin...

[wellinghall]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[parrot_knight]

My pleasure! One thing which I didn't comment upon was Siegfried's progress from the magical world to the non-magical. He is first seen learning to be a smith among dwarves, and then in the magical forest realm of Alberich from whom he wins the Nibelung treasure. We are only told of the wars in which he subdues twelve other kings, and then at Worms Christian symbols abound and the supernatural appears tamed. Brunhild has a pagan prophetess in Iceland, so perhaps the voyage to meet her has elements of re-engagement with the magical; on her arrival at Worms the priest who is to marry her seems to exorcise her too, and she is seen to flinch from the cross.

[wellinghall]

It just gets better ...