In 1924, years before
Metropolis and
M, director Fritz Lang created a silent epic based on the quintessential German legend:
Die Nibelungen, the ancient folk tale of heroism and revenge that also served as basis for Richard Wagner's Ring cycle of operas. Lang's tale is broken into two movies which together clock in at close to five hours. Conceived as a monumental spectacle at Berlin's Ufa studios,
Die Nibelungen is the
Lord of the Rings superproduction of its time; its images and larger than life emotions still have the power to astound.
Part one, Siegfried, begins with the exploits of the Germanic hero. In lavishly decorated sets that recall art nouveau rather than the expressionism fashionable at the time, Siegfried (Paul Richter) robs a treasure, slays a dragon, and wins the hand of a queen. But jealousy, deceit, and court intrigue lead to murder. In the second film, Kriemhild's Revenge, Siegfried's widow marries Attila the Hun and manipulates the knights into a tragic bloodbath.
By today's hectic standards, individual shots in
Die Nibelungen could be tightened to make for a more streamlined movie. But there is no extraneous scene; every boiling emotion and outrageous plot twist still resonates over eighty years later. The glittering of the treasure on the bottom of the Rhine, the plumed helmet of one-eyed assassin Hagen von Tronje, Attila's mad hatred after his son is murdered, the infernal conflagration that seals the fate of the Nibelungs--for anybody willing to delve into the early history of film,
Die Nibelungen offers a wealth of stunning sights.
The two-disc DVD edition by Kino Video comes with a handsome set of special features, including footage of Fritz Lang on the set, design sketches, a comparison of the dragon-slaying scenes in Siegfried and The Thief of Bagdad, the original 1924 score, an essay by a film scholar, photo galleries and behind-the-scene images.
