Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Fritz Lang (writer)
Thea von Harbou (writer)

Release Date:

1924 (Poland)

Genre:

Fantasy | Drama | Adventure

Plot:

Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, hears of the beautiful sister of Gunter, King of Worms, Kriemhild. On his way to Worms...

Plot Keywords:

King | Dragon | Spear | Mask | Blood

Cast

Gertrud Arnold	...	Koenigin Ute
Margarete Schön	...	Kriemhild
Hanna Ralph	...	Brunhild
Paul Richter	...	Siegfried
Theodor Loos	...	Koenig Gunther
Hans Carl Mueller	...	Gernot
Erwin Biswanger	...	Giselher
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Volker von Alzey
Hans Adalbert Schlettow	...	Hagen Tronje
Hardy von Francois	...	Dankwart
Georg John	...	Mime, der Schmied / Alberich, der Nibelung
Frida Richard	...	Die Runenmagd
Yuri Yurovsky	...	Der Priester (as Georg Jurowski)
Iris Roberts	...	Der Edelknabe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fritz Alberti	...	Dietrich von Bern
Grete Berger	...	Hunnenweib
Hubert Heinrich	...	Werbel
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	Koenig Etzel
Georg August Koch	...	Hildebrand
Rudolf Rittner	...	Ruediger von Bechlarn

Also Known As:

Die Nibelungen: Siegfrieds Tod (Germany)
Siegfried
Siegfried's Death
Siegfrieds Tod (Germany)

Runtime:

Canada:140 min | Germany:143 min (restored integral version) | Germany:97 min | USA:100 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Germany:o.Al. | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film Studio, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Decla-Bioscop AG

Trivia:

In 1925, a music score was recorded using the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process but this soundtrack version was presented only at the Century Theater in New York City.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hitler - ein Film aus Deutschland (1977)

One of the great masterpieces of any generation

I am not especially an aficionado of silent films though I have long loved Lang's 'Metropolis'. Being an opera lover, especially Wagner, it is to my shame that it has taken me decade to get around to watching Lang's masterpiece 'Siegfried'.

Even more than Richard Wagner's 4 Ring operas in 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' Lang's films tie in many of the ancient Nordic and Teutonic legends that contributed to Wagner's monumental creation.

Brunhild is a powerful Icelandic Queen, Siegfried the son of King Siegmund, all this quite different from the operas in that Siegmund was not a king in those. Also, Hagen, the evil deus ex machina is portrayed here as a Wotan like figure, with patched eye and horned helmet. Otherwise, the basic story is the same but more believable as drama than Wagner's highly fantastic story line.

This film is going to last a lifetime with me. And it is especially wonderful that the great musical score by Gottfried Huppertz has been included in the DVD release on Kino films. Its a haunting score and very much its own character. It doesn't try to imitate Wagnerianism but there are what Wagner called leitmotivs to represent the various characters and mood.

Even if you aren't a Wagner fan this film by Fritz Lang displays so many amazing innovations for 1924 that it puts the computerized f/x of our day quite in the shade in terms of novelty and human artistry.

I can't recommend 'Siegfried' highly enough. Haunting and beautiful, even in black and white. The Kino picture is quite clear and the acting superb.