"Die Nibelungen, Teil 1 - Siegfried" is a 1966 movie by Academy Award nominated director Harald Reinl about a topic which is frequently dealt with in German lessons at school as well. Reinl and writer Petersson also worked together on several "Winnetou" films. I enjoyed parts of it, even if I still believe Fritz Lang's approach is superior. If you don't like silent black&white films, however, Reinl may be the way to go. The film is basically carried by Uwe Beyer, a very successful athlete in the 1960s and a complete newbie to acting. However, he made a decent job with Siegfried portraying him as a heroic naive beau. Most of the other characters were played convincingly too: Kriemhild, Brunhilde, Hagen etc. Beyer died very early because of heart failure by the way and it is assumed this may be due to his longtime abuse of doping substances.
The famous dragon fight sequence was a bit short, but we get all the other important scenes too. The final murder scene, the Alberich fight, Siegfried's encounter with Brunhilde, her betrayal and many more. Terence Hill (before his Spencer collaborations) plays one of the supporting characters and is still credited with his real name here, Mario Girotti. The movie won a Golden Screen (an award for films that lured the most visitors into German cinemas) and rightfully so. It must have been quite a spectacle on the Big Screen.
As a whole, it is not worse than most American films from the 1960s and certainly worth a watch, especially if you are interested in mythology or just films about heroic sagas in general. You will probably enjoy this film even more if you are not too familiar with the story as the plot is really not easy to predict. There is also a sequel (just like Lang's and another 1960's Nibelungen production, this has 2 parts) that deals with Kriemhilde's fate and revenge, but I thought this was not so great like the first film. The cast is not too known, especially abroad, except Karin Dor, who you may have seen in a Bond movie. But that does not hurt the overall picture at all. Recommended.
The famous dragon fight sequence was a bit short, but we get all the other important scenes too. The final murder scene, the Alberich fight, Siegfried's encounter with Brunhilde, her betrayal and many more. Terence Hill (before his Spencer collaborations) plays one of the supporting characters and is still credited with his real name here, Mario Girotti. The movie won a Golden Screen (an award for films that lured the most visitors into German cinemas) and rightfully so. It must have been quite a spectacle on the Big Screen.
As a whole, it is not worse than most American films from the 1960s and certainly worth a watch, especially if you are interested in mythology or just films about heroic sagas in general. You will probably enjoy this film even more if you are not too familiar with the story as the plot is really not easy to predict. There is also a sequel (just like Lang's and another 1960's Nibelungen production, this has 2 parts) that deals with Kriemhilde's fate and revenge, but I thought this was not so great like the first film. The cast is not too known, especially abroad, except Karin Dor, who you may have seen in a Bond movie. But that does not hurt the overall picture at all. Recommended.