Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924)

After Siegfried's dead, Kriemhild marries Etzel, the King of the Huns. She gives birth to a child, and invites her brothers for a party. She tries to persuade Etzel and the other Huns, that... See full summary »

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writer:

Thea von Harbou

Stars:

Margarete Schön, Gertrud Arnold, Theodor Loos

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Margarete Schön	...	Kriemhild
Gertrud Arnold	...	Queen Ute
Theodor Loos	...	King Gunther
Hans Carl Mueller	...	Gernot
Erwin Biswanger	...	Giselher
Bernhard Goetzke	...	Person from Alzey
Hans Adalbert Schlettow	...	Hagen Tronje
Hardy von Francois	...	Dankwart
Yuri Yurovsky	...	The Priest (as Georg Jurowski)
Iris Roberts	...	The precious boy
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	King Etzel
Georg John	...	Slaodel, his brother
Hubert Heinrich	...	Werbel, the play man
Rudolf Rittner	...	Rüdiger von Bechlarn
Annie Röttgen	...	Dietlind, his daughter

Storyline

After Siegfried's dead, Kriemhild marries Etzel, the King of the Huns. She gives birth to a child, and invites her brothers for a party. She tries to persuade Etzel and the other Huns, that they kill Hagen, the murderer of Siegfried, but he is protected by her brothers. A fierce battle begins to force her brothers to give Hagen to her.

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Plot Keywords:

murder of a child | woman murders a man | murderess | attila | king | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Release Date:

26 April 1924 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge

Filming Locations:

Berliner Union-Film, Oberlandstraße 26-35, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Decla-Bioscop AG,Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min 144 min (restored integral)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Attila's castle was built life-size. The fire was started by Fritz Lang himself by shooting an arrow, tipped with burning magnesium, onto the roof.

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Goofs

At roughly 1:14:25 as the Hun are exiting the caves, they reuse the same shot twice. They film them coming out of the caves, cut to a shot inside, then back outside of the cave. It is the same shot but shorter.

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Connections

Featured in Von Caligari zu Hitler: Das deutsche Kino im Zeitalter der Massen (2014)

User Reviews

All-Encompassing

"Die Nibelungen" (1924), Lang's five-hour, two-part epic is quickly becoming my quintessential experience with Lang. The two films are all-encompassing: the first plays more like a fairytale (that translates well to filmic special effects), the latter more like "Hamlet" and its ilk. Siegfried is necessarily blank as a character, in fact he seems more like a characterization of virtue than flesh and bone; Kriemhild, too, is like white space in the first film, but is transformed by revengeful hate to a driven character of great psychological power. The second film is thus far more internal in its drama.

Not to say it wouldn't have some of the most amazing action sequences ever put to film. In fact, the riding of Etzel (Attila) and his men across the valley, the siege, the ensuing battle and climax are so well-done and full of so much real danger that the effect is dumbfounding. Where in modern cinema can we find risk in this manner? Herzog's "Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes" (1972) or "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) don't really fit the classification.

Indeed, the climatic fire is so visually violent that not even Kurosawa topped it in "Ran" (1985). I was breathless in awe and wonder and fear by witnessing it, sure that a huge rafter would crush the actors.

It's a beauty to behold on Blu-ray. We're lucky to have the restoration on both Region A (Kino) and B (Masters of Cinema series).