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 19:38, as you see the treasure in the water, you can see a hand in the reflection to the left of the sword. Presumably it was filmed in a fish tank.

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Connections

Referenced in Die Nacht der Regisseure (1995)

User Reviews

True Epic and Historic insight

Impressive sets, costumes, and action highlight this 2 hour conclusion. The surprisingly good restoration was available for both parts on Netflix.

In some ways I suspect intentional and not, the movie subtext lays out the cultural flaws of the German/Austrian people following World War 1. The Burgundian oath upheld despite treachery and infanticide to the point of self destruction. An overwhelming need for revenge with no compromise or limit to the cost of obtaining it.

I imagine Fritz Lang and his co-writer wife sought to emphasize these faults following the war, which leads to the mutual destruction of the entire lot of Burgundy characters. Curiously the result ennobles both sides.

The non Germanic characters are grubby, disfigured, inferior animals. Only the extremes of pride, honor and infighting seem to hold the Germanic kingdom back. Within this subtext, one might see omens for the world that would be realized less than 15 years later.

The resulting film shares the same fault of its characters. Excessive pride, honor and nationalism despite the destruction and failure it had wrought. It is a vast epic and well made. But more importantly, a view of the cultural undercurrents that undermined the treaties from the war to end all wars.