Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
About Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
Siegfried, son of King Siegmund of Xanten, learns to forge a sword from Mime and sets out for Kriemhild in Burgundy. In the Wood of Woden he kills a dragon and bathes in the blood. One spot on his shoulder, where a leaf fell, stays vulnerable. He beats the dwarf-king Alberich, takes the treasure, the sword Balmung, and a net of invisibility, and Alberich curses the hoard before turning to stone. At Worms he uses the net so King Gunther can seem to defeat Brunhild of Iceland. Siegfried marries Kriemhild. Brunhild learns the trick. She tells Gunther that Siegfried took her virginity and demands his death. Hagen gets Kriemhild to mark the weak spot, then spears Siegfried in the back as he drinks at a spring during a hunt. Brunhild admits the lie and dies beside his body in the cathedral. Kriemhild swears revenge. Her brothers shield Hagen.
Cast & crew
More about Die Nibelungen: Siegfried
Fritz Lang directed. He and Thea von Harbou wrote the script from the Nibelungenlied. Erich Pommer produced for Decla-Bioscop. UFA distributed it. Part 1 opened on February 14, 1924. Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau, and Walter Ruttmann are credited on the camera. Gottfried Huppertz wrote the score.
Themes
Look
Carl Hoffmann and Günther Rittau shot the forests, the Burgundian hall, and the cathedral. Walter Ruttmann is also credited on the camera.
Music
Gottfried Huppertz wrote the original score.
Preservation
Prints of the 143-minute part survive.
Notes
- Paul Richter plays Siegfried, Margarete Schön plays Kriemhild, and Hanna Ralph plays Brunhild.
- Theodor Loos, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Rudolf Rittner, and Bernhard Goetzke are in the cast.
- The leaf-covered spot is the only place the dragon's blood missed.
- This reel ends on Kriemhild's vow. The Hun war is the second film, Kriemhild's Revenge.
- A copy is on the Internet Archive as silent-die-nibelungen-siegfried.
Scenes
- Siegfried bathes in the dragon's blood with a leaf on his shoulder.
- Hagen spears him from behind as he drinks.
- Brunhild dies at the foot of the body in the cathedral.
Influenced by
- The Nibelungenlied
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-die-nibelungen-siegfried)
