I Nibelunghi: La vendetta di Crimilde

Like grand opera, this film and its predecessor, "Siegfried", are a little too slow in pace, but the visual treats are unforgettable. It is best to see the two films together, but the sequel is not as good, mainly because there is not very much story left. Most of the time it's just Kriemhild wandering around looking vengeful, but Margarethe Schoen does it so well! The performance of Rudolph Klein-Rogge as Attila the Hun is wildly energetic - he is magnificent. But you can't help thinking why don't they just kill Hagen Tronje and get on with life, especially after he murders the baby. Something to do with Teutonic loyalty apparently.

But who can forget the rabbit-warren Hun village, and all those grubby Huns running about. Of course the film is racist as the Teutons somehow survive against overwhelming numbers of Huns - no wonder Hitler liked this film. "Siegfried" was very fascist too, with the glorious Aryan impregnable and very gorgeous (thanks to Paul Richter). But "Kriemhild's Revenge" lacks the wonderful fantasy sequences of "Siegfried" like the dwarves kingdom and especially that superb dragon fight - but at least here Kriemhild herself gets some balls - she seemed so stupid in "Siegfried".

Please see also my comment on Die Nibelungen part 1: Siegfried.

The second part of UFA studio's gargantuan production of the Nibelungen saga continues in the stylised, symphonic and emotionally detached manner of its predecessor. However, whereas part one was a passionless portrayal of individual acts of heroism, part two is a chaotic depiction of bloodletting on a grand scale.

As in part one, director Fritz Lang maintains a continuous dynamic rhythm, with the pace of the action and the complexity of the shot composition rising and falling smoothly as the tone of each scene demands. These pictures should only be watched with the note-perfect Gottfried Huppertz score, which fortunately is on the Kino DVD. Now, with this focus on mass action, Lang is presented with greater challenges in staging. The action sequences in his earliest features were often badly constructed, but now he simply makes them part of that rhythmic flow, with the level of activity on the screen swelling up like an orchestra.

But just as part one made us witness Siegfried's adventures matter-of-factly and without excitement, part two presents warfare as devastating tragedy. In both pictures, there is a deliberate lack of emotional connection with the characters. That's why Lang mostly keeps the camera outside of the action, never allowing us to feel as if we are there (and this is significant because involving the audience is normally a distinction of Lang's work). That's also why the performances are unnaturally theatrical, with the actors lurching around like constipated sleepwalkers.

Nevertheless, Kriemhild's revenge does constantly deal with emotions, and is in fact profoundly humanist. The one moment of naturalism is when Atilla holds his baby son for the first time, and Lang actually emphasises the tenderness of this scene by building up to it with the wild, frantic ride of the huns. The point is that Lang never manipulates us into taking sides, and in that respect this version has more in common with the original saga than the Wagner opera. The climactic slaughter is the very antithesis of a rousing battle scene. Why then did Hitler and co. get so teary-eyed over it, a fact which has unfairly tarnished the reputation of these films? Because the unwavering racial ideology of the Nazis made them automatically view the Nibelungs as the good guys, even if they do kill babies and betray their own kin. For Hitler, their downfall would always be a nationalist tragedy, not a human one.

But for us non-nazi viewers, what makes this picture enjoyable is its beautiful sense of pageantry and musical rhythm. When you see these fully-developed silent pictures of Lang's, it makes you realise how much he was wasted in Hollywood. Rather than saddling him with low-budget potboilers, they should have put him to work on a few of those sword-and-sandal epics, pictures that do not have to be believable and do not have to move us emotionally, where it's the poetic, operatic tonality that sweeps us along.

"Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge" is part of the two-part, five hour long saga from Fritz Lang. The first part, "Die Nibelungen: Siegfried" follows the Germanic hero from various heroic deeds (such as slaying a dragon) to his eventual murder.

When part two begins, his widow, Kriemhild is naturally furious. After all, her husband was murdered and no one has been punished. To make it worse, her family has sworn allegiance to the murderer! The movie consists of her machinations to bring the killer to justice, though through this there are wars, lots of death and an ending where practically everyone expires!

What I didn't love were the English captions added to the film. They were is a VERY stylized Germanic font...and were VERY difficult to read. I also was not fond of an overuse of staring and folks standing at attention instead of ACTING (a problem also in Sergei Eisenstein's "Ivan the Terrible" saga). It also should be noted that in this English version, King Etzel is translated as King Attila (as in, Attila the Hun).

What were exceptional were the costumes, the sets (some of which were pretty simple but others really were amazing) and the wonderful print (it was pristine) I found of it on YouTube.

Die Nibelungen : Kriemhild's Revenge (1924) :- Brief Review -

Bow down to the First Greatest Dual Epic of the World Cinema, bow down to Master Fritz Lang. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge follows the story of Kriemhild's insane and uncontrollable Revenge after Sigfried's murder and believe me there's no stopping to the visual extravaganza from the beginning to the end. Unlike its predecessor, this one wastes no time in introduction. It gets to the point right on the beginning note from where you don't get a moment to think about anything else for 2 hours. Fritz Lang had saved a lot of content for this one but the biggest achievement of this film is catching the burning tone of insane self destruction within an acceptable revenge. Revenge stories are nothing new but a fine tit for tat, blood for blood in typical forms but Fritz Lang fetched unethical terms and inappropriate outburst to discover a salvation in realistic fantasy world. Kriemhild's Revenge could possibly be a contender for One Of the Greatest Epic Adventure ever made, not because of its grandeur but because of humanly possible techniques of self-blessedness within cinematic boundaries. Even if you exclude its artistic values, you still have a great explosive money making entertainer in hand and that's what the greatness of this film lies. From performances to screenplay to spectacular visuals to unlimited production designing to the impeccable storytelling, Kriemhild's Revenge tops the list in every aspect. What LOTR and Bahubali achieved in 21st Century, Kriemhild's Revenge did it in 1920s only and that too without the help of advanced technology. Words might fall short to explain the glory of this Fritz Lang Classic in today's time but all i can do is bow down to the Legend and his Legendary Magnus Opus. The Greatest work in Larger Than Life Cinema of its time, that's it!

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest

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.