Hagen - Im Tal der Nibelungen

As someone who grew up reading the source material and especially the interpretation by Hohlbein from the POV of Hagen, i have been waiting for a state of the art adaption of Song of the Nibelungs ever since I saw my first Lord of the Rings Movie. I never had high hopes it would get made because despite being one of the most influential historical epics of all time, hollywood has always been blissfully ignorant.

Now a european production has finally stepped in, and i am here for it!

The filmmaking is superb. The visuals are stunning. Everything looks realistic yet stylish, and the sword fights are down to earth yet filmed in a way that makes you feel the weight and impact of each strike.

Qualitiy of performances varies, but the main characters all deliver. Everyone has botteled up emotions to deal with, you know what they feel by looking in their eyes, everything is handled with a minimum of dialogue and a maximum of context to make you understand the driving forces behind each character. It does not feel like just another fantasy film, but more like a dark, tragic saga that hints but never 100% commits to the supernatural elements of its plot, similar to projects like "The Northman" by Robert Eggers or the "Hellblade" video game.

If you are into sagas and gritty medieval dramas, or if you are a fan of the source material like i am, this one is for you!

This film shows a modified version of the all too familiar NIBELUNGENLIED. No wonder, this time the original comes from the fantasy novel HAGEN VON TRONJE written by the German fantasy writer Wolfgang HOHLBEIN. A "German Game of Thrones" was not the result, but the directing duo, who have already made the German-Austrian quality series DER PASS with Julia JENTSCH and Nicholas OFCZAREK, are putting in a lot of effort.

The NIBELUNGENLIED was written around 1200 and is considered the high point of Medieval German literature. Unlike in the films by Fritz LANG (1924) and Harald REINL (1966), the story here is told from the perspective of Hagen von Tronje, who has previously been seen as the ruthless murderer of the shining hero Siegfried von Xanten.

In the current film, Hagen (Gijs NABER) is the benevolent protector of Kriemhild and her brothers, who are being challenged by the charismatic, radiant Siegfried (Jannis NIEWÖHNER) in a populist manner. This is an approach that tells the story of the Nibelungs in a less idealistic and more politically pragmatic way. There is intrigue and murder, almost like in Shakespeare's plays.

The German mini-major studio CONSTANTIN FILM has not been stingy and has delivered a real fantasy gem, which is unfortunately rather unusual for German-language cinema. Unfortunately, audiences in German-speaking countries have not quite gone along with it. So far (as of December 21, 2024), the film has only been able to attract 177,167 visitors to the cinemas, which corresponds to a box office of 1,912,444 EURO.

Hopefully the film will still be watched by many after its theatrical release! It's worth it!

German fantasy productions have become rare, so I was glad someone decided to once again use the Song of the Nibelungs, the classic German hero tale, as a source for inspiration - even if the movie itself is based on a book by Wolgang Hohlbein.

Visually this is an impressive looking production, with lush setdesign and inspiring costumes.

But the acting is wooden - all around, I'd say. Main protagonist Hagen f.e. Never goes on any kind of classic "Hero's Journey". He just stays his stoic, usual self throughout the entire film, often coming off as a person looking "into the film", while more interesting stuff happens to other characters.

It also can't seem to answer its own question whether or not to lean into the really outlandish fantasy elements of the story it is based on. That must explain why I never could shake the feeling off that entire scenes were simply missing, especially in the first act, because the film does a horrible job introducing characters and story. You'd be lost without at least basic knowledge of the Nibelungs.

See it for the visuals. Otherwise there's nothing really memorable here.

A poetic homage to an immortal epic for ages retold.

Siegfried the Hero and Hagen the murderer (which is no spoilers, the story was known to us over 900 years).

The battle scenes are epic, the dialogue is a bit shakespearean, hence i can understand that the modern audience (i hate to use the word zoomers so i wont) will find it dull (i loved it: macbeth flashbacks).

I found it refreshing overall.

All classical characters of Nibelungenlied are in the movie and they are loyal to their characters in a range of extend

This one explores the psychological motives behind the characters, their endeavours and the tragic result. (or was is tragic?)

The film is said to have cost 40 million euros. (There will also be a TV series made of the movie, or it was filmed simultaneously. ). Anyway, the result is just sad and embarrassing.

First mistake. Boring as hell of screenplay.

Second mistake: Boring actors, or rather, what are they supposed to play given such a lousy script? The box office in Germany was a disaster. Not even 200,000 viewers in theaters. Not to be recommended at all. No TV series with X to Z episodes will fix that either.

Maybe the filmmakers should have just watched Game of Thrones or one of the really good Viking series to see how to entertain in an exciting way.