Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) Fritz Lang, Paul Richter, Margarete Schön, Theodor Loos, Fantasy, Drama, Adventure

die-nibelungen-siegfried-1924
Siegfried, son of King Sigmund, hears of the beautiful sister of Gunter, King of Worms, Kriemhild. On his way to Worms, he kills a dragon and finds a treasure, the Hort. He helps Gunther to win Krimhild, a mask that makes him invisible proves to be very useful. But because Brunhild is cursing Kriemhild, she tells her what really happened. Now Brunhild wants Siegfried’s head. Is Gunther going to do her that favor?

Upon completing his epic crime film “Dr Mabuse”, Fritz Lang embarked on a quest to bring Germanic legend Das Niebelungenlied to the screen. So colossal was the undertaking that it required two films, of which “Siegfried” is the first.

Young heroic Siegfried kills a dragon and bathes in its blood, gaining immortality (save for a fatal weak spot). His quests make him into a powerful figure and allow him to court the beautiful princess Kriemhield. But her weakling brother only approves the lovers’ union if Siegfried agrees to help him deceive the beautiful Valkyrie Brunhield into falling in love with him. When she eventually discovers this treachery, the humiliated amazon vows sets forth a cycle of revenge that will create tragedy on an epic scale.

There’s no way to avoid comparisons: “Die Niebelungen” is the Lord of the Rings of its day, and easily one of the most staggering epics in the history of movies. The scale, extras and the pioneering dragon-slaying scene all make for enduring cinema. Fritz Lang’s alluring visuals push it even further: his awesome depiction of the rigid codes of honor that are the undoing of his characters imbues the film with a mood and atmosphere whose influences are incalculable. “Die Niebelungen” can also be read as one chooses, tribute to German heroism or to the trappings and tragedy of “honor”. Hitler for one was so impressed with the film that he used an alternate edit of the film as propaganda, playing to Wagner’s Niebelungen opera (which Lang actually loathed!). To be fair, though the original score can not hope to reach the mythical heights of Wagner’s opera, it is still a considerable achievement.

Though he would revisit the crime genre with the slick “Spies” and practically invent modern science-fiction with “Metropolis”, none of Lang’s silent films would reach this level of excellence. “Siegfried” of course can only fairly be judged when seen right before the second half of the saga: “Kriemhield’s Revenge”, in which formality makes way for chaos and petty jealousy and revenge turn to violence on a biblical scale.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the silent era or film as a whole should avidly seek this out. Kino on Video have a very decent double DVD edition. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Edit (October 2010): As I add these words, Eureka have released a stellar BluRay of this saga which is just mind-blowing (reviewed by dvdbeaver, for the curious). If you’ve never seen this film yet, lucky you. Go straight to HD!

die-nibelungen-siegfried-1924-1

IMDB

BRRip 720p | MKV | 1280 x 720 | x264 @ 2048 Kbps | 2h 29mn | 2,75 Gb
Score AC3 5.1 @ 448 Kbps | German intertitles with English subs
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure | Director: Fritz Lang

download free

Siegfried.part1.rar
Siegfried.part2.rar
Siegfried.part3.rar
Siegfried.part4.rar
Siegfried.part5.rar

Random posts

New Moon (1930) Jack Conway, Lawrence Tibbett, Grace Moore, Adolphe Menjou
URGA (1991) Nikita Mikhalkov, Badema, Bayaertu, Vladimir Gostyukhin
Honky Tonk (1941) Jack Conway, Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Frank Morgan, Comedy, Crime, Drama
We’re All Still Here (1997) Anne-Marie Miéville, Aurore Clément, Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Luc Godard
Les Misérables (1998) Bille August, Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Crime, Drama, History
Stranded (1935) Frank Borzage, Kay Francis, George Brent, Patricia Ellis
Funeral Ceremony AKA Smutecni slavnost (1969) Zdenek Sirový, Jaroslava Tichá, Josef Somr, Jana Vychodilová
The Killer Who Wouldn’t Die (1976) William Hale, Mike Connors, Grégoire Aslan, Mariette Hartley
The White Tower (1950) Ted Tetzlaff, Claude Rains, Glenn Ford, Alida Valli
Le party (1990) Pierre Falardeau, Charlotte Laurier, Benoît Dagenais, Julien Poulin
Man in the Middle (1964) Guy Hamilton, Robert Mitchum, France Nuyen, Barry Sullivan
Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story (1993) John Herzfeld, Jack Scalia, Alyssa Milano, Phyllis Lyons
Final Assignment (1980) Paul Almond, Geneviève Bujold, Michael York, Burgess Meredith
High Jump (1959) Godfrey Grayson, Richard Stapley, Lisa Daniely, Leigh Madison
Union Pacific (1939) Cecil B. DeMille, Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Drama, Western
Sad Vacation (2007) Shinji Aoyama, Tadanobu Asano, Kaori Fujimitsu, Eri Ishida
I moschettieri del mare (1962) Massimo Patrizi, Steno, Pier Angeli, Channing Pollock, Aldo Ray
Colombian Love AKA Ahava Colombianit (2004) Shay Kanot, Yael Appleboum, Mili Avital, Yael Badash
It’s Better to Be Wealthy and Healthy Than Poor and Ill AKA Lepsie byt bohaty a zdravy ako chudobny a chory (1992) Juraj Jakubisko, Deana Horváthová, Dagmar Havlová, Juraj Kukura
Young Dillinger (1965) Terry O. Morse, Nick Adams, Robert Conrad, John Ashley, Crime, Drama
Strange Interlude (1932) Robert Z. Leonard, Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Alexander Kirkland, Drama
Mademoiselle (1966) Tony Richardson, Jeanne Moreau, Ettore Manni, Keith Skinner
Employees Entrance (1933) Roy Del Ruth, Warren William, Loretta Young, Wallace Ford, Drama, Romance
Powwow Highway (1989) Jonathan Wacks, Gary Farmer, A Martinez, Joanelle Romero
Sunday Punch (1942) David Miller, William Lundigan, Jean Rogers, Dan Dailey, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Torrent (1926) Monta Bell, Ricardo Cortez, Greta Garbo, Gertrude Olmstead, Drama, Romance
Echoes of Paradise AKA Shadows of the Peacock (1987) Phillip Noyce, Wendy Hughes, John Lone, Steve Jacobs
Syngué sabour, pierre de patience / The Patience Stone (2012) Atiq Rahimi, Golshifteh Farahani, Hamid Djavadan, Hassina Burgan, Drama, War
Shadowed (1946) John Sturges, Anita Louise, Lloyd Corrigan, Michael Duane
The Heart (1973) Kaneto Shindô, Noboru Matsuhashi, Kazunaga Tsuji, Anri
Pulp (1972) Mike Hodges, Michael Caine, Mickey Rooney, Lionel Stander
Escape from Zahrain (1962) Ronald Neame, Yul Brynner, Sal Mineo, Jack Warden
Laura’s Toys (1975) Joseph W. Sarno, Rebecca Brooke, Eric Edwards, Cathja Graff
Pink String and Sealing Wax (1945) Robert Hamer, Mervyn Johns, Mary Merrall, Gordon Jackson
The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951) Rudolph Maté, Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie, Everett Sloane, Adventure
Les amants du Flore (2006) Ilan Duran Cohen, Anna Mouglalis, Lorànt Deutsch, Caroline Silhol, Biography, Drama
Vagabond Lady (1935) Sam Taylor, Robert Young, Evelyn Venable, Reginald Denny, Comedy, Romance, Drama
Replay AKA La répétition (2001) Catherine Corsini, Emmanuelle Béart, Pascale Bussières, Dani Levy
The Squeeze (1977) Michael Apted, Stacy Keach, David Hemmings, Edward Fox
Jeanne Eagels (1957) George Sidney, Kim Novak, Jeff Chandler, Agnes Moorehead, Biography, Drama, Romance
The Diplomatic Corpse (1958) Montgomery Tully, Robin Bailey, Susan Shaw, Liam Redmond
Walking Tall: Lone Justice (2007) Tripp Reed, Kevin Sorbo, Yvette Nipar, Haley Ramm
Made in Paris AKA Je pense à vous (2006) Pascal Bonitzer, Edouard Baer, Géraldine Pailhas, Marina de Van
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla / A Detained Verdict (1986) Basu Chatterjee, Deepak Kejriwal, Amitabh Srivastava, Pankaj Kapur, Drama
Starstruck (1982) Gillian Armstrong, Joey Kennedy, Ross O’Donovan, Margo Lee