The Nibelungs (1967)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | the Nibelungen |
 | |
| Country of production | Germany , Yugoslavia |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1966 (part 1), 1967 (part 2) |
| length | 91 (part 1); 88 (part 2) minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 (part 1); 12 (part 2) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Harald Reinl |
| script | Harald G. Petersson , Harald Reinl , Ladislas Fodor |
| production | Artur Brauner , Götz Dieter Wulf |
| music | Rolf A. Wilhelm |
| camera | Ernst W. Kalinke |
| cut | Hermann Haller |
| occupation | |
| |
The Nibelungs is a two-part German fiction film with the first part Siegfried von Xanten ( 1966 ) and the second part Kriemhilds Rache ( 1967 ). The film adaptation depicts the Nibelungenlied as a romantic love drama.
action
Siegfried kills the dragon Fafnir and bathes in his blood, which makes him invulnerable except for a place on his back where a falling leaf had been placed. Then he conquered the Nibelungenhort from the dwarf king Alberich and stole a cloak of invisibility . When he saw the beautiful Kriemhild in Burgundy , he woos her. Her brother, King Gunther , agrees to marry the two if Siegfried helps him in return to win the hand of Queen Brunhild . The two men travel to Iceland . Brunhild only agrees to the marriage on condition that Gunther defeats her in battle. With Siegfried's help and his magic hat, Gunther can defeat her, but after the double wedding she refuses him cohabitation , so that Siegfried has to help secretly once more by stealing the magic belt that makes her invincible. Hagen witnesses these machinations, but remains silent at first.
Kriemhild is jealous of Brunhild's status as queen and sees in her a rival for Siegfried's heart. That is why she publicly exposes Brunhild by exposing Siegfried as her real conqueror. The queen then has Siegfried von Gunther's follower Hagen murdered. Kriemhild swears revenge and travels back to Xanten. Hagen and Gunther agree to kidnap Siegfried's son and bring him up in a monastery so that one day he cannot be dangerous to them. However, he dies in an attack by Hagen's henchmen on Kriemhild's travel group. Rüdiger von Bechelaren , a long-time and good friend of the Burgundian court, finds Kriemhild and takes her to the Danube , where she marries the mighty Hun king Etzel . With his help she wants to take revenge.
Several years later she invited the Burgundians to the baptism of her son at the Etzelburg. Etzel's brother Blodin and other subordinates of the queen try to provoke the Burgundians. Hagen kills Blodin in self-defense. A horrific slaughter ensues, in which Etzel and Kriemhild's son von Hagen is killed. When Etzel seeks retribution, he himself narrowly escapes death. Even Rüdiger has to fight the Burgundians, to whom he is related through his daughter's wedding, and falls. It was only Dietrich von Bern and his armorer Hildebrand who arrested Hagen and Gunther. Gunther stands by Hagen until the end and is bleeding to death before Kriemhild's eyes, seriously wounded. This kills Hagen and plunges into Siegfried's sword Balmung . Rüdiger's daughter Hildegund and the singer Volker von Alzey, who was blinded during the fights, are the only members of the Burgundy train to walk home.
Film music
Rolf Wilhelm composed the lavish film music very deliberately without any echoes of Richard Wagner's works. Rather, it was based on the music of Gustav Holst and other composers of the 20th century. For the second part of the Nibelungen film, because the budget for the music had been used up almost entirely for the large orchestra in the first part, he had to be content with the winds and drums.
In 1995 Joseph Kanz arranged the most suitable parts of the film music - in close consultation with the composer. This medley, entitled The Nibelungen Saga, lasts about 15 minutes and was published by Trio Musik Edition after another review by the composer in 2002/03 . Rolf Wilhelm wanted to release his appealing music from the 'deep sleep' of film roles and create a new work for symphonic wind orchestras.
background
As early as 1959, the film producer Artur Brauner announced that he wanted to re-film the Nibelungs. However, since film critics advised him against this plan, he had a survey carried out by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy . It showed that every third German cinema-goer wanted a remake of the material. Brauner favored Fritz Lang as the director , but he could not be won over for the project. As can be seen from a letter from CCC film production to the Institute for Demoscopy, the dark-haired (!) Marianne Koch was initially considered for the role of Kriemhild, and Barbara Rütting , Eva Bartok or the Cuban actress Chelo for the cast of Brunhild Alonso . Wolfgang Lukschy , Martin Held and Wolfgang Preiss were brought into conversation for Hagen . Dieter Borsche , Walter Reyer , Claus Holm or Will Quadflieg could be imagined as Gunter . In 1961 the decision was apparently made for Romy Schneider as Kriemhild, Barbara Rütting as Brunhild, Gert Fröbe as Hagen and Walter Reyer as Gunter. Siegfried was originally supposed to be played by the American Jerome Courtland . The distributors absolutely demanded that the Siegfried role be cast with a German actor.
The film was partly shot in Berlin ( Spandau Citadel ), Spain ( Ciudad Encantada , Cuenca ), Iceland and Yugoslavia ( Postojna Caves , Smederevo Fortress ). Twenty years after the end of the Second World War , the script contains small tips against the appropriation of the Nibelung saga by National Socialism . The historical polemics become particularly clear when Dietrich von Bern comments on the end of the Burgundy with the words: "This is what happens to men who remain loyal to a murderer".
The first part Siegfried von Xanten had the German premiere on December 13, 1966, the second part Kriemhild's Vengeance on February 16, 1967. Both parts were premiered in the Mathäser-Filmpalast in Munich .
A one-piece version was made from both parts in 1976 for the re-performance in the cinemas, which was initially shown under the title Die Nibelungen . This version was 110 minutes long and ran again in 1982 as Das Schwert der Nibelungen .
The two parts first appeared on German television on January 2 and 9, 1984 on ZDF . In the meantime, a version restored by ZDF and broadcast in its original format is available.
In 2003 the film was first released on DVD, but in a heavily trimmed format. In 2013, the version restored by ZDF was released on DVD.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Siegfried | Uwe Beyer | Thomas Danneberg |
| Brunhild | Karin Dor | Renate Küster |
| Kriemhild | Maria Marlow | Johanna von Koczian |
| Gunther | Rolf Henniger | Rolf Schult |
| Hagen from Tronje | Siegfried Wischnewski | Siegfried Wischnewski |
| Rudiger | Dieter Eppler | Dieter Eppler |
| Etzel | Herbert Lom | Herbert Lom |
| Volker von Alzey / narrator | Hans von Borsody | Christian Rode |
| Giselher | Mario Girotti | Claus Jurichs |
| Gernot | Fred Williams | Claus Holm |
| Alberich | Skip Martin | Franz Nicklisch |
| Blo-Edin | Samson Burke | Hans-Walter Clasen |
In the second part, Kriemhilds Rache , Christian Rode could be heard twice: He spoke to himself as Dietrich von Bern, and also dubbed Hans von Borsody, who could be seen as Volker von Alzey.
Reviews
"Well-known motifs from the Nibelungen saga as narrative material for a naive, lavish, and occasionally comical-looking adventure series in a large picture book style. In the role of Siegfried - lifting boulders and lattice doors - the Olympic hammer thrower Uwe Beyer. ”- Lexicon of international film
"Childish hero cinema: Siegfried plays with his muscles, a hydraulically operated dragon puffs fire out of the nozzle nose, ladies in glossy paper Gothic cut faces and Burgundy's taciturn warrior club looks around seriously." - Der Spiegel , 1966
"Dynamics, effort and numerous crowd scenes serve a very superficial adventure story, the only motives of which are hatred and revenge." - Protestant film observer
Awards
- Golden screen in 1968 for more than 3 million viewers
- The Wiesbaden film evaluation agency awarded the production the title valuable
Further films
- In 1924 , directed by Fritz Lang, Die Nibelungen: Siegfried and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache were created
- A further adaptation for television came in 2004 with Kristanna Loken (Brunhild), Alicia Witt (Kriemhild) and Benno Furmann (Siegfried), but the film had much less to do with the Nibelungenlied itself.
literature
- The Nibelungenlied . Complete edition (Middle High German and New High German). Edited and translated by Ursula Schulze . Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (dtv), Munich 2008, 855 pages, ISBN 978-3-423-13693-8
References
- Part 1: Siegfried von Xanten in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Part 2: Kriemhilds revenge in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Part 1: Siegfried von Xanten at filmportal.de
- Part 2: Kriemhild's revenge on filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Siegfried wanted . In: Der Spiegel No. 13 of March 22, 1961.
- ↑ Letter from CCC-Film Produktion GmbH to the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy dated March 12, 1960 (PDF; 210 kB)
- ↑ a b The Nibelungs in the Lexicon of International Films .
- ↑ a b The Nibelungs. 1. Siegfried von Xanten at filmportal.de
- ↑ a b The Nibelungs. 2. Kriemhild's revenge on filmportal.de
- ^ Lexicon of International Films , 1990 edition, page 2775
- ↑ quoted from: Ilona Brennicke / Joe Hembus : Klassiker des Deutschen Stummfilms , Munich 1983, page 113
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 83/1967