Cinemaventure

  Kriemhild's Revenge is the second of Fritz Lang's films dealing with the Niebelungen.  Kriemhild seeks justice for the murder of her husband Siegfried but her brother King Gunther (who gave the order for Siegfried's killing) protects his loyal henchman Hagen Tronje.  Spurned, she accepts an offer of marriage from Attila the Hun (also known as Konig Etzel in some prints).  This sets the stage for Kriemhild's plan to avenge Siegfried.      It sounds like a soap opera, but grand opera is closer.  Richard Wagner used the original legend as the plot source for his Ring Opera cycle.  Fritz Lang used it as an example of just how costly revenge can be.       As in Siegfried this film moves slowly, or deliberately.  It begins in King Gunther's court in Burgundy which represents Civilization and grandeur in the midst of the Dark Ages.  When it moves to Attila's court we are treated to Lang's vision of Barbaric Splendor.  The Huns are portrayed as behaving

Back in Ancient Times when I collected movies on honest-to-goodness film one that always proved to expensive for me was Fritz Lang's 1924 epic Siegfried , the first part of Die Nibelungen .  This ancient Germanic story featured an almost invulnerable hero, dwarfs, heroics, treachery, and, best of all, a dragon.      Elements of the original story appeared through the centuries in various forms.  The original myth served as the basis of Wagner's Ring Cycle or operas.  A sword broken was made whole again and appeared in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings .  There was an invisibility cloak (more like a head cover) that enabled the hero to win over opposition and used by boy wizard Harry Potter a few centuries later.       The second part was called Kriemhild's Revenge , but more on this later.      Finally this long sought treasure came within my grasp thanks to its release on DVD by Kino.  Their catalog is a treasure trove of great films, many beautifully restored.  Siegfri

I had hoped to be in San Antonio this weekend for the annual Alamo Symposium and other events commemorating the fall of the Alamo, March 6, 1836.  I did make the trip in 2011 and had a wonderful time.  The dawn ceremony on the sixth of March was very moving and inspiring.  For people interested in the subject of the Alamo and its defenders the Alamo Society is the place to go.  For information, please click on this link:  http://www.alamosociety.org/  .   The Alamo has featured in a number of movies since the 1911 film The Immortal Alamo , which told the story of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto in one reel, a little over ten minutes, depending on projection speed.  Although this is a lost film photos exist.  Information on this and other movies may be found in the book Alamo Movies by Frank Thompson.   Like most of my generation I first encountered the Alamo courtesy of Walt Disney and the television program Disneyland .  Fess Parker was Davy Crockett and we learned