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'...

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 catalo...