Archived: Nibelungen, II. part: Kriemhilda's revenge

Nibelungen, II. part: Kriemhilda's revenge

Die Nibelungen: Kriemhilds Rache, feature film, Germany, 1924

DIRECTED BY: Fritz Lang

CAST: Margarete Schön (Kriemhild), Gertrud Arnold (Queen Ute), Theodor Loos (King Gunther), Hans Carl Mueller (Gernot), Erwin Biswanger (Giselher)

SCRIPT: Thea von Harbou

PHOTOGRAPHY: Carl Hoffmann, Günther Rittau

CONTENT:

After the murder of her beloved Siegfried, Princess Kriemhild of Burgundy cries out for revenge on her murderer Hagen Tronje, who is, however, protected by her brothers, led by King Gunther. When she learns that her brothers knew of the plan for Siegfried's assassination, Kriemhilda, to whom Siegfried bequeathed the treasure of the Nibelung, begins to bribe ordinary Burgundians to help her, and accepts the Hun ruler's marriage proposal, with which she will have a child. When it is born, it invites the brothers who come with Hagen Tronje to the celebration, not knowing what Kriemhilda is preparing for them…

Unlike Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, whose two parts were mostly shown together, the Nibelungs, following the composition of the epic template, were divided into two separate, separately shown films. The first, largely idyllic intoned part exudes a calm formal design dominated by geometrically regular and monumental architecture; in the second part it is opposed by a chaotic mise-en-scène, in keeping with the violent conflict between the Huns and the Burgundians that occupies most of the film. The duality of the structure is also evident in the change of protagonists: the benevolent and joyful Siegfried is replaced by the obsessive Kriemhilda, who is a double character herself – from a loving woman she turns into a manipulative destructive force that leans on Dr. Mabuse's character the robotic Mary of Metropolis, or later the femmes fatales of Lang's American opus, whose destructiveness can be understood as a consequence of a patriarchal-violent social dominant. Both parts of the Nibelung rely on the characters of strong women, in the first part primarily the Icelandic Queen Brunhilda, and in the second the Burgundian Princess Kriemhilda, and both of these characters can be interpreted as a kind of anticipation of the essential features of female film noir characters. strong women, although it should be noted that this view does not spare male characters in the least.

B / W, SILENT, 131 ′

Portraits: German films by Fritz Lang

We start October with a selection of the 10 most important German films by Fritz Lang! From October 1 to 6, we will show a number of Lang's masterpieces: the omnibus Tired Death (1921), the crime novel Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922, in 2 parts), the Nibelungen legend (1924, in 2 parts), the dystopia Metropolis (1927), the Spy Spies (1928), the sci-fi Woman on the Moon (1929), the sound debut M (1931) and the last film before exile, Testament of Dr. Mabues (1933). An introductory speech on Lang's importance as one of the most influential directors of all time who influenced Luis Bunuel, Alfred Hitchcock, Sergei Eisenstein, Ingmar Bergman, Orson Welles, etc., will be given by our dear guest, filmologist, prof. dr. sc. Nikica GIlić.

The ticket is 20 kuna, for members 10 kuna.

Tickets can be purchased at the box office which opens one hour before the first screening of the day and closes after the start of the last screening of the day.

Ticket reservations are possible on weekdays (at least the day before the screening you want to book), by calling the box office or sending an email to: info@kinotuskanac.hr

Reserved tickets should be purchased no later than the day before the screening. Reservations that are not picked up the day before expire and the tickets are returned for sale.