Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen!

I have to get into a particular mood to enjoy a silent feature film. They require a tick more concentration than a talkie and in the case of Fritz Lang the story being told is a hefty one with big themes. It's rather the opposite of watching the latest superhero release today, which require more attention simply because they move so quickly. Silent films tend to have their own pace, and it's often a measured one. That's certainly the case with Die Nibelungen. The pace is so measured that it's actually two movies -- Die Nibelungen: Siegried and Die Nibelungen: Kreimhild's Revenge. 

The first film follows the hero Siegfried who we find living among a band of strange and withered men and his mentor Muse. There seems little love lost here, but Siegried is tasked with going to kill a dragon which he does almost immediately. then bathing in the dragon's blood which makes him invincible save for one spot, and then he's off to get treasure and a sword from the duplicitous Alberich who attempts to ambush the handsome hero. He also gets a little net that makes him invisible when he throws it on his head. He becomes a king and with his retinue goes to castle of King Gunther and asks for the hand of Kriemhild his sister. Gunther wants Siegfried's help in winning over the warrior woman Brunhilde to marry him and Siegfried agrees. The we get a double wedding. Things fall apart from there. Secrets are shared and revealed and before you know it, Gunther and Siegfried who have sworn blood oaths to one another find themselves on opposite sides. Hagen of Tronje is an ally of Gunther's and he's pegged as something of a visual stand-in for Wotan/Odin because he has one eye and wears a resplendent winged helmet. He takes steps to find Siegfried's only physical weakness. Suffice it to say that by the end of this long movie with seven Cantos or chapters we find Kriemhild vowing vengeance against Hagen. 

The second movie picks up the action immediately. Kriemhild is very much in the midst of mourning Siegried's death, and she still holds bitter animosity towards her brother and hatred for Hagen. Then she gets a message that the powerful King Attila would like her hand in marriage, and she sees a way to gain power enough to gain vengeance. Hagen is no fool and knows that he's about to become quite powerful, so he sends the riches Siegried had gained, and which now belong to Kriemhild to the bottom of the river. Nothing he does quenches Kriemhild's lust for revenge and when she decides to play a long game. She and Attila have a son and when the Nibelungs visit Attila she wants him to kill Hagen. He refuses due to ancient traditions of hospitality, but when Hagen for reasons I still don't quite understand kills his infant son, he's more than ready to help Kriemhild. They sic the Huns on the Nibelungs and what follows is a rousing series of battles and a siege which results in an epic fire, a fire which the director Lang really set and burned down the immense set. It was a spectacle used to advertise the film. 

I found the first movie fascinating in many ways. Siegfried is the very essence of many a hero, and this was not lost on the Nazis when they came to power relatively soon after the movies were completed. They praised his Aryan physique and wanted Lang to make movies for the Reich. Lang wisely said no and quickly moved to the United States to continue his career. As I said, Siegried is the very essence of a hero visually, but the movie makes him out to be insanely naive and it's hard to feel much sympathy for him since he never saw it coming despite abundant warning. He's rich, brash, and invulnerable and these traits make him foolish in the final estimation. In the second movie Kriemhild's grief is palpable and her unrelenting will to see her vengeance done is remarkable. She pleads for the murderer to be brought to justice but a system of loyalty, one which was violated to slay Siegfried, keeps that from happening. 

These movies (especially the first one) have those elements which possibly inspired Tolkien's Middle-Earth epics, and for that I was driven to check it out. I don't know if I can recommend nearly three hours of silent cinema to anyone, but if you have the time and curiosity, I'd say you'll be entertained. 

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Man Hunt!

Took time a few weeks ago to watch Man Hunt, a 1941 film noir effort by director Fritz Lang, one with a fascinating premise. Walter Pidgeon plays a British subject named "Thorndyke" who is a world-famous African safari hunter. He finds himself on the European continent hunting and hiking when he comes across a villa inhabited by Adolph Hitler. This is just before the breaking out of hostilities outside the German border so despite the loathsome nature of the leader, Thorndyke seems torn as to what to do. He takes his rifle and pulls the trigger but his chamber is empty; next he loads a shell but guards stop him from firing the deadly shot. He is captured and tortured to sign a confession that he was in fact an assassin for his government, but refuses. Later he escapes the Nazi stronghold and makes his way to England where he discovers he is far from safe.

George Sanders plays an urbane but brutal Nazi and Joan Bennett is on hand as a feisty British dame (perhaps even a hooker, though the script is cagey on this point) who gives Thorndyke some essential help when he most needs it. John Carradine is on hand as a mysterious foreign agent who proves both somber and deadly. This movie does not end as I expected, but it is a rousing adventure with solid acting and some absolutely fantastic Fritz Lang imagery.

One reason I was eager to see this flick when it showed up on the Turner Classic schedule was that Joe Simon has stated it was an influence on the creation of his and Jack Kirby's "Manhunter" series for DC's Adventure Comics back in 1942. I cannot attribute the comment directly,  but it is reported here.

Of course Paul Kirk disappeared after his Golden Age career, only to be given new life in reprint form in the back pages of the twenty-five cent New Gods. These appearances apparently inspired the revival of the character (literally) as a back up feature in Detective Comics by Archie Goodwin and a young and upcoming talent Walt Simonson.

Having seen the movie Man Hunt now, it's odd how the ending of that movie did indeed put me in mind of the lonely mission of that great Bronze Age Manhunter as he battled the evil men who created him and threatened the peace of the world.

The flick is highly recommended.

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