Roland Emmerich's (More Creative) Predecessor: Lang Was Early Cinema's Foremost Master of Spectacles
'Die Nibelungen: Siegfried': Paul Richter as the dragon-slaying hero of medieval Germanic mythology. 'Die Nibelungen': Enthralling silent classic despite complex plot and countless characters Based on the medieval epic poem Nibelungenlied, itself inspired by the early medieval Germanic saga about the Burgundian royal family, Fritz Lang's two-part Die Nibelungen is one of those movies I can enjoy many times without ever really understanding who's who and what's what. After all, the semi-historical, fantasy/adventure epic is packed with intrigue, treachery, deceit, hatred, murder, and sex. And that's just the basic plotline. As seen in Kino's definitive two-disc edition, artistically and cinematically speaking Die Nibelungen contains some of the greatest visual compositions I've ever seen. Filmed mostly in long shots that frame the imaginative sets and high ceilings, each static shot is meticulously composed with such symmetry and balance that, even though Die Nibelungen takes the viewer through a mythical fantasia,...
- 6/22/2016
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
This month, one of Fritz Lang’s first epic masterpieces, Die Nibelungen gets a lush Blu-ray treatment from Kino, and it has to be one of the most exciting remasters of the year. Sandwiched in-between his seminal crime classic Dr. Mabuse: the Gambler (1922) and Metropolis (1927), Lang’s expansive rendering of the Nordic legend is a technical achievement that rivals the likes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and was thus split into two parts, Siegfried and Kreimheld’s Revenge (and is not based on Wagner’s opera). Fans of Lang’s oeuvre should be salivating at the chance to experience these beautiful remastered prints, and even though Lang had his fair share of subpar titles, there’s no denying his innate genius here, with what stands as one of the most impressive feats of filmmaking before and after the advent of sound.
Siegfried (Paul Richter), is the son of King Siegmund,...
Siegfried (Paul Richter), is the son of King Siegmund,...
- 11/20/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929) Direction: Anthony Asquith Screenplay: Anthony Asquith; from a story by Herbert Price Cast: Norah Baring, Uno Henning, Hans Schlettow Uno Henning in A Cottage on Dartmoor Very little in a career overview of filmmaker Anthony Asquith prepares a viewer for the brilliant thriller A Cottage on Dartmoor, released by Kino, which he both wrote (from a story by Herbert Price) and directed. Asquith’s wonderful but straightforward adaptations of Pygmalion (1938) and The Browning Version (1951) — and, to a lesser extent, The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) and Libel (1959) — do not really speak to the dynamics of this 1929 film. The director fully embraces the tale of obsessive love in terms of silent [...]...
- 10/30/2009
- by Doug Johnson
- Alt Film Guide
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