Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge

What follows Hagen's murder of Siegfried. Kriemhild marries Etzel, king of the Huns, for her revenge and invites her brothers to his court. The invitation is a trap, and the result is a catastrophe that kills everyone. Fritz Lang directed and wrote it with Thea von Harbou, from the medieval Nibelungenlied. Erich Pommer produced at Decla-Bioscop with UFA distributing. Carl Hoffmann and Günther Rittau shot it and Gottfried Huppertz wrote the score. This is the second film of the two-part production. Siegfried premiered on 14 February 1924 and this part on 26 April 1924. The difference between them is clear: the first is a fable, this is an account of destruction. Lang builds his visual architecture here out of symmetry and crowds, and the end comes with the burning of the Hun court. Its critical history followed the same path as part one. Lotte Eisner pointed in 1947 to the complexity of its characterisation, and Leonard Maltin gave the whole production four stars and called it an epic masterpiece. The uncomfortable note in its history does not change: it was among Adolf Hitler's favourite films, and Joseph Goebbels later called it the pinnacle of German achievement. Who it is for: people who have seen the first part and anyone curious about the scale of silent epic. Who it is not for: viewers who avoid revenge narratives. This part is built entirely out of destruction and nobody wins.