Bard SummerScape
Film: Siegfrieds Tod
August 16, 2009
Die Nibelungen, Part I
1924, directed by Fritz Lang
Ben Model, piano
140 minutes
Lang’s two-part silent film, written by Thea von Harbou, his wife at the time (she also wrote Metropolis), is a passionate retelling of the Nordic legend. Harbou’s version is more faithful to the original medieval story than Wagner’s Ring cycle. The expressionistic elements and special effects, created at the UFA Studios in Tempelhof and Neu Babelsberg, were considered spectacular at the time. Films made in Germany during this period, considered a "golden age," had an enormous influence on Hollywood studio style in later years.
The film’s two parts will be shown on separate nights during the festival festival. True to 1920s style, both screenings will have live piano accompaniment.
This film is part of the Politics, Theater, and Wagner Film Festival.