Die Nibelungen is a 1966/1967 West German fantasy film released in two parts, Siegfried von Xanten and Kriemhilds Rache (Kriemhild's Revenge). It was directed by Harald Reinl and produced by Artur Brauner. Die Nibelungen starred Uwe Beyer, Karin Dor and Herbert Lom. The two films were a remake of Fritz Lang's 1924 silent classic Die Nibelungen, which was in turn based on the epic poem the Nibelungenlied.
Plot
Part 1: Siegfried
In Worms, capital of the kingdom of Burgundy, Rüdiger von Bechelaren, margrave of Bavaria, arrives in embassy with Blödelin, brother of king Etzel, in order to ask for the hand of Kriemhild, sister of King Gunther, for the king of the Huns, but she refuses. However, Giselher, the king's brother, and Rüdiger's daughter Hildegund fall in love, and Rüdiger happily consents to this marriage.
The minstrel Volker von Alzey sings then the exploits of the hero Siegfried of Xanten. Son of King Siegmund of Xanten, he finishes his apprenticeship with the dwarf Mime and forges a magnificent sword. Learning that the dragon Fafnir is terrorising the region, he decides to challenge him in his cave. He kills him and then follows the advice of a bird and bathes in the dragon's blood, which makes him invulnerable except for a spot on his back where an ash leaf has landed.
He ventures into the territory of the Nibelung and seizes their legendary , stolen from the daughters of the Rhine by the king of the Dwarves, Alberich, as well as the magic helm which allows him to make himself invisible by pronouncing a magic formula. Siegfried then travels to Iceland, where he rescues the queen of the country, Brunhild, prisoner in a palace made inaccessible by the volcano. She falls in love with him and he promises to come back for her.
However, Siegfried arrives among the Burgundians and falls in love with Kriemhild, sister of King Gunther. After he helps King Gunther to repel an invasion of the King of Saxony, whom he takes prisoner, Gunther can no longer refuse Kriemhild's hand to Siegfried. One of his vassals, Hagen von Tronje, a man in black with an iron helm adorned with raven's feathers, makes a proposal: Siegfried will marry Kriemhild if he helps Gunther to obtain the hand of Brunhild. Using his strength and his magical helm, Siegfried helps Gunther to defeat Brunhild in the three trials that she imposes to her suitors. After returning to Worms and celebrating the double wedding, Brunhild resists the king's avance on their wedding night, so that Gunther is forced to ask again help from Siegfried: using his helm, he overpowers Brunhild and removes her magic belt, source of her power.
However, Kriemhild discovers what happened and, jealous of Brunhild's status as queen and rival for Siegfried's heart, she reveals in public to the new queen of the Burgundians the role played by Siegfried. Outraged, Brunhild demands the death of Siegfried from Gunther. A hunting party is organized and Kriemhild, thinking to protect her husband, shows Hagen where her husband's vulnerable spot is by sewing a cross on his tunic. Hagen points Siegfried to a spring of fresh water and hits him in his vulnerable spot with a javelin. Despite Kriemhild's despair, the Burgundian princes protect Hagen. She then swears that she will have no rest until Siegfried's murderer is punished.
Part 2: Kriemhild's vengeance
Kriemhild cannot forget Siegfried and his cowardly assassination by Hagen von Tronje, who remains the protégé of the Burgundian clan. She gives birth to a child conceived with Siegfried and she also decides to distribute the gold from the Nibelungen treasure, inherited from her husband, to the population, in order to turn them against Gunther and Hagen. The rest of the treasure is then stolen by Hagen, who throws it into the Rhine after getting rid of Alberich, who wanted to take it back. When Kriemhild decides to flee to Xanten, Hagen and Gunther agree to kidnap Siegfried's son and bring him up in a monastery, so that one day he cannot be dangerous to them or lay claims to the throne. However, he dies while Kriemhild's convoy is attacked by Hagen's henchmen. Margrave Rüdiger saves Kriemhild and brings her to the Danube, where she accepts King Etzel's marriage proposal in order to carry out her revenge against Hagen.
