120 / BD 46 Die Nibelungen

[Sloper]

Harry, I’ve always thought of these as two very different films, and as Tommaso suggests the main difference would seem to be the redemptive, rather artificially preachy tone at the end of Metropolis; but I’m sure Lang said in interviews that he felt uneasy about that message, ‘the mediator between head and hands must be the heart’ (hope I got it right), and the examples you cite did get me thinking about possible connections. One interesting parallel has to do with the central romantic couple. In both films, we have two idealised Aryan figures, the ‘great hope’ of the German race, snuffed out in the ancient story but prevailing in the futuristic one (reminiscent of Intolerance, perhaps?). In both films, too, the female ideal undergoes a transformation from angel to demon about halfway through: in Die Nibelungen this is occasioned by the death of the male hero, in Metropolis it nearly causes his death; and in both cases there is a resolution at the end, though again the resolution in the former film is oblivion, whereas in the latter it is the victory of the angel over the demon.

There is also, less interestingly, a similarity in the narrative structure of the two films: the first half is spectacle and wonder, the second shows disintegration and chaos. (But in essence that’s quite a common story structure; cf Zulu!)

One of the insights Enno Patalas provides in his commentary track on Metropolis is the co-existence of medieval and ultra-modern societies in Lang’s vision of the future, which of course (along with the Moloch hallucination and Babel story) indicates how backward this society is in human terms, despite its futuristic trappings. So there is a sort of medieval quality to the later film, but at the same time it seems grounded in very modern, twentieth-century concerns, whereas one of the great things about Die Nibelungen is how thoroughly steeped it is in the ideas and aesthetics (heroism, honour; stately, ordered processions, detailed and lingering description, etc) of the ancient legendary mode. For all its moments of pageantry and its epic pretensions, Metropolis seems to me essentially to belong with Lang’s more lurid, action-oriented works – it’s a ‘prestige picture’ because of its production values, rather than its content – and I think maybe the story it tells is too facile and silly to really warrant calling it a ‘follow-up’ to Die Nibelungen. But I’d be interested to hear you say more about this.

I get a little snippy when folks don't have the self awareness to realize when they've created a very distinct impression (in this case of not liking a film) and blame the impression on their interlocutor. I'm there now. You need to chill, Sloper-- nobody was "accusing" you of anything. I was merely defending my point that the film had a holy disservice of mutilation done to it my Mayer... a mutilation which you fully understand or support

No hard feelings, Schreck: nothing I said was intended in anger, just trying, in accord with your own no-nonsense approach, to set you straight about a misunderstanding. As far as I’m concerned you can be as challenging and/or snippy as you like (it makes the conversation interesting), just as long as you don’t mind me getting snippy in return. And you're right, I shouldn't be engaging in this argument until I've seen the reconstruction.

[HarryLong]

But if "Metropolis" is the Nibelungen court transposed into the future, could one argue that the inexorable fate that governs the epic/heroic world is now replaced by the impersonal power of machinery and capitalism?

That may be getting a bit more specific than I was intending. It's more a case of the epic bad behavior being continued on one hand and the way the architecture dwarfs the protagonists in all three films. Certainly none of the characters continue, but the going-off-half-cocked behavior does (half of the events of NIBELUNGEN wouldn't happen if the characters would just stop & investigate a lie or manipulative bit of selective information given to them).

>> I always regarded that end as unconvincing or at least as too simplistic in its message.<<
Oh, certainly. And the narrative (even before it was chopped up) is more than a tad muddled. But is any of it any more so than in NIBELUNGEN where - as with any myth - we rarely stop to thin about whether it makes sense or is simplistic simply because we're so used to hearing the story since we were wee nippers. METROPOLIS doesn't have that advantage.

I’ve always thought of these as two very different films, and as Tommaso suggests the main difference would seem to be the redemptive, rather artificially preachy tone at the end of Metropolis; but I’m sure Lang said in interviews that he felt uneasy about that message, ‘the mediator between head and hands must be the heart’ (hope I got it right), and the examples you cite did get me thinking about possible connections. One interesting parallel has to do with the central romantic couple. In both films, we have two idealised Aryan figures, the ‘great hope’ of the German race, snuffed out in the ancient story but prevailing in the futuristic one (reminiscent of Intolerance, perhaps?). In both films, too, the female ideal undergoes a transformation from angel to demon about halfway through: in Die Nibelungen this is occasioned by the death of the male hero, in Metropolis it nearly causes his death; and in both cases there is a resolution at the end, though again the resolution in the former film is oblivion, whereas in the latter it is the victory of the angel over the demon.

Yes, that ending (again) is simplistic - at least in the cornball phrasing (really, how else is a nation to survive if the people running it [the head] don't collaboarte with the people making it run [the hands]?) and Lang later repudiated it (though at the time he went ahead & filmed it). I really like your noting the similarities between the central romantic couples in the two films (or three films); I admit I hadn't noticed that.
Much of my thinking on this subject comes from a few years back when I got the Kino discs to review for Filmfax and watched NIBELUNGEN and METROPLIS back to back. METROPOLIS just seemed to work better for me than it ever had before because I saw a continuation of ... for lack of a better way of putting it ... tone and treatment from NIBELUNGEN. That there are visual repetitions (the dawrvesd & the treasure / Maria's dias) might simply come from favorite ideas of Lang or his ptroduction designers. The Aryan romantic couple ... well, hell, it's a German film! What do you expect? Still the correlations are afscinating, aren't they?

[bamwc2]

Nick, is this still on track for 2010?

[peerpee]

Latest word is 2010, yes. But I'd take it with a pinch of salt, after the 2007, 2008, and 2009 letdowns. It's all out of our hands I'm afraid. We're wishing we'd issued the old master in 2006 now, it wasn't that bad.

[Erikht]

Well, there is more early Lang than "Die Nibelungen" around. As stated elsewere, I really wish somebody would look into that. Right now, I think Eureka/MoC has the best editions on German Lang. Keep it up, but don't stop there.

[Minkin]

It looks like the restoration is complete and they are actually keeping to Deutsche Oper Berlin premiere on April 27th! The few shots look very impressive- certainly worth the wait. Now how long until we can buy a copy? IS MoC going to stick only to the Huppertz score? A German professor gave me a copy with a rather excellent organ score (which I preferred) but I haven't been able to track it down. The film has been a long wait- and teased many times- but it appears to be on track =D>

[TMDaines]

Perhaps Die Nibelungen and Metropolis both in time for Christmas?

[markhax]

IS MoC going to stick only to the Huppertz score? A German professor gave me a copy with a rather excellent organ score (which I preferred) but I haven't been able to track it down.

I certainly hope it will be with the Huppertz score. After all, it is of a piece with the film. Huppertz was part of Lang's team for "Nibelungen" and "Metropolis," and in these years Lang stressed the collaborative nature of these films (even if he was a dictator on the set!), and the music was considered to be part of the film's affect and the leitmotifs were integrated with the narrative. In his book, >Musik für den Stummfilm<, Rainer Fabich relates how Huppertz was involved in the film from its earliest stages, and met regularly with Lang throughout the 18-month shooting period, playing his sketches for Lang on a piano and discussing them with him. I like the score for Nibelungen better than that for Metropolis, but both are integral parts of their respective films.

One of the positive developments of recent years is the issuing of silent films on DVD with the original score, where it is available or can be reconstructed. I have in mind Meisel's scores for "Potemkin" and "Berlin, Sinfonie der Grossstadt," Hans Erdmann's score for "Nosferatu," Shostakovich's score for "New Babylon."

[Minkin]

I certainly hope it will be with the Huppertz score. After all, it is of a piece with the film. Huppertz was part of Lang's team for "Nibelungen" and "Metropolis,"
One of the positive developments of recent years is the issuing of silent films on DVD with the original score, where it is available or can be reconstructed.

I would never hope they would release the film without the original score- I've sat through too many silent films with Toccata or Grieg's Holberg suite playing in the background to want less. That being said, other individuals have composed music specifically for silent films- and it is often a shame to not also include other artist's interpretations. I know that Lang worked diligently with Huppertz- but I just never particularly cared for the score- at least in comparison to this organ score that I have no information regarding. The organ score was composed specifically for the entire six hour film and includes possibly the most lively Etzel encampment song accompaniment. The organ score is certainly more playful and more fitting. That also being said- there are limits to including other audio tracks- as in the countless horrendous attempts at creating the "gothic/doom/black" metal remixes to the Nosferatu soundtrack. It would just be nice to include some separation (audio wise- other than improved quality) from the Kino release. It is a remarkable score (organ)- which takes some elements from the Huppertz as well as Wagner. Has anyone else found the organ piece?

[Minkin]

I was able to watch the organ scored version again- and this time I noticed the BlackHawk films logo and as it flashed for a few seconds at the end- Score composed by Gaylord Carter. Well, that solves that mystery. Any chance for its addition Nick ?

Did anyone go to see the new restoration screening/have any reviews surfaced?

[Ovader]

German article of the restored film premiere at the Deutschen Oper Berlin with pics.

[Tommaso]

Nice article, but does anyone else feel uneasy about those tintings, too?

[Finch]

From the screenshots, it looks about as good as the Nosferatu resto; I don't particularly mind the tinting (which according to Kilb's article is as intended), the sepia/brown on most of the versions of The General on the other hand...

[HerrSchreck]

I always thought this film was released in B&W (even though some labs at the time did tint the film on their own, supposedly against Lang's wishes)-- beginning with Mabuse der Spieler (which was celebrated for it's sharp, vibrant b&w imagery at the time of its release) and ending w Metropolis, Lang had avoided tinting altogether.

As to the Spione/Moon pics, I can't say (though the fact that the restos are in b&w are telling).

I believe there was an essay from Koerber on the Kino NIBEL disc where he talks about the tinting situation and says he believes the film was b&w upon its premiere... i e the completely Lang-controlled release print.

[Tommaso]

I always thought this film was released in B&W (even though some labs at the time did tint the film on their own, supposedly against Lang's wishes)-- beginning with Mabuse der Spieler (which was celebrated for it's sharp, vibrant b&w imagery at the time of its release) and ending w Metropolis, Lang had avoided tinting altogether.

Yes, that's what I heard, too. And with that orangeish tinting the careful contrast between the opposing parties, especially in Pt.1, established by the pure blacks and whites will be diminished. Hmm..... either MoC will show more courage than can be reasonably expected of them and get rid of the tinting for their release, or we'll have to fiddle with the colour button on our remotes and do it ourselves.

[Jonathan S]

either MoC will show more courage than can be reasonably expected of them and get rid of the tinting for their release, or we'll have to fiddle with the colour button on our remotes and do it ourselves.

I hope the former, as my projector doesn't allow for complete removal of colour. Regardless of authenticity or aesthetic issues, prolonged orange (or red/yellow) tinting always finds me reaching for paracetomol!

[bollibasher]

I always thought this film was released in B&W (even though some labs at the time did tint the film on their own, supposedly against Lang's wishes)-- beginning with Mabuse der Spieler (which was celebrated for it's sharp, vibrant b&w imagery at the time of its release) and ending w Metropolis, Lang had avoided tinting altogether.

Yes, that's what I heard, too. And with that orangeish tinting the careful contrast between the opposing parties, especially in Pt.1, established by the pure blacks and whites will be diminished.

According to Anke Wilkening's article about the restoration (p.88), nearly all the surviving prints were intended to be orange tinted, also indicated by instructions written on the original camera negatives, and she posits that despite Lang's later assertion that he didn't like tinting and toning specifically for purposes of day-for-night scenes, the plain overall orange tint may actually have "served the simple task of reducing the contrast of the film stock by contributing to the greyscale and providing a warm tonality".

Any news on further release details yet?

[zedz]

According to Anke Wilkening's article about the restoration, nearly all the surviving prints were intended to be orange tinted, also indicated by instructions written on the original camera negatives . . .

And everything was fine until they switched the cannisters with those of L'enfance nue.

(But seriously, thanks for the information. When I saw the film, the print was untinted, as I recall.)

[Drucker]

How does the Kino edition of this film fare?

[knives]

Meh. Nothing bad, but not the greatest thing in the world. A simple good enough is probably the best answer.

[Opdef]

According to MoC Twitter, it's "looking better than ever" for Q1/Q2 2012 release. Possibly the longest-anticipated release ever.

[peerpee]

Tell us about it! - I postponed a late 2006 release of the SD master because this HD master was in the works. If I could go back in time, I'd obviously have pushed forward with the SD master on DVD.

[Der Spieler]

What's taking so long? You're waiting for Germany to move?

[peerpee]

The initial wait was the HD restoration, now the delay is waiting for Germany to release it. They don't want anybody to release it before them -- which I can understand, because they still haven't released METROPOLIS in Germany.

[Der Spieler]

What the hell are they waiting for?