By Rianne Hill Soriano
The Ring of Nibelungs. First reaction: Using the LOTR success to source out some audience, not good. On the second thought, I would still watch it as I deeply love Norse mythology, very good. Well, for curious ones out there, it’s worth a try as major expectations would turn out to be some surprising delight. Once more, it’s time to get a dose of swords, dragon, kingdoms, ice and magic amidst love and greed.
The color of this epic seems to be a combination of the LOTR and Asterix and Obelix mythical/historical film look settled in the vastness of the cold countries of the north. It begins with a brief backgrounder about the Nordic gods including Odin, the god of wisdom and war, the chief of the gods. But no much information can be sourced out more about the gods and the runes (the wooden stone-like stuffs bearing the runic characters thrown by Brunhild’s {Kristanna Loken} female advisor for divination purposes; also the letters tattooed on Brunhild’s female advisor’s forehead; and the runic characters seen on Brunhild’s “pagan belt”) as the film focused more on the human characters of the legend. Personally, some additional information about the Nordic gods could have worked at its best for the film – to feed the audience with a deeper heart and understanding about the Nordic mythology in such a way that the focus of the story is not led astray.
This film tells the story of Siegfried (Benno Furmann), the heir of a conquered kingdom who has grown up with the blacksmith Eyvind (Max von Sydow). When a meteor crashes into the Earth, he goes his way for it. He meets, fights and falls in love with the Norse warrior queen Brunhild. Their destiny to be reunited through their love is given by the gods upon their meeting at the site of the meteor. Siegfried uses the metal to be forged as his great sword. As he journeys his way towards Iceland to reunite with the Valkyrie Brunhild, he slays the dragon Fafnir for the Burgunds. From then on, he has been revered as the dragon-slayer who has become invincible through the dragon’s blood (but similar to Achilles having a certain weak spot on his back).
He ignores the curse that lies on the treasure and the ring of the Nibelungs (initially stolen from the Nibelungs by Fafnir) and he now covets as his own. He pays for the curse that will cost his life and his love for Brunhild. The treasure brought by Siegfried to Burgund results to betrayal, deception and greed: King Gunther (Samuel West) of Burgund envying the strength and heroic stance of Siegfried and he agrees to kill him; Kriemhild (Alicia Witt), King Gunther’s sister, agreeing to use magic to steal Siegfried’s heart for her own; Hagen (Julian Sands), King Gunther’s trusted advisor, killing Siegfried to get the treasure and the power solely for himself; and the other people of Burgund blinding themselves to the lust for the golds when Hagen promises them a part of the treasure if they go by his side.
Upon the avenging of the death of Siegfried by Odin’s estranged daughter Brunhild, she reunites with Siegfried by killing herself beside his cold body. Reminds us of a Romeo and Juliet ending…
For a film, it's not the happy ending people would really love to see. But it is a good ending, it seems just rightful with the flow of the story.
With the sight of the film’s poster, all I thought the story revolves around the character of Brunhild. However, in the film, Siegfried has the most exposure. With the poster, I wonder why this has been so. Is it for the idea of “a change” since LOTR’s characters pay attention to an all male fellowship? And the poster quotes this Nordic tale to be Tolkien’s inspiration for LOTR?
Looking into a broader perspective of how a woman in the character of Brunhild is portrayed here, we can see the irony of her great strength and warrior stance vis-à-vis her femininity, faith, intelligence and love. The honeymoon scene of Brunhild and Gunther is such a comic scene, one of the rarest type of honeymoon to be seen all these centuries: the seemingly unbeatable wife pinning down the husband like a mortal enemy ready to be killed.
On a lighter note, Benno Furmann’s facial features give me the impression that he looks like a male Jennifer Lopez. But seriously, he is effective enough for the character of Siegfried. Only that, the young Siegfried child actor during the first few scenes of the film has left no much resemblance to the adult Siegfried. Kristanna Loken looks great as the warrior queen of Iceland. Samuel West’s face looks too bulky at certain angles, but his acting for the King Gunther role required for the story covers up his “fat face” look at times. Hagen’s dark, gothic features give a conviction for his dark and evil character.
I love Brunhild’s crown, braids and that fur coat/cape she has used as the Queen of Iceland. It reminds me of one of the possessions of the Nordic goddess Freya, the goddess of love and war and the wife of Odin. The production design, especially with the crowns and costumes, is well and good for a luxurious sight of mythology. However, I am not impressed with the design of the dragon Fafnir. It’s not quite the look of the dragon I expected. Nevertheless, the fight scenes with him have been effective enough, technically speaking.
The music given to some scenes with the “ring” of the Nibelungs reminds me of the LOTR music for such similar scenes were we see Frodo’s struggles with the evil ring. But overall, the Ring of the Nibelungs soundtrack is very haunting and compliments the film well. However, the music at the end is the part of the film that I really don’t like most. Something more effective and enthralling for a film’s ending could have been used then.
The plot of LOTR revolves around an evil magic ring that grants the power to rule the world towards destruction. The Ring of the Nibelungs revolves on the greed of wealth blinding humans and leads them to their own destruction. Given its cinematic license, the story of this film is effective and well told. It’s good to know that such a bulky material has been transformed into film without losing focus on what it wants to say. It has an extraordinary scale and scope compacted into an entertaining and “heartful” film.
As a huge fan of fantasy and mythology without the disappointment for an initial expectation of an LOTR copycat, I would rate this film 4 out of 5.
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