CURSE OF THE RING
or
SWORD OF XANTEN
DVD, 2004
The first real attempt to film the story of Siegfried, this film got lost somewhere, which it did not deserve, mainly I think because of all the AKAs - it is known as Curse of the Ring (in Australia, and in theory internationally), as Dark Kingdom - The Dragon King (in the US) and as SWORD OF XANTEN (in the UK) - and that's just the English titles! Even Amazon don't seem to be aware that Curse of the Ring which is not available in the UK is the same as SWORD OF XANTEN, which is.
Personally, I enjoyed it immensely. While Benno Furman is a little unassertive and unassuming as Siegfried (but perhaps that is what REAL heroes are like!) Kristanna Loken is stunning as Brunhild, Warrior Queen of Iceland (I would watch the film again any time just for her), and the beautiful Alicia Witt plays the less demanding part of Princess Kriemhild to perfection.
The film is full of shape-shifting and witchcraft, and for someone with a taste for Nordic myth and magic (like me) unforgettable.
JM
SWORD OF XANTEN
I have been watching (have now watched twice, in fact, and it is a three-hour film, but you hardly notice) the "Uncut & Extended Version" of Sword of Xanten "as Seen on Channel 4" and currently available from AmazonUK, and I want to add my recommendation to that of JM. Anyone who enjoys medieval fantasy, especially with an Icelandic flavour, will love this.
It is the legend of the Ring of the Nibelungs, as in Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, made easy and accessible. Which is how I like it.
Two stunningly beautiful women and a hero quite unlike the typical Hollywood midgets (Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt); tall and slender, handsome and shy, Benno Fürmann plays Siegfried, the young crown prince of Xanten, whose parents were killed in a raid and who was then brought up as his son by a blacksmith (Max von Sydow, as always excellent). The simple blacksmith, however, turns out to be also a master swordsmith and swordsman and he teaches the boy all he knows.
One night a shooting star falls to earth in the forest not far from the smithy. Two people run to investigate. One is Siegfried, now full grown, the other Brunhild, Warrior Queen of Iceland (played by Kristanna Løken - may we see more of her!), who is travelling with her entourage by ship along the great river, presumably the Rhine, and just happens to be spending the night nearby. They fight over the strange lump of metal lying among the blackened and smoking tree stumps that is all they find where the shooting star landed. Siegfried wins. Brunhild is astonished. No one has ever beaten her before, and it has been foretold that only one man ever will, the man destined to be hers - which is why she fights, and kills, all who come to her in Iceland as suitors.
That night they make love (the only time Brunhild takes off her furs and leathers) and at dawn she leaves, with Siegfried vowing to come to her and be king to her queen, and Brunhild promising to wait for him and to love only him for ever.
From the remains of the meteorite, the lump of metal that they found, Siegfried fashions a sword that is superior to all others: the sword which will become known as the Sword of Xanten.
Then one day he goes into the city with his "father" to deliver a consignment of swords to the King of Burgund. There, the King's sexy, spoilt sister, Princess Kriemhild (the gorgeous Alicia Witt), falls in love with him. And when he goes out alone and slays the hitherto invincible dragon (huge and very realistic) and claims the dragon's treasure, the famous Rheingold, this does nothing to lessen her desire for him.
He, of course, shows no interest in her: his dreams are elsewhere, with the Valkyrie Queen Brunhild in Iceland.
But trouble is looming, for at the heart of the dragon hoard is the Ring. And though warned not to touch it, the ever-fearless Siegfried takes it, laughing, for his own.
Everything starts to go wrong. Great love turns into tragedy.
I find it difficult to fault this film. It has everything, beautiful scenery (the smithy in the forest with the river swirling past, three longships sailing towards us through the mist in the fjord), authentic magic (shape-shifting, Odin's ravens, the witch casting her runestones) all vividly and convincingly portrayed, two women who have never been denied anything in their lives, the one so forceful, the other so devious, and now both so passionately in love with the same man ...
I just wish, though, that we could have seen more of Iceland and more, much more, of Kristanna Løken.
MBG
