Week 17 - "Das Nibelungenlied" in movies

How to make a movie out of a national epic (and how you should rather not do that)

Example 1 (the version that is pretty good):

"Dark Kingdom - The Dragon King" (2006): This movie was directed by the German director Uli Edel and features both American and German actors. It incorporates elements of the Middle High German epic and the different Nordic legends. What is particularly interesting about this movie is that Siegfried and Brunhild are in love. Only with the help of a magic potion can Kriemhild trick him into falling in love with her. When Siegfried is killed, Brunhild is so desperate that she commits suicide upon his grave. What is particularly entertaining to me, is the choice of actors in that movie. The strong Brunhild is played by the same actress (Kristanna Loken) who also plays a cyborg in one of the Terminator movies. She also has these superhuman powers. Another funny fact is that Twilight-star Robert Pattinson plays Giselher, Kriemhild's younger brother in this movie. However, nobody knows that. If that became known, this fairly unsuccessful movie would become an instant success, even six years after its initial release.

Example 2 (the version mankind could have lived without):

"Siegfried" (2005): This is the trailer for the 2005 comedy "Siegfried" directed by Sven Unterwaldt. It features a bunch of German comedians such as Tom Gerhardt and Janine Kunze. It has been received poorly by critics due to the fact that the humor is just vulgar. It currently has an imdb rating of 3.7. So not just the critics consider this movie a failure but also the audience was very disappointed by the movie.

And here are some reasons why:

• Siegfried is a clumsy moron 
• Siegfried's companion throughout the movie is a talking pig (interesting connection to the Odyssey maybe?) 
• Kriemhild is a loud and annoying shrew 
• the movie bacially starts out with baby Siegfried throwing up (and the movie stays on that level of humor) 
• Gunther is portrayed as a gay king that is constantly playing tennis with his toyboy 

The plot differs considerably from the epic which is not necessarily a bad thing. The names have remained the same but major events have been omitted or changed e.g. Siegfried doesn't die in this movie (I apologize for spoiling the ending). The whole movie is just a farce on the same niveau as for instance "Date Movie" or something else nobody should never have to watch.