Winter has come

highnemonkey

A deserved conclusion to the two part epic Lang started with "Siegfried".

Having started to watch "Game of Thrones" lately, I could not help finding the relationship these two works seem to have. What impressed me with the series was a range of female characters, some exceeding the often-used attribute "strong" by being straight violent. Kriemhild is one of these. The first moments of the movie are set in a icy wintery castle, the association was inevitable for me - winter has come in the kingdom of Gunther.

Kriemhild is an emancipated woman, not by careful development but by force, by revenge and circumstances. We see the former white princess change into a dark entitiy, which cannot even be shook by entering a savage mayhem such as Etzels camp. Not just unintimidated, she takes the scene, dominating each frame like a dark angel and places herself high above the male-lead kingdoms. This is not a fight between civilized Gunther and savage Etzel, this is a fight fueled by vengance. Kriemhild is neither a goodie nor a baddie, she is a natural force awakened.

In a rare moment we see her transformed back into the white princess - in her bedroom, all by herself, stripped of cloak and mask, she is again the snow white, innocent girl. We can imagine that this is her true self but after this short glimpse, she goes back to her dark self and sets out to finish the inevitable. To achieve this, Daenerys, pardon, Kriemhild forges a bond with the leader of a barbaric horse tribe.

The action propelles into a devastating war that knows no winners, losers or heroes. In the end, both parties proclaim: "Blood cries for blood!". But no matter how often Kriemhild urges "Hand over Hagen and you are free!", the easy way is not and option - in the end, the seeming nobleman and their loyalty appear as stubborn and violent as the barbarians, bringing needless pain and violence.

One of the lessons that one can take from Game of Thrones is deeply rooted in this epic already - in a world where magic and spells (Alberics magic hat) and even dragons are real, the real destructive forces are peoples battles for power.

score 9/10

highnemonkey 15 June 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5826216/