Fiona, alert to these things, pointed out that the splendiferous costumes of Lang's DIE NIBELUNGEN, especially those in part two, KRIEMHILD'S REVENGE, could easily form the basis for a great fashion show. The use of pattern alone is quite eye-popping.

In fact Aenne Willkomm, brought in to design the Huns' wardrobe, had been working in high fashion. She was recruited to help designer Paul Gerd Guderian, who was suffering from tuberculosis. Guderian actually died during production, leaving her to finish the film.

Willkomm did so well on KRIEMHILD'S REVENGE that she was made Ufa studios' head of costumes. She would subsequently design the costumes for METROPOLIS, including the famous robot Maria...

Eschewing historical accuracy and drawing influences from all over world history, the design of DIE NIBELUNGEN's sets and costumes is incredibly impressive. Of course, vast resources were flung at the production by Erich Pommer's Ufa, but credit must go to Lang and his collaborators for creating a fictional universe that's constantly surprising and impressive, unreal but credible, beautiful but harsh, and unlike anything seen before or since in scale, style and sheer alienness.

Watching these little Huns run down then up then out and LEAP out the bottom of the frame is just insanely pleasurable!

Well, I got a lot of mileage out of DIE NIBELUNGEN, but now I'll have to do it all again when Masters of Cinema release their restored version. Still, it's no hardship.