Siegfried (2005)

The child Siegfried is abandoned in a basket and floats down the Rhine in it until the blacksmith Mime finds him and takes him in. Siegfried grows into a kind young man, but the villagers still dislike him intensely: because of his superhuman strength, combined with his childlike naivety and clumsiness, accidents often happen, and the villagers are usually the ones who suffer. Even Mime has to admit, heavy-heartedly, that he wishes he could go back to the time before Siegfried. Only a little pig wants to be friends with Siegfried, who understands the language of animals. One day, as Siegfried wanders through the forest, he sees a young girl named Kriemhild and instantly falls in love with her. From then on, he can think of nothing but her. Mime and the villagers seize the opportunity to get rid of Siegfried, and finally persuade him to go to the castle to seek out Kriemhild. When Siegfried reaches the castle, the gatekeeper refuses to let him in. Siegfried calls him “Lord Emperor,” having misunderstood a sarcastic remark. Trying to force his way in, the strongman damages the castle gate. To pay for the damage, he has to peel potatoes in the kitchen, where he meets Anita, a kitchen assistant. Even while working, he thinks only of Kriemhild and hopes to see her soon. After rescuing the pig from the butcher, he finds himself in the arena, where a tournament for Kriemhild’s hand is taking place. Having accidentally knocked the suitor Etzel unconscious, he has to fight the final suitor, Hagen, who also hopes to win Kriemhild’s hand. Siegfried defeats Hagen, and Gunther, Kriemhild’s brother, promises his sister’s hand to the new victor. However, Kriemhild cannot stand Siegfried at all and is not pleased with the decision. To delay the marriage, Gunther makes it a condition that Siegfried obtain wedding rings made of Rhine gold. As Siegfried searches for this legendary treasure, Alberich, one of Hagen’s henchmen, puts up several false signposts that supposedly lead to the Rhine gold but instead guide him to a dragon’s lair. There Siegfried really does find a treasure, but he has no idea what to do with the other valuables and sinks them in a lake inside the cave. When at last he finds the wedding rings, he strikes the wall in delight, causing a stalactite to fall on the dragon and knock it unconscious. Siegfried also takes a dragon egg with him. Alberich is too afraid of Siegfried’s strength to attack him, so he persuades him to celebrate his bachelor party with Giuseppe, an Italian contract killer. Giuseppe has already set up a block of marble above Siegfried’s bed, but Siegfried escapes this trap too, by sheer luck. By chance, the pig has learned of Alberich and Hagen’s plans and has repeatedly tried to warn Siegfried during his odyssey, but Siegfried has no head for anything except Kriemhild. This is a blow to Anita as well, since she has fallen in love with him. By now, the dragon has noticed that the egg is missing and follows its trail to Giuseppe’s house. To avoid punishment from Kriemhild, Alberich makes one last suggestion: kill Siegfried with a spear at a spring. Under the pretense that Siegfried should arrange a wedding gift for Kriemhild, Hagen and Alberich lure him into the forest. At the spring, Hagen throws the spear at Siegfried, but at the last second the pig jumps in front of him. In a conversation with Kriemhild, Gunther points out how much effort Siegfried went to for her sake to obtain the rings, so she now starts hoping for the rest of the vast gold treasure. She cannot imagine that anyone could be so stupid as to take the rings but leave the rest behind, so she rides into the forest to rescue Siegfried. Meanwhile, Siegfried has laid out the pig’s body and is about to pay his last respects when Kriemhild interrupts him. However, the pig had only pretended to be dead to see how much it meant to Siegfried, and is now disappointed. When it confronts Siegfried about this from its hiding place at the wedding, it leads to several misunderstandings. As a result, just before the wedding ceremony, it comes to light that Siegfried really took nothing from the dragon’s treasure apart from the rings and the dragon egg, from which a baby is hatching at that very moment. Angry at Siegfried’s stupidity, Kriemhild tries to strangle the baby dragon, making Siegfried realize that Kriemhild is not the kind and desirable princess he thought she was, but a gold-greedy and scheming fury. Gunther is horrified by his sister’s behavior, and Hagen and Alberich break with her. After Siegfried rescues the baby, the dragon arrives at the chapel, and everyone present hides behind the pews. Kriemhild mocks the dragon for its small size and is “roasted” by it for her trouble. Anita hands the relieved dragon its baby, and it then takes its leave in a friendly manner. When Siegfried is about to leave too, he has to admit to himself that he likes Anita. After the pig encourages him, he asks her if she wants to be with him, and they kiss for the first time. The wedding guests are delighted and applaud. Siegfried sets off for his village accompanied by Anita and the pig. Alberich and Hagen reconcile with Siegfried and join them. In the mid-credit scene, Mime hears Siegfried’s voice offscreen and crushes his cup in fright.