Evil’s inspiration

I’m certainly not suggesting that any of the political parties follow this particular source of inspiration but if you want to see, terrifyingly clearly, exactly where Hitler got a great many of his ideas about military parades, civic display and how to combine an appealing brand of paganism with symbolic Christianity, look no further than the British Film Institute on the Southbank. Last night, and again on Saturday, you could see Fritz Lang’s silent film Siegfried – not the Wagner version but based on the original Nibelung saga. It was made in 1924 and is quite astonishing, helped along by a brilliant improvised piano accompaniment. Also on Saturday, and again next Thursday 11 October, you can see the sequel, Kriemhild’s Revenge. From the look of Kriemhild’s face (bleached pale, framed by elaborate plaits and embellished with fabulous black straight eyebrows) at the end of Siegfried, I imagine that revenge will be both bloody and prolonged.