Premiere of Constantin’s epic fantasy “Hagen” in Zurich

For writers and directors Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert, Wolfgang Hohlbein’s best-selling 1986 novel Hagen von Tronje was the perfect material to adapt not only into a feature film, but also into an epic six-episode series.

The plot tells the story of the Nibelungen saga, which tells the story of the dragon slayer Siegfried and the fate of the Burgundian kingdom, although from a different perspective – that of Hagen von Tronje, traditionally the antagonist of the story, perceived as a dark figure with questionable motives.

In “Hagen,” which will premiere at the Zurich Film Festival, the title character (played by Dutch actor Gijs Naber) is the lord commander of the King of Burgundy, Gunter (Dominic Marcus Singer). Through his sense of duty and iron determination, it is Hagen who holds the kingdom in crisis together.

A loyal servant, disciplined and rational, Hagen faces a serious challenge when the bold, emotional and irrepressible Siegfried (Jannis Niewöhner) arrives in Worms, the capital of the Burgundian kingdom, threatening the old buildings.

Hohlbein’s novel was hugely popular in Germany when it was published in the 1980s – at a time when knight stories and retellings of Germanic legends, such as the works of Austrian author Auguste Lechner, were in great demand, recalls Boss .

Boss adds that what was so unique about Hohlbein’s story was its plot twist, which told the story from the perspective of the so-called dark villain rather than the bright hero Siegfried. He changed it and thought what if we told the story from the perspective of the antagonist, the villain, and that was very interesting for us as filmmakers and storytellers.”

The Nibelungen saga itself, an ancient Germanic legend made famous by Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle and the inspiration for many modern fantasy stories such as JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, remains relevant today and continues to fascinate many people, adds Stennert.

“Perhaps it is the fullness or these many different aspects that allow each generation to reinvent history. There are very strong female characters in it. Family is at the center. It is about the fall and failure of a kingdom. I think there are many themes that can be carried over into this story.

“It took us a while to find our perspective and theme, and it’s about these two completely opposite characters. That’s what we focused on: this very disciplined, loyal servant, and on the other hand this wild, spontaneous, impulsive character. We thought it really said a lot about human behavior and what we deal with every day, in a sense, these two forces that lie within all of us.”

The new perspective in Hohlbein’s work gave the creators of films and series the opportunity to focus on different aspects of history, “on some of its fragments that had remained in the shadow for so many years,” explains Stennert. “What is Hagen’s experience? What is his side of the story?”

Supervising the production of a film and a series at the same time, which was shot mainly at Barrandov Studios in Prague and in Iceland, presented some challenges to the directing duo, who also collaborated on the Sky series “Pagan Peak”.

Writing the film and the series and “finding structures that would work on these two completely different platforms” was a big challenge, Stennert says.

“We had some experience with movies and we had some experience with TV series. What’s interesting is that because we’re dealing with a family, they were able to create something of a whole for the series and deal with a greater variety of characters, as well as focusing on the conflict between the two characters for the film. It was a way to find balance between the stories. When you go to a movie, you’re dealing with the main conflict that’s at the center of the story. It provides the structure and foundation for a great movie experience.”

The series, in turn, tells the story of King Gunter’s family along with the cast, who thoroughly investigate the intrigues and events at the Burgundian court.

“The biggest challenge was writing and editing,” adds Stennert.

The series itself offers a different take on the story than the film, Boss explains. As a whole, the series focuses on the royal family, in particular Gunter’s sister Kriemhild (whom Hagen secretly loves), his mother Queen Ute, and his brothers Gernot and Giselher.

Although many characters appear in both the film and the series, most of them appear in the background in the film, but in the series they come to the fore, which allows us to delve deeper into their stories, adds Boss.

“It will be interesting because if you like the feature film, you will get much more in the series – you will understand some things, some characters even better.”

The series and the movie complement each other. The entire project was built “from scratch,” says Stennert. “That was the idea.”

Working together, Boss and Stennert shared the directing work, with each picture shot in different units.

“You have more options,” adds Boss. “In Germany, budgets are tight and time is always an issue. We had 113 shooting days for “Hagen”. That sounds like a lot, but for a six-episode series plus additional scenes for a feature film, it wasn’t. So when you have the opportunity to break up, you can get more photos and more scenes to tell your story in the best way possible.”

After a long search for the role of Hagen, the directors found the perfect role in Naber. The part needed someone who was “a very physically tough guy and you could believe he was actually a great fighter,” Stennert says. “On the other hand, he had to be a really talented actor and he had to bring this very sensitive side, sadness, a kind of subtle tenderness. And these are really completely opposite characteristics. He brought it all perfectly with him and we couldn’t find it anywhere else.”

Indeed, directors chose the strong and quiet type from the past.

“We always thought of old movie actors from the ’60s and ’70s, like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, who were really straight-faced and always kept their cards close to their chests,” Boss says. “But when you look into their eyes, really deep into their eyes, you see the vulnerability and the pain that they suffered. This was something that Gijs did so well, doing very minimalistic things with his eyes and it moves you, but on the other hand he is a really tough guy, a believable soldier, a warrior.

Produced by Constantin, the film “Hagen” will hit German cinemas on October 17, and the series will premiere next year on RTL+. Fremantle handles worldwide sales both outside German-speaking territories.