List of films using the music of Richard Wagner

The following is a sortable list of cinema films which have music by Richard Wagner in their soundtracks (other than films of Wagner's operas themselves). Casual references (and use of the Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin) are not included.

Wagner music in films

Film	Year	Director	Music used from:
The Birth of a Nation	1915	D. W. Griffith	"Ride of the Valkyries"
The Viking	1928	Roy William Neill	Parsifal, Flying Dutchman, Die Walküre
Un Chien Andalou	1929	Luis Buñuel	Tristan und Isolde
L'Age d'Or	1930	Luis Buñuel	Tristan und Isolde
Murder!	1930	Alfred Hitchcock	Tristan und Isolde
City Streets	1931	Rouben Mamoulian	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
A Farewell to Arms	1932	Frank Borzage	Tristan und Isolde
The Scarlet Empress	1934	Josef von Sternberg	"Ride of the Valkyries"
R.A.F.	1935	John Betts	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Triumph of the Will	1935	Leni Riefenstahl	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, "Wach' auf" chorus, (act 3, scene 5)
The Right to Live	1935	William Keighley	Tristan und Isolde
The Lion Man	1936	John P. McCarthy	"Ride of the Valkyries"
One Hundred Men and a Girl	1937	Henry Koster	Lohengrin, prelude to act 3
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars	1938	Frederick Stephani	Parsifal
Escape	1940	Mervyn LeRoy	Tristan und Isolde ("Liebestod")
The Great Dictator	1940	Charlie Chaplin	Lohengrin, prelude
Red River Valley	1941	Joseph Kane	"Ride of the Valkyries", Rienzi
Sullivan’s Travels	1941	Preston Sturges	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Secret Mission	1942	Harold French	Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Christmas Holiday	1944	Robert Siodmak	Tristan und Isolde (Liebestod)
Humoresque	1946	Jean Negulesco	Tristan und Isolde, arranged by Franz Waxman.
A Foreign Affair	1948	Billy Wilder	Lohengrin, overture
Unfaithfully Yours	1948	Preston Sturges	Tannhäuser
The Blue Gardenia	1953	Fritz Lang	"Tristan und Isolde"
Abismos de pasión	1954	Luis Buñuel	Tristan und Isolde
Magic Fire	1955	William Dieterle	Ring Cycle
Love in the Afternoon	1957	Billy Wilder	Tristan und Isolde
What's Opera, Doc?	1957	Chuck Jones	Ring Cycle, Tannhäuser, The Flying Dutchman
8½	1963	Federico Fellini	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Sedmikrásky (Daisies)	1966	Věra Chytilová	Götterdämmerung
Patriotism	1966	Yukio Mishima	Tristan und Isolde
Mondo Trasho	1969	John Waters	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King	1972	Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin
Ludwig (film)	1973	Luchino Visconti	Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Lohengrin
Lisztomania	1975	Ken Russell	Rienzi, Ring Cycle
Winifred Wagner und die Geschichte des Hauses Wahnfried 1914–1975	1975	Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	Ring Cycle
Hitler: A Film from Germany	1977	Hans-Jürgen Syberberg	Ring Cycle
That Obscure Object of Desire	1977	Luis Buñuel	"Ride of the Valkyries"
The Boys from Brazil	1978	Franklin Schaffner	Siegfried Idyll
Seven Beauties	1975	Lina Wertmüller	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Apocalypse Now	1979	Francis Ford Coppola	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Nosferatu the Vampyre	1979	Werner Herzog	Das Rheingold
The Blues Brothers	1980	John Landis	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Excalibur	1981	John Boorman	Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, Götterdämmerung
Wagner	1983	Tony Palmer	Siegfried
Détective	1985	Jean-Luc Godard	Rienzi
Come and See	1985	Elem Klimov	Ride of the Valkyries
The Running Man	1987	Paul Michael Glaser	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Romeo + Juliet	1996	Baz Luhrmann	Tristan und Isolde, (Liebestod)
Scream (1996 film)	1996	Wes Craven	Ride of the Valkyries
24 Hour Party People	2002	Michael Winterbottom	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Birth	2004	Jonathan Glazer	Die Walküre
Jarhead	2005	Sam Mendes	"Ride of the Valkyries"
The New World	2006	Terrence Malick	Das Rheingold
Norbit	2007	Brian Robbins	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Bronson	2008	Nicolas Winding Refn	Götterdämmerung, Das Rheingold
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	2008	David Fincher	Tannhäuser, aria "Dich, teure Halle"
Valkyrie	2008	Bryan Singer	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Watchmen	2009	Zack Snyder	"Ride of the Valkyries"
A Dangerous Method	2011	David Cronenberg	Siegfried, Die Walküre
Melancholia	2011	Lars von Trier	Tristan und Isolde
Rango	2011	Gore Verbinski	"Ride of the Valkyries"
To the Wonder	2012	Terrence Malick	Parsifal, prelude
Nymphomaniac	2013	Lars von Trier	Das Rheingold
Florence Foster Jenkins	2016	Stephen Frears	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Alien: Covenant	2017	Ridley Scott	Das Rheingold, Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla
Promising Young Woman	2020	Emerald Fennell	Tristan und Isolde
Sonic the Hedgehog	2020	Jeff Fowler	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Army of the Dead	2021	Zack Snyder	Götterdämmerung
Wrath of Man	2021	Guy Ritchie	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Army of Thieves	2021	Matthias Schweighöfer	Götterdämmerung, Das Rheingold, Ride of the Valkyries, Siegfried
For All Mankind (Season 2 Episode 7)	2021	Ronald D. Moore	"Ride of the Valkyries"
Tár	2022	Todd Field	Tannhäuser, overture
The Substance	2024	Coralie Fargeat	Tristan und Isolde
Maria (2024 film)	2024	Pablo Larraín	Parsifal, prelude

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Sameer Rahim, "Wagner in film", The Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2013, accessed 15 August 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Ross (2020) p. 574.
^ ^a ^b Sangild (2015).
^ Ross (2020) pp. 574, 593.
^ Short, Kenneth R. M. (1997). Screening the Propaganda of British Air Power. Flicks Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-0948911439.
^ Strötgen (2008)
^ Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 442.
^ ^a ^b Ross (2020) p. 582.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Jon Burlingame, "10 films that utilize Wagner's music", Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2010, accessed 17 August 2017.
^ Ross (2020), pp. 591–93.
^ ^a ^b Ross (2020) p. 590.
^ "The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.
^ Ross (2020) p. 596.
^ ^a ^b Ross (2020) p. 598.
^ Clouzot (1968), p. 36
^ Ross (2020) pp. 598–601.
^ Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.
^ Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.
^ Care (1978)
^ Winifred Wagner und die Geschichte des Hauses Wahnfried 1914 - 1975, filmportal.de website (in German), accessed 26.5.2020
^ Joe and Gilman (2010), pp. 254–8.
^ Ross (2020) pp. 594, 596.
^ Ross (2020), pp. 587–88.
^ "Wagner in film", The Cinema Archives, accessed 21 June 2023.
^ "Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
^ "Détective (1985)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
^ name="Come and See IMDb">"Come and See (1985) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ "The Running Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 1987. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^ "24 Hour Party People (2002) - IMDb". IMDb.
^ Ross (2020) p. 607.
^ "Bronson (2008) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
^ "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
^ IMDB, accessed 8 May 2019
^ "Watchmen (2009) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
^ ^a ^b Ng, David (November 25, 2011). "'A Dangerous Method', 'Melancholia' take cues from Richard Wagner". Los Angeles Times.
^ "Rango (2011) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^ "To the Wonder (2012)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
^ Wadsworth, John (6 May 2016). "Revenge Of The Auteur: Nymphomaniac's Musical Miscellany". The Quietus. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
^ "Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
^ Brody, Richard (May 24, 2017). ""Alien: Covenant" Bursts with Pomposity". The New Yorker. Advance Publications. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
^ Salazar, David (21 January 2021). "Opera Meets Film: How 'Promising Young Woman' Dialogues With Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde'". OperaWire. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
^ Rooney, David (2021-05-11). "Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
^ "Wrath of Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^ "Army of Thieves (2021) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
^ "For_All_Mankind (2021) - Soundtracks". IMDb.
^ Brodeur, Michael Andor (14 October 2022). "Cate Blanchett on 'Tár' role: 'Music is often the starting point for me'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.

Sources

Care, Ross (1978). "Ken Russell: Lisztomania", in Film Quarterly, Vol XXXI, No. 3, Spring 1978. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
Clouzot, Claire (1968). "Reviewed Work: Daisies by Vera Chytilova". Film Quarterly. 21 (3): 35–37. doi:10.2307/1210994. JSTOR 1210994.
Joe, Jeongwon and Sander L. Gilman (eds.) (2010). Wagner and Cinema. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253221636
Ross, Alex (2020). Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374285937
Sangild, Torben (2015). "Buñuel's Liebestod – Wagner's Tristan in Luis Buñuel's early films: Un Chien Andalou and L'Âge d'Or", in JMM: The Journal of Music and Meaning, vol. 13, 2014/2015, pp. 20–59. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
Strötgen, Stephan (2008). ""I compose the Party Rally...": The Role of Music in Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will", in Music & Politics, vol. 2 issue 1. Retrieved 16 August 2017.

[DT-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Sameer Rahim, "Wagner in film", The Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2013, accessed 15 August 2018.

[:2-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Ross (2020) p. 574.

[Torben-3] Sangild (2015).

[4] Ross (2020) pp. 574, 593.

[Short-5] Short, Kenneth R. M. (1997). Screening the Propaganda of British Air Power. Flicks Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-0948911439.

[6] Strötgen (2008)

[7] Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 442.

[:1-8] Ross (2020) p. 582.

[JB-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Jon Burlingame, "10 films that utilize Wagner's music", Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2010, accessed 17 August 2017.

[10] Ross (2020), pp. 591–93.

[:4-11] Ross (2020) p. 590.

[The_Blue_Gardenia_IMDb-12] "The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Soundtracks - IMDb". IMDb.

[13] Ross (2020) p. 596.

[:3-14] Ross (2020) p. 598.

[15] Clouzot (1968), p. 36

[16] Ross (2020) pp. 598–601.

[17] Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.

[18] Joe and Gilman (2010), p. 258.

[19] Care (1978)

[20] Winifred Wagner und die Geschichte des Hauses Wahnfried 1914 - 1975, filmportal.de website (in German), accessed 26.5.2020

[21] Joe and Gilman (2010), pp. 254–8.

[22] Ross (2020) pp. 594, 596.

[23] Ross (2020), pp. 587–88.

[24] "Wagner in film", The Cinema Archives, accessed 21 June 2023.

[:0-25] "Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-14.

[26] "Détective (1985)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

[27] ="Come and See IMDb">"Come and See (1985) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

[The_Running_Man_IMDb-28] "The Running Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 1987. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

[chakkara-29] "24 Hour Party People (2002) - IMDb". IMDb.

[30] Ross (2020) p. 607.

[Bronson_IMDb-31] "Bronson (2008) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2021.

[32] "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

[33] IMDB, accessed 8 May 2019

[Watchmen_IMDb-34] "Watchmen (2009) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

[Ng-35] Ng, David (November 25, 2011). "'A Dangerous Method', 'Melancholia' take cues from Richard Wagner". Los Angeles Times.

[Rango_IMDb-36] "Rango (2011) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

[37] "To the Wonder (2012)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

[38] Wadsworth, John (6 May 2016). "Revenge Of The Auteur: Nymphomaniac's Musical Miscellany". The Quietus. Retrieved May 17, 2020.

[39] "Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)|Soundtracks", IMDB. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

[40] Brody, Richard (May 24, 2017). ""Alien: Covenant" Bursts with Pomposity". The New Yorker. Advance Publications. Retrieved April 3, 2018.

[41] Salazar, David (21 January 2021). "Opera Meets Film: How 'Promising Young Woman' Dialogues With Wagner's 'Tristan und Isolde'". OperaWire. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

[Rooney-42] Rooney, David (2021-05-11). "Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2021.

[Wrath_of_Man_IMDb-43] "Wrath of Man (1987) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

[Army_of_Thieves_IMDb-44] "Army of Thieves (2021) - Soundtracks". IMDb. 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

[For_All_Mankind_IMDb-45] "For_All_Mankind (2021) - Soundtracks". IMDb.

[46] Brodeur, Michael Andor (14 October 2022). "Cate Blanchett on 'Tár' role: 'Music is often the starting point for me'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.