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Background
Introduction
Indianerfilm
Gojko Mitic
Spurensuche


(c) 1997-2001
   

Phenomenon "Indianerfilm"

Between 1966 and 1979 Babelsberg1 co-produced 12 "Indian Movies" with studios in Yugoslavia, Romania, the former Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Cuba. The movies comprised Babelsberg’s only continuously successful series devoted to a single genre and focused on the same theme. All except the last movie in the series (Blauvogel, directed by Ulrich Weiß and quite different from the others) were created by the so-called "Red Circle" and were usually produced under the watchful eyes of a screenwriter (Hans-Joachim Wallstein), stage designer, and five cameramen (Otto Hanisch, Eberhard Borkmann, Hans Heinrich, Helmut Bergmann, and Wolfgang Braumann). The screenplay for the first movie was co-written by screenwriters Margot Beichler and Hans-Joachim Wallstein. Four movies were written by Günter Karl and three by Wolfgang Ebeling.

Eleven movies had seven different directors: Josef Mach, a Czech, and Richard Groschopp were the "pioneers;" Gottfried Kolditz and Konrad Petzold directed three movies each. In 1972, 1975 and 1978, Hans Kratzert, Werner W. Wallroth and Claus Dobberke directed one movie each, each quite different in its treatment of context and conflict, signaling the high point as well as the phasing out of the series. Kratzert’s Tecumseh (1972) focused on the Indian as politician. In Wallroth’s Blutsbrüder (1975), a white man, deserter and renegade, represents a new type of hero, fighting side by side with the Indians; and Dobberke’s Severino (1978) is the story of an Indian man (Gojko Mitic) who has just returned home promoting settledness but becomes entangled in the old fighting against his will.

The first DEFA2 Indian Movie, Die Söhne der großen Bärin, premiered on February 18, 1966. At the time of its release, no one could anticipate how few premieres there would be during that year, and no one was yet thinking of developing an "Indian Movie" series. The movie, based on a popular and also academically recognized novel by Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich, was designed to expand the thematic variety of the "heavyweight" DEFA movie catalog. Since 1962, Karl May movies had been virtual blockbusters in neighboring West Germany. Ironically, East German parents and their children would have had to travel to a movie theater in Prague in order to catch a glimpse of Winnetou or Old Shatterhand. Romanticizing Indian life always served a sort of compensatory function in Germany, it made up for national and social shortcomings, losses, and repression, as well as lost ideals and dreams. The enthusiasm about Indian life seemed value-free, without limits and consequences, was appropriate both for young government loyals as well as would-be rebels. The difference between James Fenimore Cooper and Karl May's ahistorical "idyllization" went largely unnoticed—historically accurate material reached only a tiny minority.

The Dakota trilogy by Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich offered an alternative way of making Indian Movies in Germany—fable and fantasy were based on ethnic and cultural authenticity, accurate historic context, and real material conflicts of interest. They aimed to portray a different view of the far and foreign: "We do not want to show Indian warfare, but individual people instead. The heroes of this story are Indians, and our main goal was to get that point across and adjust the existing point of view." The movie Die Söhne der großen Bärin contains several near-documentary scenes in an attempt to evoke respect for and understanding of the Indian civilization destroyed by the white man. The movie did have its shortcomings, though—it was ambivalent, over-simplified and needlessly drawn out in certain places. By completely taking the Indians' side, the movie distorted the view of the other side. Despite the flaws, the movie turned out to be a sensational success.

Between spring and fall of 1966 one contemporary movie after the other in the DEFA schedule was either canceled in mid-stream or not authorized. The next "Indian Movie" project, on the other hand, was already under way. Babelsberg had found a thematic anchor for its productions, and it was not only reliable, but also honorable. The Indian theme was a safe "anti-imperialist" position, the financial outlook was good, and DEFA and its audience united on a common level—entertaining, gripping, but nevertheless educational. At the annual summer film festivals that were held in outdoor city theaters and vacation spots, Indians on horseback were the main attraction.

The second movie in the series, from 1967, was based on Indian history from the time around 1740. Chingachgook, die große Schlange, partially based on Cooper’s novel "The Deer Slayer," is a solid and carefully crafted movie directed by Richard Groschopp. It pays more attention to historic details than to adventure or entertainment value. Only the last "Indian Movie," Blauvogel, directed by young documentary filmmaker Ulrich Weiß and not part of the actual series, goes back in history that far. Weiß concentrates on cultural context and one individual within it—a young settler boy kidnapped by Iroquois Indians and subsequently raised by them during the Seven Year Wars (1756-63). Upon being "freed" by the English and returned to his family, the boy must decide between two worlds, and the movie moves outside the typical boundaries of the genre by presenting a different view of the world, albeit in a somewhat clumsy fashion.

All other movies in the series depict situations from the late 19th century, a time in which the romantic and heroic illusions of the classic Indian wars were long gone. These movies focus on events in which the daily life of the Wild West and the frontier was dominated by the interconnections of capital greed and government, military actions and banditry. The difference between the "Indian Movies" and simple adventure movies becomes blurred. In Weiße Wölfe (1969) and Tödlicher Irrtum (1970), both directed by Konrad Petzold, interesting distinctions and rising conflicts among whites become noticeable, one of them being the persona of the "good sheriff" who is victimized by the ruling East Coast elite and their laws. Directly or indirectly, the reference point of each movie plot is the repeatedly and variedly applied historic game plan that forced the Indians off their fertile land and into increasingly barren reservations by means of violence, deception and selfish laws, which resulted in the legendary "frontier" being pushed farther and farther west.

Die Söhne der großen Bärin, Spur des Falken (1968; directed by Gottfried Kolditz) and Weiße Wölfe deal with the displacement and death of the powerful Dakota tribe. The Apaches suffered a similar fate after the United States defeated Mexico in 1848 and subsequently had free reign north of the Rio Grande (Apachen/1973 and Ulzana /1974, both directed by Gottfried Kolditz). The heroic chief, portrayed as usual by Yugoslav actor Gojko Mitic, who had started out in West German Winnetou movies in 1963, tries to save a small tribal group from being destroyed and to secure their future by migrating north and working the land. The never-changing hero experiences both amicable and dangerous relationships with whites, suffers personal tragedy and is driven into the avenger's role, as is the case in Die Söhne der großen Bärin and Weiße Wölfe. In the latter film, the producers even risked killing the hero with whom the audience had identified.

Tecumseh (1972; directed by Hans Kratzert) stands on the periphery of the genre. It is the most ambitious and conceptually consistent attempt at creating a historically accurate movie—one that depicts the tragic futility of the Indians’ attempts at self-determination and survival and epitomizes this development in the person of Shawnee chief and British brigadier general Tecumseh. His idea of a great union among "all Indians east of the Mississippi" falls prey to treason and treachery in the massacre of Tippecanoe in 1811. In the wars of 1812/13 many tribes fight on the American side, while Tecumseh joins the British and is killed in 1813 in the battle on the Thames. The movie reveals the underlying political contradictions and interconnections and develops haunting characterizations of the white and Indian protagonists. Although it casts the love affair between Tecumseh and Eileen (a white woman portrayed by Annekathrin Bürger) in a sentimental light, it does reach high emotional intensity by differentiating among various interests and motivations. The effect of this movie on critics and the younger audience is hampered, however, by information overload. A year earlier another leader of a legendary Indian uprising had been the main focus of a movie: Osceola (directed by Konrad Petzold). The political dimensions and main characters in this movie are somewhat less intense, but the carefully crafted distinction of the secondary roles enhances the plot’s density and vitality and shows the complexity of the conflicts. Of particular interest is the distinction between liberal and slave-driver mentalities, and the solidarity among Indians fighting for their freedom and that of run-away black slaves.

The historical facts and recorded stories on how the West was won and how the Indians were destroyed were perfectly in line with the socio-critical ideas and self-legitimization of the GDR and DEFA. The "three-horned devil" of progress, genocide and profit is obvious beyond a single doubt and has rarely been shown more effectively on film. Though eloquent, the characterization of DEFA "Indian Movies" as a "synthesis of Karl Marx and Karl May" by movie critic Renate Holland-Moritz is not quite accurate. While the American variation of the original identification with Karl Marx was easily recognizable and depicted accordingly, Karl May was absent in two ways. On the one hand, he was the "enemy" whose artificial splendor and "white" sentimentality had to be avoided. On the other hand, DEFA never quite mastered the art of story telling, never came close to the boundless imagination of Karl May, who in his ignorance invented characters, who, given the right circumstances and situations, developed into impressive figures despite their peculiarities.

DEFA "Indian Movies" were open to intellectual and esthetic innovations only at the beginning and only in theory, and good intentions gave way to the pressures of the times and tradition. The movies almost immediately struck a compromise among genre convention, historical accuracy, and materialistic didactics. However, they accomplished a country-specific balancing act by approaching historic truths in a theme area which usually consisted of lies and legends on the one hand, and the demands of a genre which was en vogue at the time on the other hand. They never reached the level of those few US movies which managed to break with the usual frontier and Western clichés. They were nevertheless unique among the movies produced in the socialist countries and had an undeniably lasting effect.

1Babelsberg = East German movie studios in Potsdam/Babelsberg
2DEFA = Deutsche Film AG, East German state movie production company

From: DAS ZWEITE LEBEN DER FILMSTADT BABELSBERG: DEFA-FILMSPIELE 1946-1992 [The Second Life of Babelsberg, Film City: DEFA Feature Films 1946-1992] / Issued by Filmmuseum Potsdam. Ralf Schenk (ed.). Berlin : Henschel, 1994. - 559 p. - Filmography p. 356-451. ISBN 3-89487-175-X : DM 98.00