The DEFA’s “Eastern Westerns” (Indianerfilme) (Part 3 of 4)

filmporta.de

A Star is Born: Gojko Mitic

Source: DIF© DEFA-Stiftung

Gojko Miti? in "Der Scout" ("The Scout", 1983)

Soon after opening, "Die Söhne der großen Bärin" had attracted eight million movie-goers in the GDR, due in large part to the film's star. Gojko Mitić featured as a supporting actor in five Karl May westerns before carrying numerous DEFA productions as a (physically much more imposing) counterpart to Winnetou. In contrast to Pierre Brice, Gojko Mitić appeared in a number of different Indian roles (such as the eponymous hero of "Chingachgock - Die große Schlange" ["Chinachgook - the Great Serpent"], "Severino" and "Osceola", and two appearances as Ulzana in "Apachen" ["Apaches"] and "Ulzana"), but he was still as popular in the GDR as Brice was in the west. In certain respects, the disparate heroes portrayed by Brice and Mitic played a similar cultural role. Both Indian fads reflected conservative reactions to innovation. In the west, the conciliatory escapism of Karl May's world contrasted with the advent of the New German Cinema signaled by the Oberhausener Manifesto, published in the same year Reinl's "Der Schatz im Silbersee" appeared. In the east, the flood of politically correct DEFA westerns began after the 1965 ZK (Central Committee) Plenum banned virtually the entire output of the DEFA from that year.