Die Söhne der großen Bärin

The western genre had made its way to Europe in the '60s, as seen in the spaghetti westerns. Lesser known are the westerns that came from the Soviet bloc, sometimes called easterns (or Ostern). One of the most famous examples is Josef Mach's East German movie "Die Söhne der großen Bärin" ("The Sons of Great Bear" in English). We in the United States are used to seeing everyone in westerns speak English, even in the Italian westerns. Mach's movie turns the genre on its head, with every character speaking German, including the Indians. Picture it: American Indians, living in a village of tepees, all sound more like professors in a Berlin university.

The movie was no doubt intended as a sort of propaganda piece. The positive depiction of American Indians was in stark contrast to the John Wayne movies, and so the movie was indirectly denouncing the US. Star Gojko Mitić played Indians in a number of other DEFA movies, and became known as the most famous Indian in Eastern Europe, and even received an honorary title from the Ojibwa.

Anyway, it's a pretty impressive movie. A little bit laughable, but pretty fun.