Präriejäger in Mexiko

Western, historical drama, adventure. The picture of the East German film studio DEFA, shot with the participation of the USSR and socialist Bulgaria in the late eighties. The film adaptation of two adventure novels by the German writer Karl May ("Benito Juarez" and "The Vulture's Beak Hunter"). And since I am not familiar with the original book source, I will evaluate the painting as an independent work. And here's my brief opinion for you - The latest western of the DEFA film studio. And it starred the "Honored Indian of the Soviet Union" Goiko Mitic, although not in the main role, but in a very important one. And I stumbled upon this picture by chance a couple of years ago, when I watched and reviewed westerns with Goiko Mitic (all twelve), and decided to watch this one after. And as it turned out, I did it for a reason. I will note right away that there are no minuses in the picture, but there are some comments that are worth talking about. In the meantime, I will focus your attention on the advantages of this western.

So, here they are: 1. The scenario is Mexico, the mid-sixties of the nineteenth century. The country is occupied by French troops, the "emperor" Maximilian the First rules the ball in the capital, the ruler of the conquered country by order of the French emperor Napoleon the Third, the legitimate president of Mexico Benito Juarez, together with patriots and the Aztec Indians, courageously resists the invaders and local traitors, in addition, the local bandit Cortejo declared himself president and wants to establish his power in the country. Chief Bear-Eye (Gojko Mitic) is fighting on the side of Juarez, as is the legendary hunter Black Gerard and the American hunter Vulture Beak. In addition, we are shown ordinary people who were affected by this war, for example, the owner of a small tavern, a Mexican spy in a French camp, emissaries of England and the United States. And in general, the scenario focuses on the liberation war of the Mexican people against the French occupiers. Yes, you understood correctly, the structure of the script of this western is strikingly different from the others shot earlier. After all, before that the script was simple, devoid of all intrigue, and was not loaded with unnecessary details, then here the picture is exactly the opposite. After all, in the center is a real historical event, now called the "Anglo-Franco-Spanish intervention in Mexico of 1861-1867", which is little consecrated in the cinema. Naturally, we only paint the sides of the conflict with general strokes, and show the main characters, of which there are many, and they are all important. It is interesting to follow the development of the story, because from the very beginning it is clear who the audience should empathize with, and this is fair. And the fact that the hero of Gojko Mitic is not in the spotlight here does not make this picture unworthy of previous westerns with his participation, because the structure of this western is different. And it was impossible to break away from the local history, so I highly recommend paying attention to this work, undeservedly forgotten.

2. The Anglo-Franco-Spanish intervention in Mexico of 1861-1867 - as already mentioned above, this war does not often appear in movies, although they are quite interesting and replete with their dramatic twists. And the film showed the main events and the grand finale, painted the warring parties, their motives. Although the depth and prerequisites are not hooked, but it can be forgiven, but there is no necessary minimum of information here. Yes, at least the text on the screen would have been written briefly, because even I did not know about this conflict before viewing this picture, so the necessary explanation was necessary. But the real story was exciting: the intervention of several European powers, the position of the United States, the motives of European empires, the actions of the Mexicans, who skillfully played on the contradictions of their neighbors and enemies. The story is very instructive, and worthy of attention.

3. The atmosphere is Western as it is, only with a Mexican flavor: prairies, poverty, peculiar music, mixing of cultures, attitude towards Indians (better than in the USA). When watching, I remembered the previous westerns from this film studio, although there are practically no fights and battles here.

4. The music is just great, just the kind that is needed for paintings of this genre. I don't know why, but it caused a strong response in my soul, so I will praise the composer Karl-Ernst Sasse for his high-quality work.

5. Scenery and costumes - despite the fact that this western was filmed in three countries in which even the climate zone is not similar to Mexico, the creators managed to convince the viewer that everything is happening in Mexico in the middle of the nineteenth century. And although there were no problems with costumes (the era is quite consecrated in cinema), and the scenery is very similar to the Mexican ones.

Now about the comments. The picture is not of the highest quality, restoration is needed, because the darkness is not the best here, explanations about historical events are very lacking, and the identities of some of the main characters are also not disclosed.

A little bit about the main characters: 1. Benito Juarez, played by Helmut Schellhardt, is the legitimate president of Mexico (who is considered a national hero among them), who is fighting the French occupiers, the Cortejo bandits and the troops of the "emperor" Maximilian the First for the Mexican people, with the help of Indian allies and the United States. He is shown as a brave, determined leader, and a humane person who, in difficult conditions, is able to show excessive mercy to the defeated enemy, whose role was perfectly performed by Ger Shellhardt. Bravo!

2. Bear's Eye, performed by Goiko Mitic, is the leader of the Aztec Indian tribe, fighting on the side of the legitimate President Juarez against all the enemies of Mexico. He and his Indians make a significant contribution to his victory, because they treat his people better here than in the USA. The magnificent Gojko Mitic is also brave, bold and charismatic here, and performs tricks at a high level, although there are quite a few of them here. Bravo!

3. Maximilian the First, performed by Erwin Berner, is the "emperor" of Mexico, and in fact is a puppet of the French emperor Napoleon the Third, sitting in his palace in Mexico City and thinking that he is the main one in this country. He behaves like a typical spoiled aristocrat who does not know the country he rules at all, and his end only confirms this. Erwin was very convincing in this role. Bravo!

The script and its presentation were unusual for the DEFA film studio, which is why the picture failed at the box office, because the timing was quite large (two hours and twenty-six minutes). And this was the reason why the studio refused to shoot further westerns. A few years later, the GDR was absorbed by the FRG, and this western was shown already in the united Germany, but already in 1999. The DEFA film studio ceased to exist, the USSR collapsed, but the world of cinema will never forget the westerns of the DEFA film studio, especially the residents of the former USSR, for whom Goiko Mitic (God grant him good health) is still "An Honored Indian of the Soviet Union", and the audience likes to review pictures with his participation with great pleasure. It was the thirteenth and last western of the DEFA film studio with Gojko Mitic, and it was cool. I'm glad I watched it and learned a lot of new things.

My rating is 9 out of 10 and my recommendation for viewing!