User reviews

Chingachgook, a Mohawk-born Delaware warrior, strives to rescue his wife Wahtawah from the clutches of an enemy camp of Huron. Joined by his trusted huntsman Deerslayer, the two confront racist pioneers and brutal British soldiers in their quest. Deerslayer catches the desire of Judith and thus the jealousy of her suitor, Harry. The action of the story functions like a seesaw, characters continuously traveling back and forth between a house on the lake and the Huron camp until the violent climax.

Richard Groschopp's last theatrically released film, Chingachgook, offers a fresh and entertaining look into a genre not familiar in the United States, an Indian adventure film with German actors and direction. Constructed in a manner very different to American films, it asserts a distinct foreign identity through an American locale. Its slow editing style allows the actors to perform in a large frame, emphasizing their movements like dance. Dance is an element of the film that is explored by the director. What appear as silly dances routines placed sporadically throughout the film are referential to the beautiful and precise choreography of fascist-era military parades and functions. This connection reveals Groschopp's ties to the propaganda films of Leni Riefenstahl, working early in his career as a cinematographer for the Olympia films of 1936. Due to Soviet occupation of East Germany at the time of the film's production, there are communist references apparent within the film as well. The Delaware and Huron communities are each portrayed as large, cohesive, units, shown in wide angle shots to reveal the magnitude of bodies, much like Vertov's and Eisenstein's work. A British attack on an Indian camp recalls images of the Odessa Steps scene from Battleship Potemkin(1925), an obvious reference to Soviet influence on the culture of East Germany.

Aesthetic beauty is important in the film. All of the well intending characters are physically attractive and are framed to reveal their sculpted and/ or shapely bodies. The personalities of the characters fall short of believable, however their interactions with one another are humorous due to their flatness. For example, Judith is attracted to Deerslayer's boyish good looks, and to show her attraction she trips in front of him and falls conveniently into his arms. The painfully stereotypical relationship these two characters have make the film worth watching in its own right, but the film has other merits. It is kinky melodrama with uber-German looking Indians fighting German speaking redcoats. The effect this film had on me (as a upstate New Yorker who grew up where the film takes place) was one that I encourage others to experience.

The Germans have long loved Westerns, and they made their own; this East German production from 1967 is based on James Fenimore Cooper's The Deerslayer, set among warring Hurons, Delawares, British redcoats, and a few French in the Lake Ontario region. It has its charms, including some beautiful natural settings, but it's of interest mostly as a curiosity. The Indians (you get a feeling many of them are blonds wearing black wigs and bronzer) perform campy ceremonial dances and apparently lift weights (a lot); as the Last of the Mohicans, Yugo actor Gojko Mitic is quite the hunk. The action and fight scenes are very mild (clearly intended for a 1960s kiddie audience). Sometimes the music (including some jazz) seems wildly inappropriate. The best thing this movie might do is make you question the assumptions implicit in US Westerns, and whether they were any more accurate about Native Americans and American history.

A word about the DVD released in the US in 2006: although the color is good, the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio is cropped to 1.66:1, losing any sense of widescreen spectacle (and sometimes obscuring characters or action); also, the English subtitles are poorly placed and may run off the bottom of the screen on some TVs. Even a movie that is little more than a curiosity deserves better presentation than this.

Gojko Mitic was a huge star in Eastern-Europe back in the days. Now days he has gained somewhat cult hero status mostly because of his portrayals of Native American heroes in Red Westerns or Easterns as they are sometimes referred. These films are becoming to come to surface again, but more like peculiarities and something people want to see out of curiosity.

'Chingachgook' was one of the most popular of the East German westerns where superstar Gojko Mitic played the main hero - The Great Serpent. Chingachgook - the last of the Mohicans - lives now with Delaware tribe. After saving the chief's life he is granted to marry the chief's daughter. Unfortunately his new wife is kidnapped by Huron tribe, and Chingachgook sets out to save her with the help of his good white friend Deerslayer.

The acting is so deadpan it is almost hilarious to watch, and the action scenes are pretty dame compared to it's contemporaries from Spaghetti or real western genre. Native Americans are played by Eastern-European actors, mostly Germans with bronzed skin. This could be seen quite offensive now days by some.

All said, the film has it's own charm in it, and it is definitely not a waste of time.

Western, adventure. A screen adaptation of the novel "St. John's Wort" by the famous American writer James Fenimore Cooper. I have not read the book, to my shame. I repent, I am a sinner, but you have to be honest. I continue to talk about the films of the East German film studio DEFA with the participation of "Honored Indian of the Soviet Union" Goiko Mitic. Since I cannot say for the book, I will consider the film adaptation as an independent work, following the spirit of the book's primary source. I kept remembering whether I looked at this picture or not, but when I saw the face of the main villain I remembered that I had definitely seen it all before. The turn of the second picture of twelve has come, and here is my brief opinion - Magnificent Gojko Mitic: part two. I want to state right away that the picture has no shortcomings, there are some small comments, which I will highlight in a separate paragraph. And therefore, allow your humble servant to focus your attention on the expressive merits of this western. So, here they are: 1. Adventure story - the picture tells the story of two brothers in spirit: the pale-faced hunter nicknamed "St. John's wort" and the red-skinned warrior Chingachgook - the Big Snake, the last of them was stolen by the hostile Indian tribe Huron, and therefore Chingachgook intends to return her, not without the help of St. John's wort , but big politics intervenes here. The British support the Delaware tribe, where Chingachgook is from, and the Hurons are supported by the French. The colonists deliberately push the Indians with their foreheads, so as not to "get their hands dirty". Colonists only need territory, and preferably no Indians. But the historical background here serves only for the sake of the most intense and adventurous story. Here you will find intrigues, and the tensions between the pale-faced and the red-skinned, whom the former consider "lower than animals," prejudices, ancient grievances and ghosts of the past that hinder the unification of the Indians in their struggle against the colonists, and so on. The romantic line was not forgotten, although it does not play a primary role here. Fights, chases, shootings - yes to health. Get your signature! The final turned out to be a bit sad, but not devoid of hope. 2. Atmosphere - North America, the English and French crowns are fighting for the continent in order to snatch more pieces from each other, attracting the Indians and skillfully using their disunity and the abundance of old grievances. The viewer feels all this, and it works even today, in our twenty-first century. 3. Costumes, scenery - the picture was again filmed in Yugoslavia, where the nature is very similar to North American. The scenery, unlike the previous picture, has become much more, and this only plays into the hands of the picture, there are more extras, albeit not very much, and the costumes are very authentic, for which I can only praise the creators. 4. Fights, chases, skirmishes - and although there is no final battle per se, this does not make the picture worse. All of these scenes are dynamic, although shown using cropped montage, but exciting. 5. Music - this time the composer did a great job, all the melodies sound to the place and to the time, and complement the atmosphere and emphasize each specific scene so that the viewer does not miss anything. It would be possible to add music to the Indian tune, it would be even more authentic, but this is already my nitpick, or Wishlist. A little about the main characters: 1. Chingachgook - Big Snake performed by Goyko Mitich - a warrior of the Delaware tribe, a "noble savage" intending to return the kidnapped bride, which becomes the beginning of a whole series of adventures. Honest, loyal to his tribe and behaves like a "red-skinned knight in shining armor." Goiko Mitic himself performed all the tricks in this film (as in all the others, being a stuntman by profession), for which he received respect and respect from me personally, and the acting itself is at a high level. Bravo! 2. Tom Hutter performed by Helmut Schreiber is an old hunter who built a house on the shores of a wonderful lake. He despises the Indians, is full of prejudices of his time, loves his only daughter. The ending of this character was obvious, and deserved, but Helmut played him perfectly. Well done! Of course, now these combined shots, the absence of blood and pressing to the wound site look well, completely unconvincing, and involuntarily resemble a comedy (by the way, there are a few jokes in the film), but let's make a discount on the release time of the picture, okay? Just tell everyone about it, it won't be just our little secret! And yet, the picture shows the wonderful nature and the operator clearly tried for us, catching the best shots. Well, next time Goyko Michich will confront greedy gold diggers trying to squeeze the Dakota tribe out of their native land in the film "Trail of the Falcon". As a result, we have a good western, and even an adaptation of the cult adventure novel by Fenimore Cooper with the magnificent Goyko Mitic with an excellent story, excellent entourage, good music performed by wonderful and talented actors.

German Indian film with DEFA superstar Gojko Mitic

After several appearances in Karl May films such as "Winnetou II" and the Alfred Vohrer action hit "Unter Geiern", Gojko Mitic was the leading actor in a GDR Indian film for the second time. The beautifully photographed and equipped film is a true gem. Great shots of the muscular protagonist against a wonderful natural backdrop make the film something very special. Thanks to his impressive physique, Gojko Mitic also impresses in the numerous fight scenes. Rolf Römer and Lilo Grahn are also convincing. The remaining actors act more statuesquely, in keeping with the German acting tradition. Despite these small flaws, this film is well made and well worth seeing.