Geronimo - a legend
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Geronimo - a legend |
| Original title | Geronimo: An American Legend |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1993 |
| length | 110 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Walter Hill |
| script |
John Milius Larry Gross |
| production |
Neil Canton Neil Canton Walter Hill |
| music | Ry Cooder |
| camera | Lloyd Ahern II |
| cut |
Donn Aron Carmel Davies Freeman A. Davies |
| occupation | |
| |
Geronimo - Eine Legende ( Geronimo: An American Legend ) is an American Indian and cavalry western from Walter Hill from 1993. The film is based on historical events in the mid-1880s in the southwest of the United States and northern Mexico (in the border area of Arizona as well as Sonora and Chihuahua ) and tries to draw a balanced portrait of Geronimo , the shaman and last leader of the still free Chiricahua Apache during their last battles against the US and Mexican armies up to their submission in 1886.
action
The film, described from the perspective of a young soldier acting as a narrator, who is transferred to the "front" and who, with the help of an experienced lieutenant, learns who can simply be called Nde, Ne, Néndé, Héndé, Hen-de (" Respect for the people ”), characteristic of Chiricahua Apache and its culture, begins with the events shortly before Geronimo's first surrender in 1884 . Most Chiricahua are forced to settle in the San Carlos Indian Reservation assigned to them with the Western Apache , who serve as scouts for the US Army , where they rely on the sparse support of the US government and always use the few resources available Tensions arise with the warring Apache tribes. Some Chiricahua, like Geronimo, long for the old life of freedom and independence and cannot get used to the life of farmers.
After the unit, led by chief scout Al Sieber , kills a Cibecue Apache medicine man who was perceived as a threat , a revolt breaks out. After a fierce Tiswin feast, the chiefs Nana and Chihuahua, including Naiche and Mangas, the sons of the famous chiefs Cochise and Mangas Coloradas , and Geronimo, together with 92 women and children, 8 boys and 30 warriors, break out of the reservation for the last time. General George Crook , initially well-disposed towards Apache, has three Indian scouts executed on charges of treason. The Chiricahua warriors then wage another hopeless guerrilla war throughout the winter of 1885/1886 against the US Army in the Sierra Madre on both sides of the US Army, with 20 cavalry units, a total of more than 3,000 soldiers, and more than 200 Indian scouts. mexican border. On the Mexican side, the Crooks units were also joined by the Mexican army and their Indian scouts.
In March 1886 Geronimo was persuaded to meet Crook a few kilometers south of the border. Crook and Geronimo negotiated for two days and again Geronimo agreed to return to the reservation. But at night and in the rain, he changed his mind and ran away again, with 20 warriors and 18 women and children who fled with him. Crook has been attacked by the press for a while for being too humane towards the Apache. When his superior, General Philip Sheridan, reprimanded him for it, Crook resigned from his command. He was succeeded by General Nelson A. Miles .
For the hunt for Geronimo Miles immediately dismissed all Apache scouts, whom he deeply distrusted, and even put together a force of 5,000 men, and he also had 30 mirror telegraphs erected on the mountains. When the Chiricahua skillfully evaded this mass presence of human hunters and continued their raids at will, panic spread among the inhabitants of the region. In July 1886 Geronimo took a break in the middle of the Sierra Madre and had not lost a single man. In late August he was finally ready to speak to General Miles. Geronimo surrendered on September 4, 1886 , and Nana surrendered the following day; all Chiricahua - hereunder besides the once hostile, even the majority of the tribe who had remained in the reserve and even the loyal Chiricahua scouts of the US Army - were prisoners of war in railway wagons to Florida and Alabama deported .
background
It must be noted, however, that Geronimo was the best-known Chiricahua among Americans and Mexicans at that time and was therefore referred to as chief - but never held the position of chief during his life . Although he enjoyed a great reputation as a warrior and leader, he was also feared as a shaman and is still controversial as a person among the Chiricahua - many blame him for their exile in Florida and Alabama and later in Oklahoma. Geronimo was mostly as a shaman the spiritual leader of various war troops of the Bedonkohe (to which he belonged) and the Chihenne ; later he acted as the spokesman for chief Juh of the Janeros local group of the Nednhi (who had married Geronimo's sister Ishton), since he could not give a free speech as a stutterer . It is therefore not surprising that Geronimo was well known to whites - often better than the actual chiefs.
The director Walter Hill wanted to make the film in the late 1980s, but couldn't find a film production company . It was only after the success of Dances With Wolves in 1990 that Columbia Pictures became interested in Hill's anti-western project. The film was then in the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City ( California ) and in Arizona and in Utah rotated. Just like in the Kevin Costner film, "Geronimo - a legend" paid attention to authenticity . The Indians in the film are only represented by North American natives , the Apache language is used and, with the exception of Al Sieber , the events surrounding the main characters correspond to traditional historical facts. The film gives the impression that Scout Sieber , of German descent, dies while chasing bounty hunters in 1886. Even if the cause of his death is still controversial to this day, it can certainly be fixed on 1907.
Reviews
Roger Ebert compared the film in the Chicago Sun-Times of December 10, 1993 with the film Schindler's List , both of which would show mass murder of racist motives. The Americans, however, would refer to the events as "war" rather than " genocide ". The film shows "great beauty" and "considerable intelligence"; the music seems "lonely". Geronimo is portrayed as a man with "considerable insight" who is aware of his responsibility for killed whites, including women and children, but sees this justified by the war situation. Ebert would have liked the film to similarly show the time Geronimo spent in exile in Florida and his life after returning to Oklahoma, later as a successful farmer and celebrity.
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was “hypothermic” and avoided “heroizing” the protagonists and “sentimental distractions”.
The film was hailed by Indian officials as an attempt at honest viewing of their dreaded warrior.
Awards
The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for Best Sound . He was also nominated for the Political Film Society Award for Human Rights in 1994 and won the Western Heritage Award .
Gross profit
Production costs were estimated at 50 million US dollars . After its theatrical release on December 10, 1993, it grossed US $ 18.64 million in cinemas in the United States and was ranked 95th in the box office for 1993. In Germany , the film was only released in June 1994 and could not be placed in the top 100 films of the year. The reason for the weak response at the US box office is also partly seen as the fact that the US television station TNT broadcast a television production on the same subject called "Geronimo" 5 days before the cinema release . This film by director Roger Young was released in Germany under the title "The Blood Revenge of Geronimo".
Web links
- Geronimo - A legend in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Geronimo - A legend at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The western is alive: 25 years of dancing with wolves. In: Rolling Stone . December 26, 2017, accessed March 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Filming locations for Geronimo: An American Legend
- ↑ a b The Right Geronimo? In: Los Angeles Times . December 5, 1993, accessed March 15, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Geronimo: An American legend. In: Internet Movie Database . Retrieved March 15, 2020 .
- ^ Review by Roger Ebert
- ↑ Geronimo - A Legend. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Business Data for Geronimo: An American Legend
- ^ Domestic Box Office for 1993. In: Box Office Mojo . Retrieved March 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Geronimo - a legend. In: kino.de. Retrieved March 15, 2020 .