Tecumseh (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tecumseh |
| Country of production | GDR |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1972 |
| length | 109 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Hans Kratzert |
| script | Hans Kratzert Rolf Römer |
| production | DEFA studio for feature films, group "Red Circle" |
| music | Günther Fischer |
| camera | Wolfgang Braumann |
| cut | Monika Schindler |
| occupation | |
| |
Tecumseh (later DVD title: Tecumseh - Der Übermacht Untermacht ) is a GDR Indian film from 1972. Based on the historical figure of the Indian leader Tecumseh from the North American Indian people of the Shawnee , the story of the heroic and hopeless struggle of the indigenous peoples against the whites is told. As in many other DEFA Indian films , Gojko Mitić plays the leading and title role.
action
Early 19th century in North America. After the violent expulsion, the Indians are now being pushed more and more into the sterile western regions by the settlers, even with unfair purchase contracts. The greediest of the whites is Harrison, the governor of Indiana ; he alone concludes fifteen sales contracts at ridiculous prices. The Shawnee chief Tecumseh tries to stop Harrison's goings-on. He benefits from the fact that he knows the language and culture of the whites very well, because he grew up with them, namely in the house of the liberal justice of the peace and arms dealer McKew. His son Simon is Tecumseh's best friend. The Indian is even in love with his daughter Eileen, and the two of them want to get married soon.
Tecumseh leaves the McKews house and unites the Indians in 1811, who now declare their land to be unsalable common property. Chiefs who sell anyway are killed by their own tribal union. Tecumseh hopes to be able to buy the required firearms from Simon.
Simon refuses to give the Indians weapons, but Eileen comes to help. She secretly brings guns and ammunition to Tippecanoe (Indiana) , the "Holy City" founded by Tecumseh and his friends. On the way back she was attacked, robbed, seriously injured and disappeared. Simon learns this and blames the Indians. So now he becomes Tecumseh's bitter enemy and allies himself with Harrison, who attacks the Indian city with American troops and completely destroys it ( Battle of Tippecanoe ).
The survivors of the massacre managed to flee to Canada. The British, who are in what is known as the Second War of Independence with America , welcome Tecumseh with satisfaction, they even promise him his own Indian state. Because of his skills, Tecumseh is appointed British Brigadier General. The British lose the decisive battle against US troops in 1813 and abandon their Indian allies. Tecumseh also falls with his tribal brothers.
background
“Tecumseh” is one of twelve DEFA Indian films produced between 1966 and 1979. They were all co-produced with studios in Yugoslavia, Romania, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Cuba.
Movie reviews
Georg Antosch in “Der Neue Weg” Halle on July 21, 1972: “Gojko Mitic plays the hero with serenity, dignity and sensitivity in the love of a white girl. ... So a philosophical dialogue film about the action-packed Roman story turns into a great battle painting, the direction tries to combine three different style elements like Tecumseh one day the tribes of his homeland ... "
Lexicon of international film : “The film, conceived for a young audience, strives for a fair representation of the Indians without false romanticism and heroic stylization, whereby it shows them as victims of colonial arbitrariness. This remarkable, realistic approach is undermined by the miserable design: the staging does not reveal the slightest feeling for spaces and movements and sinks into sheer chatter. "
Release dates
- Premiere: July 1, 1972.
- TV premiere (DFF1): December 31, 1972.
- Purchase video: February 24, 1998.
- Purchase DVD: June 25, 2002.
literature
- Frank-Burkhard Habel (ed.): Gojko Mitic, Mustangs, torture stakes. The DEFA Indian films. Schwarzkopf + Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-89602-120-6 .
- Stefan Wogawa: Tecumseh. The life of the famous chief (1768–1813) and the DEFA film of the same name from 1972. THK Verlag, Ilmenau 2014, ISBN 978-3-945068-02-1 .
- Gerhard Wiechmann: Between Karl May and Karl Marx. The DEFA Indian film "Tecumseh" , in: Federal Center for Political Education (ed.): Jugendbilder in den DDR-Medien , Bonn 1998, pp. 45–58. ISBN 3-89331-345-1
- Ralf Harhausen: Didactic information on "Tecumseh" , in: ibid., Pp. 58–60.
Web links
- Tecumseh in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- About the DEFA Indian films
- Tecumseh at the DEFA Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tecumseh. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .