Russian here, I grew up watching GDR westerns, my favorite one is Severino. I had even had a fake western rifle in my childhood. Was glad to see that someone remembers those films, they are really great, unfortunately almost forgotten. With love, from Perm.
I, born in the 80s in West Germany, grew up with Karl May's works - films, books, audio dramas (on vinyl) and the awesome plays at Bad Segeberg. Regardless of historical accuracy, author's intentions or governmental idiology they created interest and fascination, something shared by lots of kids. I am aware of the East German films and books but as a child they didn´t really appear on my radar. James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales did though.
This video offers an unresolved tension in its attitude towards the DEFA films. On one hand they are described as historically accurate (within reason); on the other hand they are called "propaganda." The latter term implies that ideological concerns override any commitment to truth, but you never show any way that these films deviate from the truth. As for me, I haven't seen any of these films, so I don't have an opinion. But your inconsistent presentation suggests that perhaps you have been unconsciously influenced by western (i.e., pro-American, pro-capitalist) propaganda yourself. The worldview of anticommunism has been so thoroughly inculcated in most people in the anglophone world even today that it's almost physically impossible for them to praise something produced by "communists," especially communists associated with the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, without providing heavy qualifiers, such as "propaganda." This allows them to view it as an oddity of communism, rather than simply admitting that this is how the world really is, i.e., the communist interpretation of the world simply fits the facts better than any other. But I realize I'm extrapolating beyond what this video actually shows. So maybe I misunderstood. It would be interesting to see you re-examine these issues. Meanwhile, I'm grateful to find out about these films and books, and I hope I can find some in English, or at least with English subs or translation.
Thanks for this really thoughtful response. I think you're right -- I wrote this back before I had been to university, and the topic actually originated as a project for my German A-level, at which point I had basically no critical thinking, so I would be more careful about using such loaded terms like 'propaganda' these days. I didn't mean to put the films down by using that label, and I'm really glad to have introduced you to them. I accessed them through a database back then, which unfortunately I can't remember the name of, but I daresay with a VPN you can find them on German TV websites.
The music of the West German Winetou films are engrained in my generation. I can't help but smile when I hear those themes and my heart opens up.
Fun fact: the actor of the main character of die Soene der grossen Baerin, Goiko Mitic, had roles in many winnetou films
Russian here,
I grew up watching GDR westerns, my favorite one is Severino. I had even had a fake western rifle in my childhood.
Was glad to see that someone remembers those films, they are really great, unfortunately almost forgotten.
With love, from Perm.
This mini-documentary is mind blowing, it's a great and interesting topic with great execution, this deserves 2000x the views
I still love the main score, it's just a nostalgic feeling
I, born in the 80s in West Germany, grew up with Karl May's works - films, books, audio dramas (on vinyl) and the awesome plays at Bad Segeberg. Regardless of historical accuracy, author's intentions or governmental idiology they created interest and fascination, something shared by lots of kids. I am aware of the East German films and books but as a child they didn´t really appear on my radar. James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking tales did though.
This video offers an unresolved tension in its attitude towards the DEFA films. On one hand they are described as historically accurate (within reason); on the other hand they are called "propaganda." The latter term implies that ideological concerns override any commitment to truth, but you never show any way that these films deviate from the truth. As for me, I haven't seen any of these films, so I don't have an opinion. But your inconsistent presentation suggests that perhaps you have been unconsciously influenced by western (i.e., pro-American, pro-capitalist) propaganda yourself. The worldview of anticommunism has been so thoroughly inculcated in most people in the anglophone world even today that it's almost physically impossible for them to praise something produced by "communists," especially communists associated with the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, without providing heavy qualifiers, such as "propaganda." This allows them to view it as an oddity of communism, rather than simply admitting that this is how the world really is, i.e., the communist interpretation of the world simply fits the facts better than any other.
But I realize I'm extrapolating beyond what this video actually shows. So maybe I misunderstood. It would be interesting to see you re-examine these issues. Meanwhile, I'm grateful to find out about these films and books, and I hope I can find some in English, or at least with English subs or translation.
Thanks for this really thoughtful response. I think you're right -- I wrote this back before I had been to university, and the topic actually originated as a project for my German A-level, at which point I had basically no critical thinking, so I would be more careful about using such loaded terms like 'propaganda' these days. I didn't mean to put the films down by using that label, and I'm really glad to have introduced you to them. I accessed them through a database back then, which unfortunately I can't remember the name of, but I daresay with a VPN you can find them on German TV websites.