Virtual Friday Night Films at the Wende: Blood Brothers (Blutsbrüder)

In this Ostern (East German Western), a U.S. soldier named Harmonika deserts the army after witnessing the brutal slaughter of the Cheyenne during the 1864 Sand Creek massacre. He slowly befriends his one-time enemy Hard Rock, and marries Hard Rock’s sister Fawn. The film stars Serbian actor Gojko Mitić as Hard Rock, and American actor and protest singer Dean Reed as Harmonika. Behind the Iron Curtain both actors were celebrities. Reed was known as the Red Elvis, and Mitić’s popularity was likened to that of John Wayne.

Osterns criticized American racism, imperialism, colonialism, and genocide. They intended to be historically accurate and counter the stereotypes perpetuated by examples of the Western genre from West Germany, Italy, and the United States. Unlike the age-old Hollywood portrayal of the white savior, the Native Americans save the white man in Blood Brothers. Yet these films still mythologized Native Americans and appropriated their struggles for ideological purposes as part of the Cold War antagonism between East and West.

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Virtual Film Picks are inspired by the in-person Friday Night Films at the Wende program series. This selection is part of a curated list of weekly movie suggestions that can be watched at home, in conjunction with #WendeOnline.