lyubitelfilmov Review of Weisse Wölfe

Weisse Wölfe (1969)

Vigilant Falcon against bandits or Magnificent Goyko Mitic: part four

[8/10 · 18 October 2020]

Western. Continuation of the previous picture of the East German film studio DEFA "Trail of the Falcon", in turn based on real events. The fourth of the twelve, which I intended to see, and if the previous one I clearly remembered from childhood, then this one did not look, well, or I forgot that I once watched. Be that as it may, but right now I was able to appreciate this picture, and here is my brief opinion - Sharp Falcon against bandits. I say right away that there are no downsides here, there are small clarifications, which I will talk about in a separate paragraph, but for now, let me focus your attention on the advantages of this western with the magnificent Goyko Mitic. So, here they are: 1. The story told - the picture continues the story about the leader of the Dakota tribe, the Sharp Falcon, who, after four years of a difficult war with the pale-faced, leads the surviving Indians to a meeting with another tribe, but the bandits attack them and kill the wife of the Sharp Falcon, and now he comes out on the path of revenge on the pale-faced bandits. But not everything is so simple, because a high-ranking and cunning businessman comes to the town, well known to the audience about the previous film, who intends to restore "his" order in the city, and this is opposed by a few honest residents. Here you have prejudices, and dislike for the Indians, the cunning of the pale-faced, although not all of them are shown in black colors, well, where is it without chases, fights and shootings, deadly confrontation of sworn enemies. The script is replete with twists and turns, and can even surprise the inexperienced viewer. I will tell you about the final separately. In general, I liked the story, it doesn't feel like a masterpiece, but I cannot call it average either. 2. Nature - the picture was filmed in Yugoslavia, where the majority of Westerns by DEFA studio, where nature is very similar to North American. Mountains, prairies, rivers, waterfalls, typical towns of the Wild West - everything is here and you can look at it for a long time and have fun. 3. Music - all of it is taken from the previous picture, well, maybe they added a couple of new melodies, but I definitely recognize the title theme. It seems to reflect not only the mood of this picture, but also the entire series of these westerns. Anxiety, courage, blood, loss, battles - it's all there. 4. Entourage - it only gets better with each next part. Here, the immersion in the era is felt even more, the Indians are dressed as Indians, pale-faced as pale-faced, soldiers as soldiers. We did not forget about the cultural characteristics of the Indians and slightly touched on the way of life. Well, and the atmosphere that has not gone anywhere! 5. Fights, chases, shootouts - everything is there and everything works great. You get pleasure from these scenes, and you worry about the characters. 6. Finale - the picture ends in a completely different way. Sadness and despair - with these words I can appreciate the finale of this western. Monstrous injustice, the scrapping of a person before the system and the power of money. I was hoping for a completely different ending, in the style of previous pictures, but alas, we have what we have. Sad and sad, although not without a certain meaning, and the evil was defeated, although not quite the one that deserved it. A little about the main characters: 1. Vigilant Falcon performed by Goyko Mitich - the leader of the Dakota tribe, who set out on the path of revenge for his murdered wife. Even in such a state of mind, he behaves reasonably and calculates his actions. He acts boldly and effectively with offenders, and Goiko Mitic himself performs all the tricks, which adds to his hero a certain charisma and respect for the work of the actor himself. Bravo Goiko! Bravo! 2. John Emerson, performed by Fred Ludwig - a former gold digger from the previous picture, who became the sheriff of a small town, where another villain has raided in order to crank up "one little business", for which he hires the most notorious villains. He stands for law and order, together with faithful companions, of which there are not very many. Shows himself as a brave man and worthy to wear the title of "sheriff". Fred played this hero very convincingly, I don't want to find fault, although there is something for it. 3. James Béchamp performed by Rolf Hoppe - a former member of the Poisonous Snake gang, who survived the collision with the Sharp Falcon. He nailed to the new leader in order to continue to commit banditry and lawlessness. Rolf, in the previous one, in this picture, perfectly played the role of this villain, for which I can only praise! Helmut Schreiber returned as Sam Blake and Barbara Brylska as Katherine Emerson. Well, of course, to date, shootouts, fights and chases are not able to bring that storm of delight, as in the year of release, but we will make a discount on the time of release. Did you agree? So we agreed! Well, in the next film by Goiko Mitic, he will again have to face the cunning of the pale-faced and try to get to the bottom of the truth. It will be in The Fatal Error. As a result, we have a good western with a great Gojko Mitic, with a good script, great music and surroundings, with an unexpected ending and great acting!