Winnetou TM
Karl Friedrich May
1842 - 1912
Karl May is a name known to just about any living adult European. His books have outsold all other German authors; yet he is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. www.KarlMayUSA.comserves to introduce the American audience to Karl May, his works, and future related film projects.
An American expert on Karl May (pronounced "MY" in German), Professor Alex Kuo of Washington State University, has written: .....May has been a significant author in shaping the average German youth's view of the American West and the American Indian as well, as part of Germany's long love affair, for good or bad, with the western states of the US......
Source:
Karl May Books in English
Karl May Verlag Germany
Karl May's most popular work is WINNETOU, the story of a young Apache chief as told by his white friend and blood brother, SHATTERHAND. The action takes place about one hundred years ago in the American Southwest, where the Native American way of life is threatened by the construction of the first transcontinental railroad.
WINNETOU is a romantic character dealing with the destruction of beauty and bravery, and a protest against the brutal banality of modern civilization. In spite of its realism and images of the free, noble
and natural man, this is not a historical novel or a Western in the usual sense.
Mays work is as colorful as that of James Fenimore Cooper and Zane Grey, but his purpose is quite different. For him, the real place of action is never any prairie, desert, or forest, but the collective unconsciousness of his readers. All of Mays characters are archetypical figures engaged in an eternal struggle for human dignity, love, and peace.
It is this quality of Mays fiction that has maintained its appeal for millions of fans and which has made WINNETOU the most beloved of his heroes.
For the 2010 version "The Legend of Winnetou" we have secured Alexander van Bubenheim to write the themesong and score.
A Film Legacy that few Americans know about.
Between 1912 and 1968, German cinema screened 23 movies made after novels by Karl May, most of them only loosely connected to the stories of the respective novels. Some of the most popular of these movies were the ones of the 1960s, set in the American Old West and featuring May's most popular, beloved characters - WINNETOU and SHATTERHAND. Most of these 1960s movies were shot in the former Yugoslavia, with rugged landscapes providing the backdrop of America's Old West.
Although these were German language films, some American and international actors became huge stars and successes in Germany from their roles in these Karl May movies. In 13 movies, American actor Lex Barker (best known for playing the role of Tarzan from 1949-1953) starred either as SHATTERHAND or as Kara ben Nemsi or as Dr. Karl Sternau.
In three other movies, Stewart Granger played the leading role of Old Surehand. Onother movie starred American actor Rod Cameron as Old Firehand, and there were also movies featuring German stars known to American audiences, such as Elke Sommer and Klaus Kinski. Pierre Brice was the leading role as "Winnetou" in all films.
In foreign distribution, most of the movie titles were not translated directly into the target language, but new movie titles created. For American distribution, such movies as "Schatz im Silbersee "(1962) was renamed "Treasure of Silver Lake" for American audiences, and "WINNETOU I" (1963), became "Apache Gold" (1964) .
These films are rarely seen in the U.S; however, they are available for purchase online.
The romanticism of the Old West has left such an incredible mark on Europeans, that an appropriate comparison might be made to Gene Rodenberry's Star Trek and the "Trekkie" following, as Germans not only continue to read May's books and watch movies based on them, but they also gather in the thousands to dress up like Cowboys and Indians and hang out in teepees with various "cowboy clubs" and annual themed summer festivals,in many European cities.
The biggest German movie in recent years was "Der Schuh des Manitu" which translates to "The Shoe of Manitu"
in 2001. So many German movie fans flocked to see this satiric comedy that the film broke box office records for a German movie at the time.
In 2001 the spoof, "the Shoe of Manitou", was based on the 1060's Winnetou films and became an overnight hit, and the highest grossing domestic movie in German cinema history, and was unsurpassed for 7 years.
This is solid proof, that the "Legend of Winnetou" is very much alive and thriving with a growing fan-base in Europe.
With "The Legend of Winnetou" we will capitalize on the fact that the subject and name "Winnetou" still brings millions of fans together in Europe and hope to expand that "cult" into the North American marketplace.
Apaches last Battle
1964
last of the Renegades
treasure of the silver lake
1962
Apache Gold
1963
Frontier Hellcat
Flaming Frontier
1965
Rampage at Apache Wells
Desperado Trail
"spoof " the shoe of manitou
2001
LATEST ARTICLE (GERMAN PRESS)
SPIEGEL ONLINE, 14.12.2009
Das ist ein programmierter Blockbuster: James Camerons 3-D-Spektakel
"Avatar", der teuerste Film der Kinogeschichte, ist ein Triumph der
Technik und visuell beeindruckend. Den Plot aber hat der
"Titanic"-Regisseur bei Karl May geklaut. Es wimmelt von edlen
Wilden, bösen Kapitalisten und betörender Natur.
Von Christian Stöcker
read the whole article at URL (German Language)
http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/kino/0,1518,666842,00.html
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