Der Schuh des Manitu
Encyclopedia
Der Schuh des Manitu is a 2001 German parody
of western
film
s. Directed by Michael Herbig, it is a film adaptation of the Winnetou
sketches from his Pro Sieben television show Bullyparade
.
like Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Blazing Saddles, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Its humor consists largely of blatant anachronism
s, scenes such as the character Ranger getting stopped by a sheriff for "fast riding" and being asked for his "riding license", or Santa Maria connecting the dots on a map by using a feather with a marker-tip. Greek
character Dimitri owns a mule named Apollo 13
(his twelve brothers - and subsequently, he as well - were killed by speeding trains), and for lack of a hatchet
the Shoshone
s, a Native American tribe, dig out a folding-chair they had buried.
The film has several references to the Karl May
films of the 1960s and to Herbig's own TV show. It features many puns that are difficult to translate into English. In the German version, Abahachi, Ranger and Winnetouch all speak with a rather strong Bavaria
n accent that is predominant in the Bullyparade-Show, which is mentioned by the barkeeper at the saloon by "You must be Ranger, the man with the Southern States accent".
Many scenes have been shot in Almería
, Spain
, at the same places that can be seen in many movies of Sergio Leone
. Most of the Indians
in the movie are actually Spanish. The Shoshone chief is played by an East Indian, for humorous effect, and his two advisors are Native Americans. According to Herbig's comments, some Spanish can be heard on the DVD, and he was never entirely sure if the Spanish actors really knew what kind of movie they were participating in. The Mexican
Hombre is played by Hilmi Sözer
, a Turkish-German actor.
.
The main topic of these novels is the deep friendship of a fictional Apache
chief (Winnetou
) and his white settler companion and blood-brother, (Old Shatterhand
), who are both exemplary virtuous and stand together to keep the peace between Indians and immigrating White settlers. Der Schuh des Manitu spoofs the friendship motif in the Winnetou novels and in their 1960s film adaptations (Karl May films) which has largely led to high, but sometimes idealised and cliché ridden admiration of Native Americans
in Germany. Many shots of the original Winnetou movies feature Old Shatterhand and Winnetou riding side by side, accompanied by romantic orchestral music (which is also happening in the parody).
Winnetou’s main objection against European settlers is their "greed". He dislikes that they want to take all the land for themselves and cannot share with the natives. A recurring opponent is the bandit Santer who kills Winnetou's father and sister, probably the namesake of Santa Maria in the parody.
There is also a movie called "Winnetou and the Half-Blood Apanatschi" based not on a May novel but using his characters - the name of the movie's main character is probably based on this.
Ranger (Christian Tramitz
) are an inseparable pair since Ranger saved Abahachi from a speeding train on an unguarded railroad crossing. When they aim to buy a pub with the monetary help of Shoshone
chief Stinking Lizard through real estate
agent Santa Maria (Sky du Mont
), the deal (and pub) collapse, and Stinking Lizard's son, who has delivered the loan, is killed by Santa himself. Upon their return to their Shoshone tribe, they find themselves set up by Santa Maria and are unjustly charged with murder.
Once they free themselves, they set about to recover a secret treasure kept inside a large, shoe-shaped rock called Manitou's Shoe (a reference to "Der Schatz im Silbersee"/"Treasure of Silver Lake", another Winnetou novel and movie), in order to reimburse Stinking Lizard. Finding the treasure map includes finding Abahachi's effeminate gay twin brother Winnetouch (also Michael Herbig), Abahachi's Greek friend Dimitri (Rick Kavanian
), and Abahachi's former "hough school" honey - and Ranger's fledging love interest - Ursula (Uschi) (a reference to Uschi Glas
who played in "Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi" - Half-Breed). Unfortunately, Santa and his right hand Hombre have overheard the blood brothers' plans and decide to get the treasure for themselves. In their quest, Abahachi and Ranger are pursued by Stinking Lizard and his braves, but are eventually captured by Santa who retrieves the treasure, a golden necklace with a giant blue diamond
.
Abahachi, Winnetouch & Co. win back the necklace, only to lose it again in subsequent mishaps. Hombre, however, who has in the meantime bonded with Winnetouch, returns the embezzled gold to Stinking Lizard, ending the hostilities, and Santa ends his life in a mudtrap. Uschi, while pregnant by Ranger, urges him to set off with Abahachi, and both heroes ride into the sunset for new adventures.
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s. Directed by Michael Herbig, it is a film adaptation of the Winnetou
Winnetou
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....
sketches from his Pro Sieben television show Bullyparade
Bullyparade
Bullyparade is the title of a German late night comedy sketch show which aired from 1997 to 2002 on German channel ProSieben. Michael Herbig, Rick Kavanian and Christian Tramitz were the main cast of the show....
.
Background
The film borrows from the parodies of Mel BrooksMel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
like Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Blazing Saddles, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It. Its humor consists largely of blatant anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
s, scenes such as the character Ranger getting stopped by a sheriff for "fast riding" and being asked for his "riding license", or Santa Maria connecting the dots on a map by using a feather with a marker-tip. Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
character Dimitri owns a mule named Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
(his twelve brothers - and subsequently, he as well - were killed by speeding trains), and for lack of a hatchet
Hatchet
A hatchet is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade used to cut and split wood...
the Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
s, a Native American tribe, dig out a folding-chair they had buried.
The film has several references to the Karl May
Karl May
Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
films of the 1960s and to Herbig's own TV show. It features many puns that are difficult to translate into English. In the German version, Abahachi, Ranger and Winnetouch all speak with a rather strong Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n accent that is predominant in the Bullyparade-Show, which is mentioned by the barkeeper at the saloon by "You must be Ranger, the man with the Southern States accent".
Many scenes have been shot in Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, at the same places that can be seen in many movies of Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
. Most of the Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
in the movie are actually Spanish. The Shoshone chief is played by an East Indian, for humorous effect, and his two advisors are Native Americans. According to Herbig's comments, some Spanish can be heard on the DVD, and he was never entirely sure if the Spanish actors really knew what kind of movie they were participating in. The Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
Hombre is played by Hilmi Sözer
Hilmi Sözer
-Filmography:-Television:-External links:*...
, a Turkish-German actor.
Winnetou novels
“Der Schuh des Manitu” parodies a series of wild west adventure novels of the 19th century German author Karl MayKarl May
Karl Friedrich May was a popular German writer, noted mainly for adventure novels set in the American Old West, and similar books set in the Orient and Middle East . In addition, he wrote stories set in his native Germany, in China and in South America...
.
The main topic of these novels is the deep friendship of a fictional Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
chief (Winnetou
Winnetou
Winnetou is a fictional Native American hero of several novels written by Karl May in German, including the sequels Winnetou I through Winnetou IV....
) and his white settler companion and blood-brother, (Old Shatterhand
Old Shatterhand
Old Shatterhand is a fictional character in western novels by German writer Karl May . He is the German friend and blood brother of Winnetou, the fictional chief of the Mescalero tribe of the Apache...
), who are both exemplary virtuous and stand together to keep the peace between Indians and immigrating White settlers. Der Schuh des Manitu spoofs the friendship motif in the Winnetou novels and in their 1960s film adaptations (Karl May films) which has largely led to high, but sometimes idealised and cliché ridden admiration of Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
in Germany. Many shots of the original Winnetou movies feature Old Shatterhand and Winnetou riding side by side, accompanied by romantic orchestral music (which is also happening in the parody).
Winnetou’s main objection against European settlers is their "greed". He dislikes that they want to take all the land for themselves and cannot share with the natives. A recurring opponent is the bandit Santer who kills Winnetou's father and sister, probably the namesake of Santa Maria in the parody.
There is also a movie called "Winnetou and the Half-Blood Apanatschi" based not on a May novel but using his characters - the name of the movie's main character is probably based on this.
Plot
Abahachi (Michael Herbig) and his blood brotherBlood brother
Blood brother can refer to one of two things: two males related by birth, or two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where the blood of each man is mingled together...
Ranger (Christian Tramitz
Christian Tramitz
Christian Tramitz is a German actor, comedian, voice actor and author.- Life :Christian Tramitz is the grandson of Austrian actor Paul Hörbiger and nephew of actress Christiane Hörbiger. His parents are film producer Rudolf Tramitz and Monica, née Hörbiger...
) are an inseparable pair since Ranger saved Abahachi from a speeding train on an unguarded railroad crossing. When they aim to buy a pub with the monetary help of Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
chief Stinking Lizard through real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agent Santa Maria (Sky du Mont
Sky du Mont
Sky du Mont is a German actor. He is known for his role in Eyes Wide Shut, as "Santa Maria" in Der Schuh des Manitu and for narrating the German dub of Thomas & Friends...
), the deal (and pub) collapse, and Stinking Lizard's son, who has delivered the loan, is killed by Santa himself. Upon their return to their Shoshone tribe, they find themselves set up by Santa Maria and are unjustly charged with murder.
Once they free themselves, they set about to recover a secret treasure kept inside a large, shoe-shaped rock called Manitou's Shoe (a reference to "Der Schatz im Silbersee"/"Treasure of Silver Lake", another Winnetou novel and movie), in order to reimburse Stinking Lizard. Finding the treasure map includes finding Abahachi's effeminate gay twin brother Winnetouch (also Michael Herbig), Abahachi's Greek friend Dimitri (Rick Kavanian
Rick Kavanian
Rick Horatio Kavanian is a German actor, comedian, author and dubber of Armenian-Romanian roots. He is famous for his cooperation with Michael Herbig, which led to many popular movie comedies and parodies, e.g. Manitou's Shoe.- Life :...
), and Abahachi's former "hough school" honey - and Ranger's fledging love interest - Ursula (Uschi) (a reference to Uschi Glas
Uschi Glas
Uschi Glas is a German film and television actress.Born in Landau, Bavaria, Glas started appearing in films in 1965...
who played in "Winnetou und das Halbblut Apanatschi" - Half-Breed). Unfortunately, Santa and his right hand Hombre have overheard the blood brothers' plans and decide to get the treasure for themselves. In their quest, Abahachi and Ranger are pursued by Stinking Lizard and his braves, but are eventually captured by Santa who retrieves the treasure, a golden necklace with a giant blue diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
.
Abahachi, Winnetouch & Co. win back the necklace, only to lose it again in subsequent mishaps. Hombre, however, who has in the meantime bonded with Winnetouch, returns the embezzled gold to Stinking Lizard, ending the hostilities, and Santa ends his life in a mudtrap. Uschi, while pregnant by Ranger, urges him to set off with Abahachi, and both heroes ride into the sunset for new adventures.