Ostern

{{short description|Western-inspired film genre}} {{About|the film genre|the holiday known as Ostern in German|Easter}} {{Westerns sidebar |Subgenres}} The '''Ostern''' ("Eastern"; {{langx|ru|истерн|Istern}}; or {{lang|ru|остерн}}) is a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films. The word '''''Ostern''''' is a portmanteau derived from the German word ''Ost'', meaning "East", and the English word ''western''. Two subgenres may be distinguished (although the terms may be used interchangeably):

* '''Red Westerns''', set in America's "Wild West" but involving radically different themes and interpretations from US Westerns. These Westerns were mostly produced in the Eastern Bloc, especially in East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Examples of Red Westerns include ''Lemonade Joe or the Horse Opera'' (Czechoslovakia, 1964), ''The Sons of Great Bear'' (East Germany, 1966), ''The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians'' (Romania, 1981), and ''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (USSR, 1987). * '''Easterns''' ('''Osterns''') were set domestically on the steppes and Central Asian regions of the USSR, typically during the Russian Revolution or the following Civil War. Easterns were presented in a style heavily influenced by American Western films. Examples of this genre include ''The Elusive Avengers'' (1966) and its sequels, ''White Sun of the Desert'' (1970), ''Dauria'' (1971), ''At Home Among Strangers'' (1974) and ''The Bodyguard'' (1979).

== Context and origins == American Westerns were among the US films imported into the early Soviet Union.<ref>{{ill|Norbert Franz|lt=Franz, Norbert P.|de|Norbert Franz (Slawist)}}, (2020). [https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/46939/file/franz_hollywood.pdf ''Hollywood - a Challenge for the Soviet Cinema: Four Essays''], Germany: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.</ref> As a result, certain Soviet films at the time are seen to incorporate Western elements. For example, the image of the Western cowboy is used to symbolize the United States and the West as a whole in the Soviet silent comedy ''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'' (1924). ''Red Devils'' is a revolutionary action film that also borrows from the Western genre. As cultural restrictions tightened during the Stalinist era, however, Western-inspired films in the Soviet Union became rare. However, Stalin was an avid enjoyer of Hollywood Western films, and is argued by some to have desired the Western genre within the Soviet Union.<ref>Lavrentiev, Sergey "Red Westerns", in Klein, Thomas/Ritzer, Ivo/Schulze, Peter W. (eds.) Crossing Frontiers. Intercultural Perspectives on the Western. Marburg: Schüren, 2012.</ref>

=== Emergence of the Ostern genre === 1957's ''Miles of Fire'' is one of the earliest examples of a Soviet Western as it was released years before the Ostern genre became formalized and prevalent. The Western genre saw a resurgence in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, largely resulting from the Khrushchev Thaw. In 1962, the USSR allowed for the screening of certain US and foreign films. ''The Magnificent Seven'', an American Western starring Steve McQueen, become the most successful of these films commercially, becoming an instant cult classic amongst Soviet moviegoers.<ref>Cinema in the Cold War pp. 81</ref> The overwhelming popularity and commercial demand of films like ''The Magnificent Seven'' enticed Soviet filmmakers and state-run film institutions to experiment with Western elements in their own productions, resulting in the creation of the Soviet Western.<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 166">Franz, N. (2020) p. 166</ref>

The Czechoslovak comedy ''Lemonade Joe, or the Horse Opera'' (1964) gained popularity amongst Soviet citizens and those in the Eastern Bloc.<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 168">Franz, N. (2020) p. 168</ref> Though the film is largely a parody of the Western genre, its commercial success nonetheless furthered the familiarity of Western tropes within the Eastern Bloc and the general Soviet audience.

Karl May's ''Treasure of Silver Lake'', West Germany, co-production with Yugoslavia, was seminal for the beginning of the era of German Red Westerns. The film prompted a highly successful series of ''Indianerfilme'' ("Indian Films") about Winnetou and others, produced by the East German DEFA studios.<ref name=sela/> The East German ''The Sons of the Great Bear'' (1966) was a seminal Red Western that turned the traditional American "Cowboy and Indian" conventions on their head, casting the Native Americans as the heroes and the American Army as the villains, a motif inspired by highly successful German Osterns. These films were immensely popular among the East German audience, furthering the widespread German fascination of Native American culture<ref>Banhegyi, A. (2012). ''Where marx meets osceola: Ideology and mythology in the eastern bloc western''.</ref> (see Native American Hobbyism in Germany).

A considerable strain into the genre was added by Romanian cinematographers, which included adaptations of Fenimore Cooper stories, with many of them being co-productions with Western directors.<ref name=sela/>

''White Sun of the Desert'' (1970) stands out as the quintessential Ostern, with its release considered by some to usher in the "golden era" of Soviet Western film.<ref>International Westerns: Re-Locating the Frontier. United Kingdom, Scarecrow Press, 2013.</ref> Set in rural Turkmenistan, the film incorporates many elemental Western characteristics, namely wide shots of empty skies and nature, transportation via horse and leather saddle, and the lone stoic protagonist. The film quickly obtained a cult-like status, with multiple catchphrases from the film making its way into casual conversation.<ref>International Westerns pp. 303-304</ref>

==Other monikers in the genre==

=== Gibanica Western === "Gibanica Western" was a short-lived term for the Yugoslav equivalent of the Ostern, more commonly known as partisan film and, sometimes, the Partisan Western. They were made in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and were about the partisans in World War II. Gibanica is a traditional Balkan pastry, and the name of the genre is dubbed in an analogy with "spaghetti Western".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Harré |first1=Rom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zxfOEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Gibanica%22+%22Western%22&pg=RA1-PA166 |title=The Psychology of Friendship and Enmity: Relationships in Love, Work, Politics, and War [2 volumes] |last2=Moghaddam |first2=Fathali M. |date=2013-10-21 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-4408-0375-8 |pages=166 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Goulash Western === The Goulash Westerns are the Easterns of Hungarian director György Szomjas. He directed two films (''The Wind Blows Under Your Feet'' and ''Wrong-Doers'') in the 1970s, shot in the Hortobágy National Park, the best approximation of wastelands he could find in the country.<ref name=sosi>Sonja Simonyi, [https://framescinemajournal.com/article/csikos-puszta-goulash-hungarian-frontier-imaginaries-in-the-wind-blows-under-your-feet-and-bradys-escape Csikós, Puszta, Goulash: Hungarian Frontier Imaginaries in 'The Wind Blows under Your Feet' and 'Brady's Escape']</ref>

== Notable Red Westerns and Osterns== *1924: ''The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks'', a silent Soviet comedy film. An American millionaire hires a cowboy for his travel across the Soviet Union, but Soviet crooks fool them.<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 162</ref> Plenty of chases and shootings. Critics consider it the beginning of a "golden age" of Soviet cinema. *1925: ''Red Devils'', Soviet;<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 164</ref><ref name=sela>Sergey Lavrentiev, [https://framescinemajournal.com/article/the-balkan-westerns-of-the-sixties/ The Balkan Westerns of the Sixties]</ref> *1937: ''The Thirteen'', Soviet; allegedly shot on an order of Joseph Stalin, who was a fan of Westerns<ref name=sela/> *1950: ''Brave People'', Soviet; Norbert Franz hesitatingly writes that it had "little to do more with Westerns than the horses used".<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 166"/> *1957: ''Miles of Fire'', Soviet<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 167</ref> *1962: ''Treasure of Silver Lake'', West Germany, co-production with Yugoslavia; marks the beginning of the era of West German Westerns<ref name=sela/> *1964: ''Lemonade Joe'', Czechoslovakia<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 168"/> *1966, ''The Sons of Great Bear'', East Germany<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 169">Franz, N. (2020) p. 169</ref> :1966: ''The Elusive Avengers'',<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 169"/> a remake of ''Red Devils''<ref name=sela/> *1967: ''Chingachgook, die große Schlange'', East Germany<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 169"/> *1968: ''Spur des Falken'', East Germany<ref name="Franz, N. 2020 p. 169"/> :1968: ''Weiße Wölfe'', East Germany *1970: ''White Sun of the Desert'', Soviet; "a slightly ironic Eastern", a box office hit with over 34 million viewers that year<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 170</ref> :1970: ''{{ill|Meeting at the Old Mosque|ru|Встреча у старой мечети}}'', Tajik SSR<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 175</ref> :1970: :ru:Конец атамана, Kazakh SSR; some classify it as Eastern, but on shaky grounds. It had three sequels with the same lead character, chekist Chadyarov<ref>Franz, N. (2020) pp. 176, 1977</ref> *1971: ''Dauria'' (two parts)<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 177</ref> *1972: ''The Seventh Bullet'', Uzbek SSR<ref>Franz, N. (2020) pp. 163, 178</ref> *1973: ''The Headless Horseman'', Soviet-Cuban Red Western *1974: ''At Home among Strangers''<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 179</ref> *1976 {{ill|Talpuk alatt fütyül a szél|hu}} (translated as "The Wind Blows Under Your Feet" or "The Wind is Whistling under Their Feet"), "Goulash Western" of György Szomjas<ref name=sosi/> *1979 {{ill|Wrong-Doers|hu|Rosszemberek}}, "Goulash Western" of György Szomjas<ref name=sosi/> *1979: ''The Bodyguard'', Tajik SSR<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 182</ref> *1981: ''The Oil, the Baby and the Transylvanians'' (Romania) :1981: {{ill|Sing, Cowboy, Sing (1981 film)|lt=''Sing, Cowboy, Sing''|de|Sing, Cowboy, sing}} comedy Western (tagged for ages 10 and up); "a failed attempt of a parody of Westerns for children"<ref>[https://www.filmdienst.de/film/details/20098/sing-cowboy-sing Sing, Cowboy, sing]</ref> *1987: ''A Man from the Boulevard des Capucines'' (USSR, 1987) *1993: ''The Wild East'', Kazakhstan; postapocalyptic Eastern<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 187</ref> *1995: ''Wolf Blood''<ref>Franz, N. (2020) p. 185</ref> ''See also:'' :ru:Категория:Истерны

==See also== * DEFA (film studio) ** Gojko Mitić, German-Serbian actor, best known for his roles of Native Americans in numerous DEFA Indianerfilme. * Native American hobbyism in Germany, a hobby consisting of Germans impersonating American Indian culture. * Vsevolod Ivanov, Soviet writer who was a formative influence on the Ostern.

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Ostern films Category:Film genres Category:Western (genre) films by genre Category:Eastern Bloc mass media Category:Western (genre) subgenres