Der Schuh des Manitu

Well, you shouldn't expect a good story-line or high-drama. But if you expect laughs and some movie-parodies your at home. You will notice a lot of scenes are spoofed from classics. The cast definitely had a lot of fun making the movie. The shots are great.

So to sum up the story: Abahachi borrows money from the apache. Unfortunately the son of the apache chief gets killed by Santa Maria (the villain), who also steels the money. So Ranger and Abahachi go look for a treasure map, to find a diamond, Abahachi once hid a long time ago.

The story is secondary, the emphasis on this movie is on FUN. I gave it a 9. Go see it, and wait till the end. After the credits Winnetouch has a little scene.

"Der Schuh des Manitu" may not be the best movie ever made, but it is certainly the best one to keep me sane in times like these (September 2001). It is such a feelgood movie, that no matter how foul my mood is that day, after I've seen it, I'm really uplifted. It is very easy to get addicted to this movie because the characters are so lovable, and it pays sort of hommage to one of my childhood heroes - Winnetou. The dialogues are made of phrases that we in Munich use in daily life, and Abahachi, Winnetouch and Ranger speak the same dialect as my friends and I do, so it is more like following our neighbours lives, than watching a movie, except maybe for the locations and the costumes. The camera work is splendid and the musical score is very touching. Michael Herbig has done great in writing and directing, and his unforgettable performances as the Indian twin brothers are way too good for words. A highly recommended movie if you are in need of a laugh. And stay till after the end credits, you won't regret it!

This wacky as well as raunchy spoof is packed with a lot of silly laughs and great entertainment and fun . Demystified parody based on Karl May's ¨Winnitou¨ , as well as amiable Western that changed the concept of this particular genre each bent on disproving a popular myth , yet tinged with humor , spoof and combining with anti-heroes , crazy Indians and many other things . Amusing take off on Indian movies in which a rambunctious temperance leader called Abahachi (Michael Herbig) , Chief of the Apache Indians , and his blood brother called Ranger (Christian Tramitz) maintain law and order in the Wild West . These two main characters "Abahachi" and "Ranger" who deliver their peculiar peace and justice were referred to as "Winnetou/Pierre Brice" and "Old Shatterhand/Lex Barker" in the skits of the Bullyparade . One day , Abahachi needs to take up a credit from the Shoshone Indians to finance his tribe's new Saloon . But Santa Maria (Sky Du Mont) , who sold the Saloon , doublé-crosses Abahachi , takes the money and leaves . Soon after , the Shoshones are on the warpath to get their money back , and Abahachi is forced to organize it quickly , then chaos and wreak havoc ensue . Luckily , Abahachi and Ranger go Winnetouch's home , his twin brother . There Winnetouch shows Ranger the picture of his father, (he actually shows Pierre Brice playing the title character in "The Desperado Trail" , 1965). He tells Ranger that his father could speak French fluently and nobody knows why (in fact , deceased Pierre Brice was born in France) . Then , Abahachi, his twin brother Winnetouch (Michael Herbig) , gorgeous dancer Uschi (Marie Bäumer) and the Greek Dimitri each own a quarter of a valuable map . But at a hidden cave , Santa Maria already awaits them to take their new treasure away as well . Unfortunately , he did not think about the determination of Abahachi's bunch formed by Ranger , Dimitri (Rick Kavanian) , Hombre (Hilmi Sözer whose role bears remarkable resemblance to ¨Going South's James Belushi¨) , all of them join forces to find a treasure map that leads them to 'the shoe of Manitu' .

It's an entertaining story and very amusing tale with the Farceur Michael Herbig as director and at double role . This bemusing movie is packed with tongue-in-cheek , slapdash and slapstick , a steady stream of gags , lively situations abound , sheer belly laughs , crazy humor , too much fun and to be perfect for the kiddies and adolescents . It contains simple and raunchy humor and lots of entertainment and funny scenes . The spoof is surrealist , extreme and gross-out with the ordinary bunch of loonies and loopies , but is also bold and intelligent with a myriad of imaginative sketches with no sense , many of them unabashedly tasteless . This movie basically is a big spoof of the "Winnetou" films/novels by Karl May , such as ¨The treasure of the silver lagoon¨ which are very popular in Germany , in fact the character Karl May in the tavern is a reference to him . The picture contains an unstopped string of gags each thirty seconds and silly jokes from the start to the ending with some lively touches . The comedy and humor are interminable for that reason the viewers will laugh uncontrollably with the habitual quirky and lunatic characters . The sympathetic Michael Herbig steals the show , the puts paces, grimaces , and overacting by means of excessive mimic gesticulation especially in his hilarious scenes as the Indian gay . Furthermore , it provides a sprinkling of self-parodyc situations with laughers and amusement from start to finish . The screenplay besides having more than its fair scraps of funny lines , throws up rich as well as amusing characters and it shows in the confused melange of styles and some bad taste . Lively musical score by Ralf Wengenmayr with catching songs and enjoyable musical numbers . Colorful and shimmer cinematography shot in Almeria , where in the sixties shot lots of of Spaghetti/Paella Westerns ; however , the Winnetou/Pierre Brice movies had been filmed in Yugoslavia .

This motion picture titled ¨Manitou's shoes (2001)¨, was well and originally directed by Michael Bully Herbig . It is generally considered as being the most successful German movie ever with 12 million viewers and the broadcast television premiere of this film earned German broadcaster highest rating in its history . Herbig is an expert on parody based on known characters , such as ¨Sissi¨ in ¨Lissi and ¨The Wild Emperor¨ and , of course , ¨Vickie the Viking¨ . This second feature movie he directed , became the most successful movie in Germany and Austria ever . The film will appeal to absurd , unruly , wacky comedy fans . This raucous Western spoof is a Michael Herbig vehicle , if you like his crazy, maniac performances , you'll enjoy this one . Rating : 6,5 . Acceptable comical Western film appointed for children and adolescents and , of course , for vintage series fonds . Well worth seeing .

To appreciate the full nuances of this movie a very good grasp of German and particularly Bavarian slang is a must. Without it it's simply an average slapstick comedy and any review of it is destined to miss the mark. The movie simply lives from the German dialogue, especially the slang. I'd say watch it in English or subtitles, by all means, but don't write a review since you probably missed 50% of the real funny stuff. It'd be the same as writing a review about the German dubbed version of Romeo and Juliet. Why bother?

Although I had not thought so before, I really enjoyed the film. There is not much of a plot or story-line, but what is there is enough, because the main emphasis is on the comedy aspect. And it is funny indeed!

You should not expect much depth, but a lot of laughters. Abahachi's twin brother is just hilarious, as are the Shoshone Indians who are pursuing Abahachi and his friend. The soundtrack is very good as well.