A silly, lowbrow parody of a 1960s western might not sound like a surefire formula for a box office triumph. But exactly such a film — “Das Kanu des Manitu” (“Manitu’s Canoe”) — is now tops at the German box office, according to Constantin Film, its distributor.
About 800,000 people saw the movie this past weekend, making it the most successful opening for a German production since before the pandemic. It bucks a trend in Germany, where cinema attendance has been down throughout the last year.
No doubt it helps that it’s is a sequel to the highest-grossing German film of all time, the 2001 movie “Der Schuh des Manitu” (“Manitu’s Shoe”), and that it, like the original, is co-written by, directed by and starring Michael “Bully” Herbig, one of Germany’s most famous comedians.
But why have Germans flocked in such large numbers to see these almost constitutionally frivolous westerns, even as the original has been criticized as racist, misogynistic and homophobic? And who, or what, is Manitu?
What are these movies parodies of?
“Der Schuh des Manitu” spoofs a very particular western: “Der Schatz im Silbersee,” or “The Treasure of Silver Lake,” a 1962 release based on the novel of the same name by the German author Karl May. An adaptation of one of May’s beloved 19th-century adventure stories, the sweeping, earnestly romantic widescreen western starred Pierre Brice as Winnetou, a heroic Apache chief.
The “Silbersee” film was a hit throughout Europe, kickstarting a Karl May craze: More than a dozen films based on his work were released from 1962 to 1968, and the most popular centered on Winnetou, who became a fixture in Germany’s popular imagination.
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