Deadlock

Kid, a wounded man with a machine gun and a suitcase full of money, runs into clumsy Charles Dump, one of few inhabitants of Deadlock—a ghost town somewhere near the Mexican border. Dump doesn’t know if he should save or kill the man. Soon enough, Kid’s counterpart Sunshine appears and we’re thrown into a sweaty deadlock between the three crooks.  

Roland Klick’s atmospheric post-western premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1970 despite a boycott attempt by New German Cinema filmmakers, who claimed that the film didn’t conform with their movement. By now a cult classic, not only for its striking visuals but also its krautrock soundtrack by CAN, Deadlock shows how the genre that West Germany had capsized in the ‘60s could be more than the arguably problematic Winnetou franchise.   

Streaming as part of “Spotlight on Genre”, a series revisiting post-war genre films made in Germany. From the postwar era to the present, this collection spans a wonderfully unruly range of genres: cult horror, dystopian science fiction, revisionist Westerns, dark fairy tales, psychological thrillers, rock musicals, and bittersweet social comedies. Whether embracing genre conventions or gleefully dismantling them, these films show how genre filmmaking can explore social anxieties, challenge expectations, and push cinematic boundaries. Discover the unexpected side of German cinema. 

Image © Filmgalerie 451