Blood & Gold

Some people might not be interested in learning about history, simply because it won´t affect them in their personal life. But i personally believe it is good to learn about our past to understand that some of the horrible events that took place during different time periods, to understand that this could happen again in modern day. You never know if a sadistic dictator would try to repeat the horror of wars such as World War II, because there are people out there who look up to dictator Adolf Hitler and think he was a good man. How anyone can think that this man did anything good at all is shocking to me. Did he do something for the German people such as give them job oppurtinities? Perhaps, but he also forced german people to kill jewish people for no reason at all. So i have no respect for any kind of dictator who only think about power and don´t care about humanity. Adolf Hitler is a perfect example of a man who thought he was a master at everything that he did. When you look into his past and why he became the sadistic dictator, you could understand why he became the personality that the whole world witnessed. He was beaten by his own father Alois Hitler many times. I personally feel no child should ever be abused. and this never should have happened to Adolf Hitler as a child. But it might have been one of the reasons why Adolf became who he was as he got older, that the abuse from his father shaped him to become the monster he really was. I have always been fascinated about this time period of World War II and read books about it, and especially seen a lot of films that takes place during this time period. One of my personal favourite World War II films especially made in Germany is the 2004 war drama known as Downfall ( German title Der Untergang ) from director Oliver Hirschbiegel. It is the most personal biographical film i have ever seen telling the story of Adolf Hitler during his final days in Berlin. Lead actor Bruno Granz playing Adolf Hitler is so damn powerful in the role that you can actually feel like the real Hitler is right infront of you. Downfall really shows you how the nazis failed, and this film also shows when their biggest leader was desperate to do anything towards the end. A must see no matter if you watch it on streaming or on physical media. About 2 months ago i heard about a film coming on Netflix called Blood & Gold, a new German war movie film that takes place during World War II. Since i am always interested checking out films from this time period i decided to give this film a chance. Is this the film you should see on Netflix this summer or is Blood & Gold just as boring and predictable as the 2002 Christmas studio album Holiday Harmony by the band America?

In the spring of 1945, the Allied armies invade Nazi Germany as the end of World War II draws near. Heinrich ( Robert Maaser ), a decorated Wehrmacht veteran, is captured and hanged by Walfen-SS led by a fanatical lieutenant colonel, after a desertion attempt. He is rescued by Elsa ( Marie Hacke ) who brings him to her farm home that she shares with her brother, Paule ( Simon Rupp ). In the nearby village, the SS arrive to begin to search a destroyed home previously occupied by Jews as the seek a large amount of hidden gold.

You might think that Blood & Gold is just another World War II film that looks exactly like every other similar film. But the good news is that this is more like a Italian Spaghetti Western, almost like a tribute to legendary director Sergio Leone in some scenes but with a World War II scenario instead of the wild west. I think that was a really good choice to make this film more interesting to watch, since we have so many war movies that have told many different stories during this period of time. The action scenes are very effective with close combats and plenty of shootings, and it still feels like they tried to stau realistic to what the war battles could have looked like during this time period. Now, apart from the Spaghetti Western infleunces and the great looking action scenes we also get surprisingly good acting as well. As you know in war movies it is not always a guarantee every film has good acting but in Blood & Gold you can actually feel the actors trying to act as if they are in a real war. I especially enjoy the performance from German actor Alexander Scheer ( who was one of my favourite characters in the German horror film Blood Red Sky, also on Netflix ) as the character Von Starfeld. Not only does he deliver powerful dialogue but also show the real identity of a Nazi swine. Robert Maaser as the main character Heinrich does a really good job with his phycical action scenes, and you can tell he put a lot of effort to make sure that action audiences would enjoy seing him kicking nazi ass. Actress Maria Hacke as the character Elsa is one of those female empowerment characters who is not afraid to fight just because she is a woman. In fact she is more brave than most men in this film. I have to mention actor Simon Rupp for giving a very solid performance as Paule. Blood & Gold delivers more than i could have ever expected from a World War II movie with really good action, really good acting and the cinematic style of Sergio Leone in some scenes. Director Peter Thorwarth have made one of the better action movies i have seen taking place during World War II in recent years. Nowhere near as good as Dunkirk or Saving Private Ryan, but i am still impressed how well made this film is. Blood & Gold proves that you can still make high quality war movies with a different approach from western influences A must watch on Netflix if you like seeing historical action films.

Rating: DDDD