Secrets of the main Indian of the USSR: what was hidden behind the beautiful facade of Goiko Mitic's successful film career

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

June 13 Serbian and German actor Gojko Mitic turns 77 years old. In the 1960-1980s. he became the idol of millions of Soviet boys after the release of a series of films about Indians. Despite his incredible popularity in the USSR, Goiko Mitic did not receive recognition in his homeland, and in the United States, films about Chingachguk and Winnetu were perceived as a political provocation.

Gojko Mitic got into the cinema by accident. He studied at the Academy of Physical Culture in Belgrade and moonlighted as extras on the set of feature films. A young athlete who was involved in athletics, rowing and gymnastics, performed complex tricks as a stunt double. Once a director from the GDR drew attention to him, and Goiko got the main role in the film "Sons of the Big Dipper".

His debut was a phenomenal success, the non-professional actor instantly became a celebrity. The film broke all records at the box office - it was shown in all countries of the socialist community, as well as in Europe, Asia and Africa. The second film - "Chingachgook - Big Snake" - gathered an even larger audience. In 1968, the film was purchased for distribution in the USSR, and Goiko Mitic turned into a real idol for Soviet audiences. Thousands of boys signed up for sports clubs to be like their idol.

The tasks for the filmmakers from the GDR who made films about Indians were actually far from art: their main goal was to resist the influence of the American Westerns gaining popularity in Germany, where the conquerors of the continent were portrayed in a heroic light, and the indigenous people - the Indians - looked savages and almost bandits. Goiko Mitic saw such films as a child and never dreamed of playing an Indian villain. But he ended up in the "red western", where the roles were distributed in a completely different way.

Despite the fact that the "red western" was an ideological project with a clear anti-American political overtones, it enjoyed great success with the public. In the wake of popularity, Goiko Mitic decided to move from Yugoslavia to the GDR. At first, the actor worked 16-18 hours a day, while receiving very small fees. He was never ambitious and did not talk about payment. He lived very modestly, on the outskirts of Berlin, in a rented room. Local actors did not see him as an equal and practically did not communicate with him. What could not be said about women - they have Goiko Mitich, who was called one of the first Soviet sex symbols, enjoyed immense popularity.

He not only looked like a macho, but in life he was a role model and an object of admiration. However, his personal life was not very successful. Constant moving and shooting made it impossible to build a serious relationship, and he did not strive for them. His novels were legendary, many of which were fictional. There were real feelings for the popular East German actress Renate Blume, but their romance was short-lived. They parted, as the "free eagle" told the actress that his wife and children were not his way. Goiko Mitic never married, although he admitted that he was rarely alone. “Women are afraid to tie their fate to me. No one wants to marry me,”he says.

Despite the fact that the noble Indians performed by Goiko Mitic is just a myth, far from reality, the real Indians recognized in him their "if not by blood, then by spirit." And at the festival of Indian tribes he was received with honors and presented with a talisman-amulet. But when the films with Goiko Mitic were shown in the United States, it was declared a provocation by the GDR special services. "Red propaganda" was immediately withdrawn from the box office. In the homeland of the actor, in Yugoslavia, no one knew Goiko Mitic either - films with his participation were not shown there. At the same time, the actor never participated in political games. “I had contacts not with the authorities, but with the public. Mail came in bags, the audience declared their love. And what is even more important for an actor?"

In the late 1980s. films about Indians lost popularity, the Defa film studio was sold to the French, and the actor began working in theater and television. His mother died during the bombing of Belgrade, and he could not even come to the funeral. He remained unknown, a stranger to his own in his homeland and never returned there.

Today Gojko Mitic lives in Berlin, performs on the theater stage, works on television. Freedom is still considered the main value: "I am a free person, like an Indian, and there are no boundaries for me."

Real Indians bear little resemblance to the muscular handsome Goiko Mitic: 30 colorful photographs of American Indians from the middle of the last century