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Netflix's latest German-language film, Blood & Gold, mixes humor and history in the correct proportions. While modern Germany is known for its cuisine, alcoholic beverages, soccer, and cinema, the country has had a sinister past marked with bloodshed and war.
The country is aware of its dark past with Nazis and imperialism and isn't afraid to shy away from reality. Several films have explored these themes but the new Netflix film titled Blood & Gold managed to bring something different to the table. The film does reflect upon the brutal regime of Adolf Hitler but with the right amount of comedy.
Blood & Gold on Netflix review: War is brutal, but Peter Thorwarth just made it a little funny
Peter Thorwarth is a veteran and is best known for his films like What doesn't fit, will be made to fit, Golden Times, The Wave, and Blood Red Sky. He is certainly familiar with the topic of war and has proved it with his new film. In layman's terms, Thorwarth's Blood & Gold is like a marriage between three legendary films: All Quiet on the Western Front, Inglourious Basterds, and Mackenna's Gold.
The film is set in the year 1945, when World War II was slowly coming to an end. The Nazis were getting weaker with every passing year, and the war was about to end. But this didn't mean that it had ended. Our protagonist is a German soldier named Heinrich. His daughter has gone missing, and he has had enough of the war. He never wanted to join the army in the first place, and after six years, he decided to call it quits.
Unfortunately, for his comrades, the act of deserting is high-level treachery. While everyone is aware that Germany is on the losing side, loyalty to the Führer is something they can never give up on. They sentence Heinrich to death and leave him to die by hanging. Fortunately, he gets saved by a courageous farmer named Elsa. She takes him to a small village but soon realizes the Nazis who were after Heinrich were heading to the same destination.
Apart from Heinrich, the bad guys are also looking for a Jewish treasure consisting of heaps of gold bars. It's important for the audience to know that not every German citizen was in favor of the Nazis during this era. Some of them despised war and were against everything their government stood for. This film perfectly encapsulates the feelings of this category of people.
Blood & Gold narrates a beautiful story of loss, PTSD, and heroics with elements of drama, action, and comedy. There are several amazing fight sequences that are guaranteed to keep you glued to your seats. While the majority of the action scenes involve the Nazis, Heinrich, and Elsa, the villagers are nothing less. There are even some elements of comedy to lighten up the tense situation, but that does not make the film any less tragic.
The screenplay is very well balanced with top-notch cinematography and special effects. While everyone loved a classic "treasure hunting" movie, watching Nazis get wrecked is always satisfying to watch. The film even has apt music, but it sometimes felt slow and unnecessarily lengthy.
Holistically, Blood & Gold is very well made and extremely entertaining if you are a fan of war, treasures, action, and gore (a lot of it).
Blood & Gold is currently streaming on Netflix.
