A suitcase full of money is a premise as old as the western genre itself, probably even older, and there's no shortage of slickly directed, well acted, top-quality grime-caked Eurowesterns. Deadlock stands ahead of the pack for a few reasons- namely, it's setting, an impossible-to-define wasteland beyond time dense with dusty, broken genre iconography, looking just alien enough that you can never quite put your finger on where and when you are. But let's be real- that's well and good, but this thing boasts a krautrockin' soundtrack by (The) Can, and if you need anything else to sell you on it, buddy, you might be beyond help. Play loud.

Love Roland Klick's craft. Wish he made more films.

Watched the OCN Distribution Blu-ray

• Region Free 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray Set
• 4k UHD presented in HDR
• Audio Commentary with director Roland Klick and Ulrich Von Berg
• Video interview with Roland Klick
• German Ending with Dedication
• English Opening & Insert
• English Ending with Dedication
• Opening Textless
• Trailer
• Reversible cover artwork
• English & German subtitles

Deadlock is sun baked, dust bathed and blood soaked all of which are like sweet little nothings being whispered from dry, sandpaper lips to my ear.

One critique might be on the repetitive nature of the 2nd third, wedged between a pretty striking opening and an explosive conclusion. But that's purgatory, baby, and maybe that's the point.

The longer I sit with the story the more masterful Deadlock becomes. It's a stark and sweaty little chamber piece that has left me sunburned in all the right places.

"Hey! You forgot to kill me"
"I'll leave you my gun. Do it yourself.

An excellent post-apocalyptic post-modern existential acid western, with some brilliant iconography (such as the broken cowboy atop the shopfront) and fantastic camerawork (especially in the final scenes). The Can soundtrack was as brilliant as I expected it to be, however I wish there was more of it in the movie. The interactions between the characters felt natural, but also stylized in a spaghetti western sort-of-way, and I never really knew what was coming next. Lots of a good moments of the characters fucking with each other, and some of the scenes were very suspenseful. The ending was fucking brilliant! The furious editing, extreme close-ups, and blurred focus, over the Can soundtrack, and Sunshine's exasperated rambling; the perfect ending to the film, I was blown away.

feels more like a pitch-black comic neo-western exercise like Dog Day or Bad Day at Black Rock than a western (or even acid-western) proper with the amount of shit going wrong for one guy bordering on After Hours-esque panic humor; the soundtrack by Can here is arguably *the* highlight but everything is exceptional and it finds a middle ground between New German Cinema and what was happening in Italian genre cinema concurrently - more films with filthy men in deserts arguing over money set to psych-rock please

The Dead, The Sad, and The Lonely

Made me think of Luis Buñuel likening the observation of human behavior to entomology. These sad creatures are on some sort of auto-pilot survival mode trapped within the moral and genre confines of a Spaghetti Western (that is to say, life is cheap and everyone is kinda shitty and selfish). Insects climbing over each other in a dung heap.

And yeah, The Can soundtrack is pretty great!

Western Marathon | Film #9: Deadlock (1970)

Roland Klick's Deadlock is a blend between the New German Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s and the spaghetti westerns brought towards popularity during previous years by Sergio Leone and the likes.

Filmed in Israel, Deadlock triumphs thanks to its slick cinematography and the coolness of Mario Adorf's performance, one of the iconic German cult actors.

Story-wise, Deadlock leaves room for improvement, and some of its elements come across as too excessive and exploitative. Considering, however, that excessive obsession and the ambition of the human nature lie at the heart of this film's critique, it's a well-fitting approach.

In the end, Deadlock provides an interesting perspective towards the western genre from a different cultural angle and establishes its own mood and atmosphere. Recommended for fans of the western genre who are looking out for little-known niche films.

1970 Ranked

Mexikanisches Hinterland
Charles Dump, Aufseher der verlassenen Minensiedlung Deadlock in der Wüste, findet eines Tages den verletzten Räuber Kid. Dieser hat einen Koffer Geld dabei. Charles nimmt ihn mit nach Deadlock, wo beide versuchen den Koffer für sich zu behalten.

1970 inszenierte Roland Klick diesen deutschen Mix aus Gangster Film und Spätwestern. In den Hauptrollen sind Mario Adorf, Anthony Dawson und Marquard Bohm zu sehen.
Das hier ist wieder ein gutes Beispiel für Deutsche Filme aus den 1970ern. Sie hatten das besondere etwas, das man in allen Dingen im Film sieht. Die Siedlung und die Wüste als Handlungsort passt genau so wie die Charaktere. Diese sind gut getroffen, da die Grenze zwischen gut und böse nicht immer vorhanden ist. Der Krautrock der Band Can ist gut eingesetzt.
Das gesehene hat mir gut gefallen, da mal wieder was anderes aus Deutschem Lande.