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Deadlock

Retrospective 2025
© Filmgalerie 451
After robbing a bank, the wounded thief called “Kid” finds himself stranded in the desert with a suitcase full of money. A former miner who lives in the desolated town finds him and sets his sights on the loot, but is first forced to nurse the robber back to health. When Kid’s crony, the older and more aggressive Sunshine, shows up, a lethal three-way battle breaks out, as the men vie under the torrid sun for the suitcase Kid has hidden … Roland Klick shot his bewitching western in the Negev Desert. Driven by human atavism – hate, fear, greed, cowardice – a conflict develops that is staged as a delirium, a feverish nightmare in which malice and bouts of violence supersede each other.
Klick accentuated his psychedelic film outing with the magical sound of the Cologne kraut-rock band Can. But Deadlock was also a hit with young, genre-loving audiences because it portrayed a clever young man (Marquard Bohm) in armed combat with his elders. Klick hoped his film would slot into the tradition of classic adventure tales such as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948) or The Wages of Fear (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953).
by Roland Klick (Director, Screenplay)
with Mario Adorf, Anthony Dawson, Marquard Bohm, Mascha Rabben, Sigurd Fitzek, Betty Segal Federal Republic of Germany 1970 94' Colour Rating R 16

With

  • Mario Adorf
  • Anthony Dawson
  • Marquard Bohm
  • Mascha Rabben
  • Sigurd Fitzek
  • Betty Segal

Crew

Director Roland Klick
Screenplay Roland Klick
Cinematography Robert van Ackeren
Editing Jane Seitz
Music Can
Production Design Kuli Sander
Producer Roland Klick

Additional information

35mm print: Deutsche Kinemathek