Who Gets the Gold in the End?
Every once in a while, you find yourself scouring Netflix looking for a decent movie to watch, and you end up taking a chance on a new and relatively unknown film that has made its way into the streamer's top 10 list. If it is in the top 10, then it must have something going on, right? Well, German-born director Peter Thornwarth does better than just "getting something right" in his hugely entertaining genre mash-up Blood and Gold, and we think you'll be seeing a lot more of it as the days and weeks progress. It borrows from a handful of the best movies ever made in creating a film that is constantly switching themes but never lets up on the thrills and intensity. It's part Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, part John McTiernan's Die Hard, with a Hitchckockian MacGuffin thrown in for good measure, before giving way to a thrilling caper heist. Thornwarth sets the table for an enjoyable ride through the German countryside as World War II is coming to a close. And at the end, there's a mad scramble for a hidden treasure that will keep you guessing until you've seen the film or finished reading this article.
What Is 'Blood and Gold' About?
A little bit of every Western and war movie Quentin Tarantino has ever made finds its way into screenwriter Stefan Barth's script, and it starts from the opening scene. Heinrich (Robert Masser) is a German soldier on the run being chased down by a platoon of truly devilish Nazi Waffen-SS soldiers who have accused him of desertion even as the Germans are on their last legs in the spring of 1945 and the war is almost over. The first 20 minutes of the film pull from both Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained as Heinrich is caught and left to hang. The ambient country-style music that plays in the background makes the movie feel like a German "bratwurst Western" as a heavy harmonica echoes like some of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns of the '60s and early '70s. Heinrich is anti-Nazi and never wanted to be a part of the war, so it's not as if you're cheering for some Nazi scumbag. He is brave and likable and only wants to get back to his small daughter who is the only surviving member of his family. When he ends up being saved by the lovely farmer Elsa (Marie Hacke) and then returns the favor when SS soldiers return and try to assault her and her brother, Paule (Simon Rupp), the two work together to save the town.
Back in the small village of Sonnenberg situated on the rolling hills of the German hinterlands, the nefarious Lieutenant Colonel von Starnfeld (Alexander Scheer) is shaking down the local villagers because he has heard that a sizable amount of gold has been stashed away by one of the town's Jewish residents many years before the war started. This is where the MacGuffin element of the film kicks in as the Nazis are just one of several parties interested in getting their hand on the treasure stash of gold bars hidden somewhere in the village of Sonnenberg. The Nazi leader's men are led by the violent Sergeant (Roy McCrerey), and the villagers, led by Burgmeister Robert (Stephan Grossman), are suspiciously hush-hush about the gold and whether it even exists. It turns out that there are several parties doing their best to secure the gold bars that lay hidden somewhere in the tiny hamlet of Sonnenberg. And someone knows exactly where they are.
There Are Similarities Between 'Blood and Gold' and 'Die Hard'
When the Nazis kidnap and plan to execute Paule, Heinrich, and Elsa return to the village to put a stop to it. Even though Elsa is pretty good with a rifle, it's a single good guy (Heinrich) against a boatload of ill-mannered German villains. If that sounds familiar it's probably because you've seen it before when John McClane (Bruce Willis) was trapped atop the Nakatomi Tower dealing with Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) and his henchman in Die Hard in 1988. The Germans are convinced that the gold is somewhere in the village and are laying waste to everyone and everything that gets in their way as they hunt for the treasure. The fight scenes between Heinrich and the brutish Sergeant are well-choreographed and deliver some unexpected thrills to a movie that keeps you pleasantly surprised and intrigued from beginning to end.
Do They Find the Gold in the End?
It turns out that the villagers haven't been completely honest about the existence of the gold. Three of the townspeople, including a conniving Nazi sympathizer named Sonja (Jordis Triebel), have been hiding the gold bars since before the war began and have been waiting for the war to end to claim their fortune. But the town's preacher is onto their scheme and secretly moves the gold from under their noses and relocates it to the large church at the end of the town's main road. Even after Lt. Colonel van Starnfeld is killed by Elsa, his Sargeant and the remaining men capture Heinrich who has been told by the preacher that the gold is in the altar at the church. He is forced to take them there, but the preacher has booby-trapped the gold treasure and an explosion kills many of the men and further injures an already bloodied and battered Heinrich.
What Happens at the End of 'Blood and Gold'?
After the blast, the Sergeant callously shoots the preacher in the head execution style, and it appears he will emerge as the sole survivor and the owner of the gold bars. But Heinrich and Elsa muster all their strength and engage the Sergeant in a lengthy Western-style shootout in the church. The Sergeant is about to strangle Elsa to death before Heinrich eventually overpowers, and kills him by thrusting one of the gold bars down his throat as he lies on his back, wounded. Heinrich and Elsa leave the church and the gold bars that are now strewn about the church floor behind them as Heinrich is severely injured. Once the scene has grown quiet, a Nazi soldier appears from behind a large church bell as he has been hiding during the maelstrom of gunfire. He walks toward the gold bars and smiles as if he will claim the gold, but he is shot in the head by the sympathizer, Sonja, who made the preacher take her to the altar at gunpoint. She has been playing possum and pretending to be dead only to be the last one standing, and it looks as if she will emerge as the possessor.
Elsa and Heinrich stumble away from the church to the German song "Danka Schein." The next scene shows Sonja speeding across the German countryside with dozens of gold bars in the back of her car. Suddenly a massive explosion destroys the vehicle and a group of United States soldiers come upon a dying Sonja and all the gold bars. They take possession of them for the final time. Heinrich is reunited with his young daughter Lotte in the film's final scene before the credits roll.
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