The Tin Drum
Die Blechtrommel
West Germany, France, Poland, Yugoslavia
1979
142 Min
Color
1.66:1
German, Polish, Russian, Hebrew, Italian
Synopsis
Danzig, Germany, 1924. Oskar Matzerath is born with an intellect beyond his infancy. As he witnesses the hypocrisy of adulthood and the irresponsibility of society, Oskar rejects both, and, at his third birthday, refuses to grow older. Caught in a baffling state of perpetual childhood, Oskar lashes out at all he surveys with piercing screams and frantic poundings on his tin drum, while the unheeding, chaotic world marches onward to the madness and folly of World War II. Honored with the Palme d’Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and the 1979 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film, Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) is a truly visionary adaptation of Nobel laureate Günter Grass’ acclaimed novel, an unforgettable fantasia of surreal imagery, striking eroticism, and unflinching satire. —The Criterion Collection
Director
Volker Schlöndorff
Volker Schlöndorff (born 31 March 1939 in Wiesbaden, Germany) is a Berlin-based German filmmaker.
He won an Oscar as well as the Palme d’or at the Cannes Film Festival for The Tin Drum (1979), the film version of the novel by Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass.
Schlöndorff has adapted many literary works for his movies, including some critically well-received US productions, but he is also engaged in post-war German politics. He served as the chief executive for the UFA studio in Babelsberg. Volker Schlöndorff also teaches film and literature at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where he conducts an Intensive Summer Seminar.
He was married to fellow film director Margarethe von Trotta from 1971 to 1991. —Wikipedia
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Displaying 4 of 17 wall posts.
Amani
13Sep11
Indeed, very bizarre and hard to watch at times. Additionally, the structure of the coming age story type genre that this film is, was way different, and you gotta pay special attention to the motifs and symbolism going on throughout. An amusing and serious tone, makes the Tin Drum quite enjoyable..
DT likes this
Christopher Taylor
3Aug11
Blissfully strange and at times darkly comedic, this film is sharp social commentary about Europe, particularly Germany, in the years leading up to the second great war. It's also about a boy who decides to stop growing. The lines between fantasy and reality melt together nicely.
Wortzik
3Jul11
So far this is my biggest disappointments this year in terms of being an: 1) Palm D'Or winner 2) Oscar winner. 3) Cult film. 4) Basically everything. It's just THAT absurd. In its cathegory is pretty awful. The kid is annoying as hell. I'm almost alone in disliking this film but that's ok.
Subterranean Cinema
10Jun11
Beat the child! -- Ebert said it best: "Should I, as a member of the audience, decide to take the drum as, say, a child's toy protest against the marching cadences of the German armies? Or should I allow myself to be annoyed by the child's obnoxious habit of banging on it whenever something's not to his liking? Even if I buy the wretched drum as a Moral Symbol, I'm still stuck with the kid as a pious little bastard."
some kind of a man and Wortzik like this
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Articles
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