Blechtrommel, Die (1979)

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)
Günter Grass (additional dialogue)

Release Date:

11 April 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

A savage, sweeping epic of society in chaos. [Video Australia]

Plot:

Danzig in the 1920s/1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with...

Plot Keywords:

Inspection | Eiffel Tower Paris | Nazi Uniform | Disturbing | Copulation

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mario Adorf	...	Matzerath
Angela Winkler	...	Agnes Matzerath
David Bennent	...	Oskar
Katharina Thalbach	...	Maria Matzerath
Daniel Olbrychski	...	Jan Bronski
Tina Engel	...	Anna Koljaiczek (jung)
Berta Drews	...	Anna Koljaiczek
Roland Teubner	...	Joseph Koljaiczek
Tadeusz Kunikowski	...	Onkel Vinzenz
Andréa Ferréol	...	Lina Greff (as Andréa Ferreol)
Heinz Bennent	...	Greff
Ilse Pagé	...	Gretchen Scheffler
Werner Rehm	...	Scheffler
Käte Jaenicke	...	Mutter Truczinski
Helmut Brasch	...	Der Alte Heilandt (as Helmuth Brasch)

Also Known As:

Blaszany bebenek (Poland)
Limeni dobos (Yugoslavia: Serbian title)
Tambour, Le (France)
The Tin Drum (USA)

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

West Germany | France | Poland | Yugoslavia

Language:

Hebrew | Italian | German | Polish | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R (original rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating) (2007) | Singapore:R21 | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1994) (cut) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2003) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Calvados, France

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

Also banned in parts of Canada for its depiction of underage sexuality.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Oskar and Maria are at the beach, a modern day cargo ship is clearly visible in the background, although this movie is set around 1937.

Quotes:

Bebra: You must join us, you must!
Oskar Matzerath: You know, Mr. Bebra... to tell the truth, I prefer to be a member of the audience, and let my little art flower in secret.
Bebra: My dear Oskar, trust an experienced colleague. Our kind must never sit in the audience. Our kind must perform and run the show, or the others will run *us*. The others are coming. They will occupy the fairgrounds, they will stage torchlight parades, build rostrums, fill the rostrums, and from those rostrums preach our destruction.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Blechtrommel - Erinnerungen von Volker Schlöndorff, Die (2001) (V)

A haunting movie ...

I saw this flick many years ago, and there are images from this movie I shall probably take with me to the grave.

Things I saw in this movie that vividly stuck in my brain are such things as a huge eel being pulled out of a severed horses head that was just dragged from the sea on a rope, a soldier having carnal knowledge with a lady in the middle of a field while being hunted by another soldier, a young boy spitting into a hand of a young girl ...

And I could go on. This movie I found to be extremely unique and varied in many ways. I don't know that I can really recommend this movie all in all, but if you do watch it, be prepared for a very unique experience film wise.

Beamer