Die Blechtrommel (1979)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

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

Release Date:

11 April 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Academy Award Winner Best Foreign Language Film 1979

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Germany | Drum | Nazi | Toy Drum | Orgasm

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mario Adorf	...	Alfred Matzerath
Angela Winkler	...	Agnes Matzerath
David Bennent	...	Oskar Matzerath
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:

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

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:

Singapore:R21 | Australia:R | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating: 2007) | 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:

CCC-Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

Acclaimed Polish-British actress Beata Pozniak made her movie debut as an extra when scenes were shot right outside her home.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Agnes eats eels, a brown bottle is not visible in one cut, even though other nearby objects on the table can be seen. In the same series of cuts, the position of her empty glass and Alfred's beer glass also change.

Quotes:

Agnes Matzerath: Don't expect me to touch your eels.
Alfred Matzerath: Don't put on airs.
Agnes Matzerath: I'll never eat fish again. Certainly not eels.
Alfred Matzerath: You've always eaten them, and you knew where they came from!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Banned in Oklahoma (2004) (V)

One of the most memorable films of all time

Die Blechtrommel, based on the highly acclaimed German novel by the same name. Oscar is 3 years old. For his birthday he gets a tin drum. He sees how grown ups act, (this is during the rise of the Nazi Party) and he decides to stop growing.

The film is filled with moral ethics and symbolism. The tin drum Oscar always drums on is a symbol of his protest against the cruelty that grown ups create, not to mention the rise of Nazism. Die Blechtrommel even has large scenes that are only for symbolism. It is probably one of the most important German films since WW2. Somehow, the German make the best films that decipher Nazism and WW2 (like Stalingrad and the new Der Untergang) which very clearly shows their self awareness. I think Die Blechtrommel is one of the finest examples of this.

It is often quite absurd this film, one of the most memorable scenes is when Oscar watches a Nazi rally. As an officer is marching through the crowd, the orchestra is playing a march. Oscar starts playing his drum, and make all the musicians play false, and after a while they all start to play "An der Schönen blauen Donau" and the crowd starts to dance.

Die Blechtrommel is one of the most memorable films ever, whet ever you liked it or not. Some scenes are very sick, and i do not encourage people who don't have a stomach for strong films to see this. For other film lovers though, this is one of the greatest films ever.