IMDb on iPhone and iPod touch Learn more Learn more Download from the App Store
IMDb > Die Blechtrommel (1979)
Die Blechtrommel
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user reviewsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

Die Blechtrommel (1979) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 23 | slideshow)

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   7,662 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 13% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writers:
Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)
Günter Grass (additional dialogue)
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Tin Drum on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 April 1980 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Academy Award Winner Best Foreign Language Film 1979 more
Plot:
Danzig in the 1920s/1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Prolific Film Composer Jarre Dead At 84
 (From Studio Briefing - Film News. 30 March 2009, 2:34 AM, PDT)

Potente is the 'Pope'
 (From ioncinema. 6 October 2006)

User Reviews:
Grotesque yet beautiful more (64 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)
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)
Otto Sander ... Musiker Meyn
Wigand Witting ... Herbert Truczinski
Mariella Oliveri ... Roswitha
Fritz Hakl ... Bebra
Emil Feist ... 1.Clown
Herbert Behrendt ... 2.Clown
Karl Heinz Tittelbach ... Felix
Charles Aznavour ... Sigismund Markus
Marek Walczewski ... Schugger-Leo
Ernst Jacobi ... Löbsack
Wojciech Pszoniak ... Fajngold
Gerda Blisse ... Frl. Spollenhauer
Joachim Hackethal ... Hochwürden Wiehnke
Henning Schlüter ... Dr. Hollatz
Zygmunt Hubner ... Dr. Michon (as Zygmunt Huebner)
Mieczyslaw Czechowicz ... Kobyella
Bruno Thost ... Obergefreiter Lankes
Alexander von Richthofen ... Pvt. Herzog
Lech Grzmocinski ... Stauer (as L. Grzmocinski)
Stanislaw Michalski ... 1.Gendarme (as S. Michalski)
J. Kapinski ... 2.Gendarme
Dietrich Frauboes ... Oberartz - Medical Chief
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Horst Gentzen ... Felix (voice) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler ... Himself (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Reinhard Kolldehoff ... Eel Catcher (voice) (uncredited)

Beata Pozniak ... Extra (uncredited)
Lutz Riedel ... Soldier (voice) (uncredited)

Raphaël Vogt ... Peter (uncredited)
Herbert Weissbach ... Fajngold (voice) (uncredited)
Create a character page for: ?

Directed by
Volker Schlöndorff 
 
Writing credits
(in alphabetical order)
Jean-Claude Carrière  writer
Günter Grass  additional dialogue
Günter Grass  novel
Volker Schlöndorff  writer
Franz Seitz  writer

Produced by
Eberhard Junkersdorf .... executive producer
Hans Prescher .... producer: HR
Franz Seitz .... producer
Anatole Dauman .... producer (uncredited)
Volker Schlöndorff .... producer (uncredited)
 
Original Music by
Maurice Jarre 
 
Cinematography by
Igor Luther 
 
Film Editing by
Suzanne Baron 
 
Production Design by
Piotr Dudzinski 
Zeljko Senecic 
 
Art Direction by
Nicos Perakis 
 
Set Decoration by
Marijan Marcius  (as Marijan Marcijus)
Edouard Pezzoli 
Paul Weber 
 
Costume Design by
Inge Heer 
Dagmar Niefind 
Yoshio Yabara  (as Yoshy Yabara)
 
Makeup Department
Rino Carboni .... makeup artist
Albina Mackic .... makeup artist
Vitaliana Patacca .... hair stylist (as Vitaliana Potacka)
Ingeborg Thiess .... hair stylist
Alfredo Tiberi .... makeup artist
Teresa Tomaszewska .... makeup artist
Ruzica Vidmar .... key makeup artist (as Ruza Vidmar)
 
Production Management
Dominik Baltic .... unit manager
Donko Buljan .... production manager
Emir Cejvan .... production manager
André Heinrich .... production manager
Siegfried Hofbauer .... production manager
Herbert Kerz .... production manager
Czeslaw Klak .... unit manager
Urszula Orczykowska .... production manager
Marko Vrdoljak .... production manager
Emir Vrodoljak .... production manager
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wolfgang Krake .... assistant director
Branko Lustig .... assistant director
Richard Malbequi .... assistant director
Andrzej Reiter .... assistant director
Alexander von Richthofen .... assistant director
 
Art Department
Dominique Antony .... set constructor
Pierre Audouard .... props
Ivo Baltic .... props
Franz Bauer .... props
Ewa Kowalska .... set constructor
Tadeusz Kunikowski .... props
Christian Lenz .... props
Bernd Lepel .... set designer
Boleslaw Miziolek .... props
Barbara Nowak .... set designer
Stanislaw Nowak .... painter
Tihomir Piletic .... set designer
Thomas Schulz .... props
Bogdan Serwa .... painter
Ivo Stjejan .... props
 
Sound Department
Peter Beil .... sound
Walter Grundauer .... sound
Peter Kellerhals .... sound (as Walter Kellerhals)
Hans-Dieter Schwarz .... sound mixer (as Hans Dieter Schwarz)
 
Special Effects by
Georges Iaconelli .... pyrotechnician (as Georges Jaconelli)
Josif Karovski .... weapons
Krzysztof Szwed .... pyrotechnician
Nikola Vujasinovic .... pyrotechnician
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Arnold .... assistant camera
Slawomir Baranski .... gaffer
Pero Bernakovic .... electrician
Andrzej Biskupski .... still photographer
Zvonko Blaskovic .... gaffer
Karl Dillitzer .... lighting technician
Antun Gorisek .... grip
Ulla Hübner .... still photographer
Stanislav Jesih .... lighting technician
Eugeniusz Kapelak .... electrician
Vlado Loncaric .... gaffer
Stanislaw Piech .... lighting technician
Drago Poldrugac .... gaffer
Karl Reiter .... still photographer
Peter Seitz .... still photographer
Nikolaus Starkmeth .... assistant camera
Paul Weber .... lighting technician
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Krystyna Bartosik .... wardrobe
Anica Cerovac .... wardrobe
Marko Cerovac .... costumer
Zofia Jedrezejac .... wardrobe
Renée Miquel .... wardrobe
Elzbieta Radke .... costumer
Franjo Simek .... wardrobe
 
Editorial Department
Helga Kusterka .... assistant editor
Agape von Dorstewitz .... assistant editor (as Agape Dorstewitz)
Barbara von Weitershausen .... assistant editor (as Barbara v. Weitershausen)
 
Music Department
Lothar Brühne .... composer: song "Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein?" (uncredited)
Maurice Jarre .... conductor (uncredited)
Jan Latham-Koenig .... musician: piano (uncredited)
Carl Loubé .... orchestra (uncredited)
Sidney Sax .... orchestra contractor (uncredited)
Eric Tomlinson .... music engineer (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Andrzej Dojnik .... production assistant
Ute Ehmke .... location manager
Ingrid Höller .... production secretary
Paulette Hufnagel .... production administrator
Louis Mayr .... location manager
Jean Claude Mouliére .... location manager
Franjo Proscan .... production secretary
Lilo Schick .... script supervisor
Gabriele Seitz .... press relations
Amelia Statkiewicz .... production administrator
Ivan Steiger .... toys provided by
Günther M. Stocklöv .... location manager (as Günter Stocklöv)
Zygmunt Wójcik .... location manager
 
Crew believed to be complete


Production CompaniesDistributorsOther Companies
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Tin Drum (UK) (USA)
Blaszany bebenek (Poland)
Le tambour (France)
Limeni dobos (Yugoslavia: Serbian title)
more
Runtime:
142 min
Color:
Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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)
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In June 1997, at the urging of a Christian fundamentalist group and after viewing only a few isolated scenes, an Oklahoma County District Court judge declared that this film contained child pornography (as defined by Oklahoma's obscenity laws) and as such was illegal. Without obtaining the necessary search warrants or court orders, police in Oklahoma City confiscated all copies of the film from libraries and rental outlets. They intimidated video store managers into supplying them with the addresses of those currently renting the movie, went to those homes, and confiscated those tapes as well. The local District Attorney declared that anyone possessing a copy of the movie would be arrested. Within weeks the D.A. was forced to back down on this statement, and by December most of the seized videos had been returned. By October of 1998, over the course of rulings in several related lawsuits, the U.S. federal courts found that the confiscation of the tapes had been unconstitutional, and ruled that the movie did not violate Oklahoma's state laws. The U.S. Court of Appeals closed the final case in May 2001, and the movie is once again available for rental in Oklahoma County. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Oskar breaks the teacher's glasses, the pattern of spots on his face change. more
Quotes:
Vendor: Look, if you please, at this extraordinary potato... this swelling, luxuriant flesh, forever conceiving new shapes... and yet so chaste. I love a potato, because it speaks to me. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Banned in Oklahoma (2004) (V) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
51 out of 54 people found the following review useful.
Grotesque yet beautiful, 21 January 1999
9/10
Author: Oliver Blomqvist (oblomqvist@hotmail.com) from Helsinki, Finland

Having read the greater-than-life novel by Günther Grass, this film is an interesting viewing for many reasons. Reason number 1: the most important reason is of course, how on earth did they manage to get anyone to play Oskar? The director has shown us a stroke of geniosity by casting a 12-year old boy as Oskar, who besides is a brilliant actor (I wonder whatever became of him). Reason number two: how could anyone ever visualize the grotesque and chaotic scenes in the book? Once again the director comes up with something brilliant, he makes the scenes as graphic as possible, he doesn't care about the MPAA, he doesn't care about movie-watchers with heart problems, and he's not afraid of overdoing anything. He puts as much force and effort in the scenes as possible, and they come out brilliantly. Reason number 3: How does he capture the moods of the multi-layered book? He simply stays very faithful to the books text and uses camera angles, lighting effects and music perfectly to accompany the visions of Günther Grass. Those are the most apparent reasons and because of those, the film is brilliant. The only flaw is leaving the story unfinished (although, the ones who never read the book, won't notice that). Altogether, an interesting, stylish and rewarding film experience.

Was the above review useful to you?
more (64 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Die Blechtrommel (1979)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Where are they now? amandybug822
What does the movie actually want to show? simmaster100
Too Long! rudd_girl
Death of Roswitha Pornography_and_Satori
Does Maria remind anyone else of... am_buglet_82
Is there an uncut version on DVD? JayBee-66
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Der Fangschuß Novecento Sunshine Zelary Slaughterhouse-Five
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Drama section IMDb West Germany section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.