Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann (1975)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Directors:

Volker Schlöndorff
Margarethe von Trotta

Writers:

Heinrich Böll (novel)
Volker Schlöndorff (writer)

Release Date:

10 October 1975 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Katharina Blum is a young handsome German maid. She meets Ludwig, and they fall in love at once. They spend the night together...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Political | Long Title | Terrorism | Carnival

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Angela Winkler	...	Katharina Blum
Mario Adorf	...	Kommissar Beizmenne
Dieter Laser	...	Werner Tötges
Jürgen Prochnow	...	Ludwig Götten
Heinz Bennent	...	Dr. Hubert Blorna
Hannelore Hoger	...	Trude Blorna
Rolf Becker	...	Staatsanwalt Hach
Harald Kuhlmann	...	Moeding
Herbert Fux	...	Weninger
Regine Lutz	...	Else Woltersheim
Werner Eichhorn	...	Konrad Beiters
Karl Heinz Vosgerau	...	Alois Sträubleder
Angelika Hillebrecht	...	Frau Pletzer
Horatius Häberle	...	Staatsanwalt Dr. Korten
Henry van Lyck	...	'Scheich' Karl

Also Known As:

Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (West Germany) (short title)
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (USA)
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, or How Violence Develops and Where It Can Lead (literal English title)

Runtime:

France:100 min | Germany:106 min | USA:106 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Bioskop Film

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the English subtitled version often the subtitles are completely wrong. Once it said "nicht" on the subtitles, when since it is subtitled in English should have said not. Also in the ending subtitles in German, it just says that no newspaper has been portrayed, but in the English subtitles, it says the "Bild-Zeitung has not been portrayed.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (2010)

The War On Terror...

It's funny, but the recent Criterion DVD release of "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" gives it a whole new perspective. Next to "The Legend of Rita", "Lost Honor" is almost like "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead". But in this case, it's dead serious.

Katharina Blum is a normal German woman who has a one-night state with a man she meets at a party. Later, she finds out that he is an anarchist and part of a Baader-Meinhoff-type gang; the group Rita from "Legend of Rita" is supposed to be a member of.

Responding to the activities of German urban guerrillas, there is a national dragnet to hunt them down. Blum is arrested and gets caught up in the hunt, revealing a myopic government at it's most abusive. Equally revealing is the insidious nature of the media and it's role in repression. You can't help but get a chill watching it not because you can't believe it ever happened. But because you can't believe it happens all the time. Life in America is a lot like Katharina Blum's for many people.

Schlöndorff is an intellectual. Both of these films are great reflections of that. They're smart, challenging while being well paced and lithe. "Lost Honor" marked the directorial debut of Margarethe Von Trotta (in some ways a protégé of Schlöndorff's not to mention lover) who would go on to great things including "Rosa Luxembourg".