|
The Tin Drum
(1979)
|
| 0Share... |
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: The Tin Drum (1979)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Kagemusha
(1980)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Stars:
Tatsuya Nakadai,
Tsutomu Yamazaki,
Ken'ichi Hagiwara
Letters from Iwo Jima
(2006)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Clint Eastwood
Stars:
Ken Watanabe,
Kazunari Ninomiya,
Tsuyoshi Ihara
The Battle of Algiers
(1966)
Crime
|
Drama
|
History
Director:
Gillo Pontecorvo
Stars:
Brahim Hadjadj,
Jean Martin,
Yacef Saadi
The Killing Fields
(1984)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Roland Joffé
Stars:
Sam Waterston,
Haing S. Ngor,
John Malkovich
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Ken Loach
Stars:
Cillian Murphy,
Padraic Delaney,
Liam Cunningham
Battleship Potemkin
(1925)
Drama
|
History
Director:
Sergei M. Eisenstein
Stars:
Aleksandr Antonov,
Vladimir Barsky,
Grigori Aleksandrov
Drama
|
History
|
War
Directors:
Paolo Taviani,
Vittorio Taviani
Stars:
Omero Antonutti,
Margarita Lozano,
Claudio Bigagli
Land and Freedom
(1995)
Drama
|
War
Director:
Ken Loach
Stars:
Ian Hart,
Rosana Pastor,
Icíar Bollaín
Glory
(1989)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Edward Zwick
Stars:
Matthew Broderick,
Denzel Washington,
Cary Elwes
Europa Europa
(1990)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Agnieszka Holland
Stars:
Marco Hofschneider,
André Wilms,
René Hofschneider
Bloody Sunday
(2002)
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Paul Greengrass
Stars:
James Nesbitt,
Allan Gildea,
Tim Pigott-Smith
Drama
|
History
|
War
Director:
Vittorio De Sica
Stars:
Lino Capolicchio,
Dominique Sanda,
Fabio Testi
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
 |
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)
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Danzig in the 1920s/1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with full intellect right from his birth he decides at his third birthday not to grow up as he sees the crazy world around him at the eve of World War II. So he refuses the society and his tin drum symbolizes his protest against the middle-class mentality of his family and neighborhood, which stand for all passive people in Nazi Germany at that time. However, (almost) nobody listens to him, so the catastrophe goes on... Written by Anonymous
Taglines:
A savage, sweeping epic of society in chaos. [Video Australia] See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Release Date:
11 April 1980 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Tin Drum See more »Box Office
Gross:
SEK 3,963,773 (Sweden)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (director's cut)Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1
Edit
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Acclaimed Polish-British actress Beata Pozniak made her movie debut as an extra when scenes were shot right outside her home. See more »Goofs
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. See 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.See more »
"That day, thinking about the grown-up world and my own future, I decided to call a halt. To stop growing then and there and remain a three-year-old, a gnome, once and for all"
Goodness, what a marvel this film is! It is certainly the greatest film from Germany that I have seen yet. Winner of the 1979 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "The Tin Drum" follows the life of a boy named Oskar. After seeing how ludicrous adults act, Oskar decides to stop his growth, and stay three years old forever by falling down the stairs. He succeeds, and the fall has stopped his growth. Aside from the hault of growth, the fall eqips him with two special powers that he regularly manifests. The lesser of these two powers, is repeatedly pounding his tin drum, which he absolutely refuses to let go of. Oskar's undeniable power is to let out a high pitched shriek that will shatter any glass he directs it at. Does it sound strange? Well, the film is much stranger, but also much more beautiful than my description.
The film follows our little Oscar over a period of around two decades, through World War II in Germany. We follow Oskar through his many sexual, emotional, tragic, funny, and beautiful exploits. An absolutely important credit must be given to actor David Bennett, who plays young Oskar. He portrays Oskar as an infant, as a three year-old, as a six year-old, as a twelve year-old, as a 16 year-old, as a 21 year-old...well, you get the picture. Bennett was only 11 at the time, and his performance is very impressive.
I haven't seen very many German films from the last thirty years, but most of the ones I have seen (the excellent "Vanishing," and the immensely mediocre "White Rose") haven't had very good scores. "The Tin Drum" has a very slight, but very servicable, score by the famous Maurice Jarre. The score has an emotional theme played in only a few scenes (notably, the ending), it also has an innocent little music box theme, and surprisingly a cool waltz for scenes involving members of the circus (a big part of the second-half of the film). A very good score. To my knowledge, it was released on LP when the film was released, and on a CD pressed in Japan sometime in the 90's. I read that the (sadly out of print) Kino DVD includes the isolated score as an extra.
It's an excellent film that I strongly connected with, but I can see many people not liking it, it is VERY strange, but I am somebody who has always found VERY strange things extremely beautiful, and "The Tin Drum" is no exception. Over-all, I consider this film a classic, and I'll once again state that it is certainly the greatest film from Germany that I have seen yet.