The Tin Drum
Sign in to save1979 film directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Film · TMDB
7.0In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
Released: 1979-05-02162 minDir: Volker SchlöndorffDrama, History, War
Cast
- Mario Adorf as Alfred Matzerath
- Angela Winkler as Agnes Matzerath
- David Bennent as Oskar Matzerath
- Katharina Thalbach as Maria Matzerath
- Daniel Olbrychski as Jan Bronski
- Tina Engel as Young Anna Koljaiczek
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Key facts
- German
- Die Blechtrommel
- Directed by
- Volker Schlöndorff
- Written by
- Jean-Claude Carrière , Franz Seitz , Volker Schlöndorff
- Based on
- The Tin Drum , by Günter Grass
- Produced by
- Franz Seitz
- Starring
- David Bennent , Mario Adorf , Angela Winkler , Katharina Thalbach , Daniel Olbrychski , Charles Aznavour
- Cinematography
- Igor Luther
- Edited by
- Suzanne Baron
- Music by
- Maurice Jarre
- Production companies
- Franz Seitz Filmproduktion Bioskop Film Argos Films Jadran Film
- Distributed by
- United Artists (West Germany) Argos Films (France) Black Cat (Poland)
- Release dates
- 3 May 1979 ( 1979-05-03 ) ( Wiesbaden ) 19 September 1979 ( 1979-09-19 ) (France) 12 February 1980 ( 1980-02-12 ) (Yugoslavia) 1 September 1992 ( 1992-09-01 ) (Poland)
Key dates
- Published
- 3 May 1979
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Award
- Palme d'Or
- Genre
- drama film
- Country of origin
- Yugoslavia
- Original language
- Polish
- Based on
- The Tin Drum
- Main subject
- petite bourgeoisie
- Movement
- New German Cinema
- Director
- Volker Schlöndorff
- Screenwriter
- Franz Seitz Jr.
Article
The Tin Drum (German: Die Blechtrommel) is a 1979 anti-war film adapted from Günter Grass's 1959 novel, directed by Volker Schlöndorff from a screenplay co-written by Schlöndorff, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Franz Seitz. It stars Mario Adorf, Angela Winkler, Katharina Thalbach, Daniel Olbrychski, and Charles Aznavour, with David Bennent in the lead role of Oskar Matzerath, a young boy who willfully arrests his own physical development and remains in the body of a child even as he enters adulthood.
A darkly comic war drama with magical realist elements, the film follows Oskar, a precocious child living in Danzig, who wields seemingly preternatural abilities. He lives in contempt of the adults around him and witnesses firsthand their potential for cruelty, first via the rise of the Nazi Party and then the subsequent war. The title refers to Oskar's toy drum, which he loudly plays whenever he is displeased or upset. The German-language film was a co-production of West German, French, and Yugoslavian companies.