The Tin Drum [Die Blechtrommel] ***** (1979, David Bennent, Mario Adorf, Angela Winkler) – Classic Movie Review 2392

Co-writer/director Volker Schlöndorff’s astounding and quite extraordinary 1979 surrealistic black comedy deservedly pulled off the double whammy of being the 1980 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner and the 1979 Palme D’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival (tied in a difficult decision with Apocalypse Now). It was one of the most financially successful German films of the 1970s.

Schlöndorff does full justice to Günter Grass’s novel about Oskar Matzerath, a boy living in the divided city of Danzig in the 1920s and 1930s. He is played by David Bennent, then 11 years of age and playing a stunted 16-year-old. Oskar decided to stop growing at the age three when Hitler takes over, and beats his drum and screams, to the immense distress of his distraught parents (Mario Adorf and Angela Winkler).

The result is a beautiful mix of fantasy, fable and realism which is consistently moving and impressive. Schlöndorff’s imaginative handling is outstanding, and the performances are extremely eye-catching, with the stupendous performance by Bennent staying etched in the mind.

Günter Grass died on April 13 2015, aged 87. He is best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum (1959), a key work in European magic realism. It was the first book of his Danzig Trilogy, which also includes Cat and Mouse and Dog Years.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2392

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A cinema showing The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) in Heidelberg in 1979.