Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4671 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-11-10
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Russian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 136 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
This Oscar-winning adaptation of Günter Grass's novel is an absurdist fantasy about a little German boy (David Bennent) who wills himself at the age of three not to grow up in protest of the Nazi regime. Despite acquiring a certain level of notoriety for its m ore salacious moments the film is more startling and surreal than obscene. Bennent is very good, and while the 1979 film doesn't meet the high standards of the best work from the the n-renaissance of German film, it has a special place in the hearts of many who saw it upon its release. Directed by Volker Schlöndorff (The Handmaid's Tale). --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
A young boy growing up in Nazi Germany decides to stop growing. German dialogue with subtitles

Customer Reviews

Terrifying, Disturbing, Frightening. This film is brilliant
THE TIN DRUM (or DIE BLECHTROMMEL, by it's german title) is a film that not everyone has heard of, and if they have, not likely to have seen it. If you have heard of this film, then don't try to presume anything about it because you will never have seen anything like this before, and never likely to see anything like it again.

Oskar Matzerath (Bennent) is a three-year-old boy who carefully observes the behaviour of the adult world during the rise of the Nazis in 1920's Germany. Disgusted by what he sees, he throws himself down the cellar steps in order to stop himself growing, and he succeeds. Oskar continues his observations of adults as he ages like a normal human being, but he is still in the body of a three-year-old, which makes for something truly terrifying.

Oskar has a lot of emotional anger that he only lets out by beating his red and white toy drum that was given to him on his third birthday, and letting out a shrill, terrifying scream that can shatter glass. His (Oskar's) anger is only infused by the many grotesque, violent and perverted acts that occur around him, like the sex scenes between his mother and his uncle, or the rotting horse's head that his father, Alfred uses as bait for eels that he cooks for dinner. When his mother discovers that she is pregnant with another child, it becomes clear to Oskar that Alfred (Adorf), who he thought was his father might not be, but his Uncle Jan (Olbrychski) is. Oskar's mother is overcome with guilt, so she starts eating whole fish, uncooked. Eventually, the guilt overwhealms her and she kills herself in the bathroom. This is when Oskar sees that the world is not going to change, so he starts on his demented way towards living out the rest of his life.

Directed by Volker Schlondorff, THE TIN DRUM is a very powerful, but very disturbing translation from the book written by Gunther Grass, but what the film clevrly does is that it hooks you in to it's demented, but superior story, and when you want to get out, it refuses to let you go, but in the end, you will disapprove of trying to get out, because THE TIN DRUM is so different, so disturbing that you are shocked, appalled and saddened by little Oskar's trip through life as he discovers love, loss and life from his torturous start in life in Danzig to his years in the Nazi race that have overpowered Germany.
Don't expect to relive an experience like THE TIN DRUM because once you see this film, you won't want to revisit the world of a man like Oskar again.

German History/Satire in a nutshell
This review pertains to the US Code 1 Criterion Collection edition of the film.
The Tin Drum is based on Gunther Grass's Nobel winning novel. The whole setting revolves around the most tumultous period in recent German history, spanning from the late 19th century till the end of the second World War, Germany had seen boundaries and name drawn and redrawn numerous times. Not to mention the various follies of wars that had ravaged the country. Oskar, the perpetual 3 year old kid, who refused to grow after observing the immorality that adulthood has to offer. Oskar represented the conscience of the ordinary German of that era. Being impassive, and at the same time bitter and vulnerable and again embittered (especially after the armistice treaty), Oskar presented a whole range of emotions that reflects the public mood of that period.
The DVD presents a beautiful transfer and a Dolby Digital 5:1 audio track. It also comes with an enlightening audio commentary by the director and co-writer, even though at times the commentary may seem bland and screen specific. Nevertheless, it's insightful in the discussion of the production of the film. Another noteworthy extra feature in the 2nd disc is the documentary "Banned in Oklahoma", which chronicled the banning of the film in that state and its ensuing consequences to the country's values of freedom and liberty.

the tin drum
Although it's over 20 years since i saw this film at the cinema. This film still has the power to shock and disturb. It could be viewed as a black comedy or as a realistic fantasy. The story though, is fairly simple Oscar matzereth(David Bennent), a child of only 3. Decides he doesn't want to grow up, So he throws himself down the celler steps,an act that causes him to stop growing. As the nazis take power in germany Oscar beats out his anger on his toy drum.
The film seems to be about 2 minutes shorter then the version i saw in 1980.Most of the cuts are from sex scenes between oscars uncle and his mother and a controversial sequence in which Oscar has oral sex with his nanny. That said, if you've never seen the film you probably wouldn't notice. You certainly won't have seen anything like it befor. The film won the best foreign language oscar in 1979. An award it richly deserved.