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The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

Play trailer Poster for The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum R 1975 1h 44m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
After a chance encounter with a wanted man, a woman is harassed by the police and press until she takes violent action.
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The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

Critics Reviews

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Walter Goodman New York Times Roger Corman, the director, does what he can to pump some life into the plot, but it just lies there, as dormant as Katharina's honor. Jan 9, 2018 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times An intelligent, if finally unconvincing film. Rated: 2.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) The result is a passionate pamphleteering film, that lamentably is about limited interest and location. [Full review in Spanish] Aug 15, 2023 Full Review Phoebe Chen The Nation Against the starkness of Katharina's timidity and innocence, the depictions of Beizmenne and Tötges veer into hyperbole, but it's this construction of a guileless woman in love that helps stoke audience outrage at her mistreatment. Dec 12, 2020 Full Review James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk still strikes directly at the crucial crossroads between capital-T "Truth" and the narratives spun by the press Rated: 3/4 Sep 13, 2020 Full Review Douglas Davidson Elements of Madness Though their film doesn't explore the social impact of a populace unwilling to consider their sources, co-directors Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta do explore how easily perception can be twisted under the guise of justice and popularity ... Rated: 4/5 Sep 5, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alain E A psychological and political movie about rights abuse by the police and the so called “yellow Press “. Based on a book by the Nobel in Literature winner, Heinrich Boell. This is the period that in Germany the anarchocommunist terrorist organization Baader-Meinhof was in full action. The state response was not exactly by the book. The main story is a little improbable. The heroine is a mousy housekeeper for a rich couple, with limited experience with men. She had an unsuccessful early marriage and is currently the mistress of a rich capitalist. Then at a party she meets this very attractive man, they have sex in her apartment the same night and when she learns that he is pursued by the police, she decides to give him the keys to her boyfriend’s second home! The holes in the plot are numerous. Would a terrorist running from the police go to a party? And a girl with limited experience fall head over heels with him? If we accept all that the description of the mistreatment she suffers at the hand of the prosecutor and the Press is convincing and it leads to her violent reaction. Very well acted and photographed. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/05/25 Full Review dave s Katharina (Angela Winkler) lives a quiet life, referred to as ‘the nun' by her friends. The morning after an uncharacteristic one-night stand, she is apprehended by the police and interrogated regarding the whereabouts of her visitor from the night before, a known terrorist and anarchist. Volker Schlondorff, never known for subtlety when handling his themes, uses The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, an adaptation of Heinrich Boll's novel, to attack the abuse of power by West Germany's police and the media. While the final scenes prior to the epilogue diminish its message, it remains a stark and effectively executed diatribe against the dangers of unbridled power. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member As co-directed by Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta, and adapted from a novel by the prominent Christian progressive Heinrich Böll, 1975's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum) is an unsettling, under-the-skin kind of work. Undeniably topical in its conception and execution, it's quite curious as to how and why the film has aged most effectively. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review s r A German film that calls into question the power of the press to slander. It was well made. Saw it on TCM. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review scott s A film about a woman who is berated by the press and the police for inadvertently harboring a terrorist is powerful and thought provoking. Underneath the surface you can see parallels between her experiences and the modern experiences in a post-9/11 world, and a feminist message of how women are treated when they do not play by men's rules. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member 7.1/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2yK Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a chance encounter with a wanted man, a woman is harassed by the police and press until she takes violent action.
Director
Volker Schlöndorff
Producer
Willi Benninger
Screenwriter
Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta, Heinrich Böll
Distributor
Criterion Collection, New World Pictures
Production Co
Bioskop Film, Paramount-Orion Filmproduktion [de], Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 1975, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 15, 2020
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Mono
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