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The Tin Drum

Play trailer Poster for The Tin Drum R 1979 2h 22m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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84% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Oskar Matzerath (David Bennent) is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes (Angela Winkler), Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.
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The Tin Drum

Critics Reviews

View All (25) Critics Reviews
Charles Champlin Los Angeles Times The Tin Drum is, in fact, almost everything anybody could ask a film to be. It is strikingly original and continuously surprising. Apr 22, 2019 Full Review Ela Bittencourt Slant Magazine In Volker Schlndorff's restored version of his 1979 classic, Oskar Matzerath emerges as a tragic anti-hero, whose lustful imagination and prodigious magical gifts can't shield him from the juggernaut of war. Rated: 4/4 Sep 18, 2012 Full Review R. Emmet Sweeney Time Out Schlndorff has a tendency to sketch the rest of the cast as simple grotesques or symbols of decadence that are unconvincingly humanized in the final third. Rated: 3/5 Sep 18, 2012 Full Review Stephen Farber New West/California The film is done with such grace and control that we quickly accept the singular perspective of this bizarre tale. Nov 4, 2021 Full Review Rob Aldam Backseat Mafia Marches to the beat of its own drum. Jan 13, 2021 Full Review Bill Newcott Movies For The Rest Of Us Schlondorff treads the thin line between fantasy and nightmare... always rewarding his audience with precious bits of humor, horror, and pathos. Rated: 5/5 Aug 3, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (421) audience reviews
Audience Member Another lousy foreign film, an hour too long to boot. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 10/16/24 Full Review Raymond S I can't find nothing to pick on, this is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/24 Full Review helder f Oskar is the family's secret who no one hides, the little devil who no one punishes or reprimands. The journey of Oskar is eventful and he is sort of responsible for a great number of misfortunate events that happened to others. There's something very infantile about he feels responsible -egocentric- but also something very objective where intentional or unintentionally his actions are detrimental for others . Meanwhile an entire set of events from pre war to post wwII unfolds. The movie is eventful and there's little to no pause in the constant beat of the story, often accompanied by Oskar's drumming. It's impossible to forget Oskar and several of the other characters who are well developed. At the same time, the movie isn't perhaps always very captivating and there is only so much one can absorb of this long story of Oskar. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/09/24 Full Review Leaburn This film was good 👍🏼 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review dave s It took twenty years after Gunther Grass' seemingly unfilmable The Tin Drum was originally published for a film adaptation to emerge, but what an adaption Volker Schlondorff's film turned out to be. Set in Europe before and during World War 2, Oskar Matzerath (David Bennent) is a young boy who refuses to grow after observing the abhorrent behavior of the adults in his life, using a tin drum and a shrill scream to protest the horrors of the world around him. Beautifully shot and superbly acted, especially by the young Bennent, it is a film fueled by horror, joy, surrealism, and sobering realism, riveting from beginning to end and filled with thought-provoking themes throughout, a cinematic experience not to be missed. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review andres s I like the music and how it mirrors the tone of the movie. Quite militarily serious, but offbeat and kind of quirky, even silly at times. I can't believe Oscar's grandfather had sex with his grandmother while she was hiding him under her dress. What a sneaky little bastard. As for Oscar's mom, she was in love with both her cousin and Mr. Matzerath. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Oskar's uncle was actually his father. So basically Oskar's lineage isn't the purest or best intentioned, it's really messy. Oskar's environment seems to be so impure and full of chaos. I do love his cheeky smile though, it's very funny. Oskar can be a little monster. And his eyes, the way he looks sometimes, he looks like he's going to commit a crime or kill someone at any minute. Wow, so Oskar is actually half German and half Polish since his father is actually his mother's cousin. Hmm, interesting to see how the German people weren't fans of the Nazi party at all, throwing tomatoes at them whenever they would parade down the streets with their loud horns and flags. That's so creepy and almost terrifying how the midget, Mr. Bebra, prophesied and warned Oskar about the Nazi's taking over Germany. Oskar's "father", Mr. Matzerath is starting to look a lot like Hitler, even dawning the Nazi uniform and now attending rallies. OMG! Lmao! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time while watching a movie. That satire parody scene during the Nazi rally was fucking hilarious! The way the orchestra goes from playing a German march to playing The Blue Danube waltz was magnificent. The way everyone starts dancing with one another was brilliant. And all because of Oskar playing his tin drum. That whole scene was comedic perfection. Oskar's tin drum is his escape, it's his happy place away from all the mess and chaos of the world. Wow, extremely creative and inventive that whole birth scene of Oscar. How it was from first person view kind of blew my mind. Wow, the way they brought the scene in the Rasputin book to life right in the living room was quite amazing to watch. So beautifully shot that I had to pause certain scenes or go back just to take another look at them. Although the movies themes are quite dark and bleak, it's so full of life and colorful characters. This movie's one big metaphor about Germany's dark past. Some of the imagery is quite disturbing and grotesque. Like the guy using a severed donkey head as bait to catch eels. Seeing all those eels slither out of the donkey's mouth was pretty fucking disgusting lol. I'd never seen anything like that before. Perhaps it's to show how comfortable the two men who support the Nazi party are with killing and savagery. And now Oskar's mother seems to be force feeding herself fish after what happened at the dinner table with her not wanting to eat Matzerath's fish. Wow, it's horrifying seeing how fucked up the world is around Oskar, it's literally crumbling around him. I can definitely see how this movie might've inspired Jojo Rabbit. Oskar is just a spectator in all the craziness that's going on around him, always finding himself in the middle of the worst scenarios. This is a very unique and odd movie. But I loved it! I don't think I'd buy it on Criterion, but I'd be interested in watching it again. I'll download it. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Tin Drum

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Oskar Matzerath (David Bennent) is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes (Angela Winkler), Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.
Director
Volker Schlöndorff
Producer
Franz Seitz, Anatole Dauman
Screenwriter
Volker Schlöndorff, Jean-Claude Carrière, Franz Seitz
Production Co
Argos Films, Hallelujah Films, GGB-14
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 23, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.5K
Runtime
2h 22m
Sound Mix
Mono
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