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The Tin Drum

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The Tin Drum

R

1979

2h 22m

Drama

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84%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

83%

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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Rob Aldam

Backseat Mafia

Marches to the beat of its own drum.

Jan 13, 2021

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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

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alan g

Another horrible foreign film the critics liked because they didn't understand. Several hours of incessant screaming and banging a drum. Very disturbing.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/25

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Audience Member

Another lousy foreign film, an hour too long to boot.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/16/24

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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

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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

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Leaburn

This film was good 👍🏼

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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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

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Volker Schlöndorff

Director

David Bennent

Oskar Matzerath

Angela Winkler

Agnes Matzerath

Mario Adorf

Alfred Matzerath

Daniel Olbrychski

Jan Bronski

Katharina Thalbach

Maria Matzerath

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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: GGB-14, Hallelujah Films, Argos Films
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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