The Tin Drum
1979 · Movie · R · 162 min · ★ 7.0 · 74% critics
In a city caught between cultures and rising political tensions, a child decides to stop growing after a shocking fall and clings to a tin drum as the world around him darkens. As war approaches and society shifts, his stubborn refusal to join the adult world becomes a strange, unsettling lens on everyday life and upheaval.
Based on The Tin Drum
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Streaming on HBO Max.
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Details
- Original title
- Die Blechtrommel
- Years
- 1979
- Release date
- 1979-05-02
- Language
- German
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 162 min
- Critic score
- 74/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.0/10 (533 votes)
- Box office
- $4,000,000
About
You may like this if you want a provocative, surreal anti-war story with dark humor and unsettling imagery, in the vein of Underground or Barton Fink; Not for you if explicit sexual content, grotesque scenes, or an abrasive lead character are dealbreakers.
Pros: bold anti-war satire; memorable lead performance; striking, surreal moments | Cons: grotesque, disturbing scenes; explicit sexual content; long and uneven
Themes
- puberty
- adultery
- lolita
- suicide
- based on novel or book
- nazi
- dwarf
- gdansk, poland
- circus
- toxication
- germany
- married couple
- +19 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best International Feature Film · 1980
- Palme d'Or · 1979
- Academy Award — Best International Feature Film · 1980 · nominated
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1980 · nominated
Cast & crew
Mario Adorf
as Alfred Matzerath
Angela Winkler
as Agnes Matzerath
David Bennent
as Oskar Matzerath
Katharina Thalbach
as Maria Matzerath
Daniel Olbrychski
as Jan Bronski
Tina Engel
as Young Anna Koljaiczek
Berta Drews
as Anna Koljaiczek
- RT
Roland Teubner
as Joseph Koljaiczek
- TK
Tadeusz Kunikowski
as Uncle Vinzenz
Andréa Ferréol
as Lina Greff
Directed by Volker Schlöndorff