Film: The Tin Drum
Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Country: Germany
Released: May 1979
Runtime: 162 minutes
Genre: Surrealism
Studio: Franz Seitz Filmproduktion / United Artists
Influenced: Terry Gilliam, Lars Von Trier, Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Emir Kusturica
Adapted from the epic 1959 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass, The Tin Drum captured on film some of the dark humour and magical realism of the original book. Grass based the story on his own experiences growing up in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) during the tumultuous years leading up to and during WWII, and both the novel and the film explore themes of German history, identity and the rise of Nazism through the eyes of its protagonist, Oskar Matzerath, a precocious boy who – at the age of three – decides to stop growing physically.
Oskar is gifted with an exceptional tin drum, which he uses as a means of protest against the adult world and as a symbol of his refusal to participate in the atrocities of war. Oskar narrates his own story from a mental institution, where he has been committed owing to his refusal to grow up. From a cinematic point of view, what stands out about Schlöndorff's screen version of The Tin Drum is its unique visual style, blending elements of realism and surrealism to create a dreamlike atmosphere that mirrors Oskar's singular perspective on life. Schlöndorff enjoyed the challenge of adapting literary works for the screen by leading authors like Robert Musil, Heinrich Böll, Marcel Proust and Arthur Miller, and to capture the essence of The Tin Drum he employed renowned screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière.
Oskar's mother, Agnes, runs a toy shop, which becomes a central location in the film. It is in the shop that Oskar witnesses the rise of Nazism and the persecution of Jews, culminating in a horrifying scene where Agnes and Alfred hide a Jewish friend in the shop's basement. Oskar also witnesses the infamous Kristallnacht, a night of widespread anti-Jewish violence, during which he throws his drum into a bonfire. This act represents Oskar's disillusionment with the adult world. As in the book, Oskar can be an unreliable narrator and Schlöndorff captures very well the deceptive and evasive nature of the original text. It's important to remember while watching the film that Oskar is not in all cases an innocent child, otherwise some of the more graphic scenes would make for difficult viewing.
While in the original cut the general impression the film gives of the Nazis is that of bumbling idiots, the director's cut (with its additional 20 minutes) has darker and more serious moments, such as the scene where a Polish survivor of the Treblinka concentration camp returns to his grocery store and speaks to the ghosts of his wife and six children. The film's mood lightens a little in the scenes after the war, with Oskar becoming a member of a jazz band and experiencing a series of misadventures, including surviving an Allied bombing raid and engaging in a love affair, reflecting the chaotic and uncertain nature of post-war Germany. The Tin Drum received widespread critical acclaim upon its release, winning the Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980, and remains a late masterpiece of New German Cinema.
Comments