The Tin Drum

The Book

The Tin Drum (German: Die Blechtrommel) is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is part of Grass' Danziger Triologie (Danzig Trilogy).

The Film

The novel was adapted for the screenplay of a 1979 film of the same name, directed by Volker Schlöndorff. The film won the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Cast

Mario Adorf - Alfred Matzerath
Angela Winkler - Agnes Matzerath
Katharina Thalbach - Maria Matzerath
David Bennent - Oskar Matzerath
Daniel Olbrychski - Jan Bronski
Tina Engel - Anna Koljaiczek (young)
Berta Drews - Anna Koljaiczek (old)
Roland Teubner - Joseph Koljaiczek
Tadeusz Kunikowski - Uncle Vinzenz
Andréa Ferréol - Lina Greff
Heinz Bennent - Greff
Ilse Pagé - Gretchen Scheffler
Werner Rehm - Scheffler
Käte Jaenicke - Mother Truczinski
Helmut Brasch - Old Heilandt

Synopsis

The story is about the life of Oskar Matzerath, who writes his autobiography from memory while in a sanitarium during the years 1952 to 1954. However, Oskar's memories begin before those of ordinary people. The story starts with his own birth, when Oskar sees the light of "two sixty-watt bulbs" in Danzig (Gdansk, now Poland). Oskar declares himself to be one of those "auditory clairvoyant babies", whose "spiritual development is complete at birth and only needs to affirm itself". At age three he receives a tin drum for his birthday and decides, after observing the obtuseness and duplicity of the adult world, to will himself not to grow up.

Controversy

In 1980, the film version of The Tin Drum was first cut, and then banned as child pornography by the Ontario Censor Board in Canada.

On June 25, 1997, the movie was banned from Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, citing the state's obscenity laws for portraying underage sexuality, and all copies in Oklahoma City were confiscated. Most were returned within a few months.

External links