Die Blechtrommel (1979)

Director:

Volker Schlöndorff

Writers:

Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)
Günter Grass (additional dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

11 April 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Academy Award Winner Best Foreign Language Film 1979

Plot:

Danzig in the 1920s/1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with...

Plot Keywords:

Germany | Birthday | Drum | Nazi | Danzig

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 12 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mario Adorf	...	Alfred Matzerath
Angela Winkler	...	Agnes Matzerath
David Bennent	...	Oskar Matzerath
Katharina Thalbach	...	Maria Matzerath
Daniel Olbrychski	...	Jan Bronski
Tina Engel	...	Anna Koljaiczek (jung)
Berta Drews	...	Anna Koljaiczek
Roland Teubner	...	Joseph Koljaiczek
Tadeusz Kunikowski	...	Onkel Vinzenz
Andréa Ferréol	...	Lina Greff (as Andréa Ferreol)
Heinz Bennent	...	Greff
Ilse Pagé	...	Gretchen Scheffler
Werner Rehm	...	Scheffler
Käte Jaenicke	...	Mutter Truczinski
Helmut Brasch	...	Der Alte Heilandt (as Helmuth Brasch)
Otto Sander	...	Musiker Meyn
Wigand Witting	...	Herbert Truczinski
Mariella Oliveri	...	Roswitha
Fritz Hakl	...	Bebra
Emil Feist	...	1.Clown
Herbert Behrendt	...	2.Clown
Karl Heinz Tittelbach	...	Felix
Charles Aznavour	...	Sigismund Markus
Marek Walczewski	...	Schugger-Leo
Ernst Jacobi	...	Löbsack
Wojciech Pszoniak	...	Fajngold
Gerda Blisse	...	Frl. Spollenhauer
Joachim Hackethal	...	Hochwürden Wiehnke
Henning Schlüter	...	Dr. Hollatz
Zygmunt Hubner	...	Dr. Michon (as Zygmunt Huebner)
Mieczyslaw Czechowicz	...	Kobyella
Bruno Thost	...	Obergefreiter Lankes
Alexander von Richthofen	...	Pvt. Herzog
Lech Grzmocinski	...	Stauer (as L. Grzmocinski)
Stanislaw Michalski	...	1.Gendarme (as S. Michalski)
J. Kapinski	...	2.Gendarme
Dietrich Frauboes	...	Oberartz - Medical Chief
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Horst Gentzen	...	Felix (voice) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (voice) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Eel Catcher (voice) (uncredited)
Beata Pozniak	...	Extra (uncredited)
Lutz Riedel	...	Soldier (voice) (uncredited)
Raphaël Vogt	...	Peter (uncredited)
Herbert Weissbach	...	Fajngold (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Volker Schlöndorff

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean-Claude Carrière		writer
Günter Grass		additional dialogue
Günter Grass		novel
Volker Schlöndorff		writer
Franz Seitz		writer

Produced by
Eberhard Junkersdorf	....	executive producer
Hans Prescher	....	producer: HR
Franz Seitz	....	producer
Anatole Dauman	....	producer (uncredited)
Volker Schlöndorff	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Maurice Jarre

Cinematography by
Igor Luther

Film Editing by
Suzanne Baron

Production Design by
Piotr Dudzinski
Zeljko Senecic

Art Direction by
Nicos Perakis

Set Decoration by
Marijan Marcius		(as Marijan Marcijus)
Edouard Pezzoli
Paul Weber

Costume Design by
Inge Heer
Dagmar Niefind
Yoshio Yabara		(as Yoshy Yabara)

Makeup Department
Rino Carboni	....	makeup artist
Albina Mackic	....	makeup artist
Vitaliana Patacca	....	hair stylist (as Vitaliana Potacka)
Ingeborg Thiess	....	hair stylist
Alfredo Tiberi	....	makeup artist
Teresa Tomaszewska	....	makeup artist
Ruzica Vidmar	....	key makeup artist (as Ruza Vidmar)

Production Management
Dominik Baltic	....	unit manager
Donko Buljan	....	production manager
Emir Cejvan	....	production manager
André Heinrich	....	production manager
Siegfried Hofbauer	....	production manager
Herbert Kerz	....	production manager
Czeslaw Klak	....	unit manager
Urszula Orczykowska	....	production manager
Marko Vrdoljak	....	production manager
Emir Vrodoljak	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wolfgang Krake	....	assistant director
Branko Lustig	....	assistant director
Richard Malbequi	....	assistant director
Andrzej Reiter	....	assistant director
Alexander von Richthofen	....	assistant director

Art Department
Dominique Antony	....	set constructor
Pierre Audouard	....	props
Ivo Baltic	....	props
Franz Bauer	....	props
Ewa Kowalska	....	set constructor
Tadeusz Kunikowski	....	props
Christian Lenz	....	props
Bernd Lepel	....	set designer
Boleslaw Miziolek	....	props
Barbara Nowak	....	set designer
Stanislaw Nowak	....	painter
Tihomir Piletic	....	set designer
Thomas Schulz	....	props
Bogdan Serwa	....	painter
Ivo Stjejan	....	props

Sound Department
Peter Beil	....	sound
Walter Grundauer	....	sound
Peter Kellerhals	....	sound (as Walter Kellerhals)
Hans-Dieter Schwarz	....	sound mixer (as Hans Dieter Schwarz)

Special Effects by
Georges Iaconelli	....	pyrotechnician (as Georges Jaconelli)
Josif Karovski	....	weapons
Krzysztof Szwed	....	pyrotechnician
Nikola Vujasinovic	....	pyrotechnician

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Arnold	....	assistant camera
Slawomir Baranski	....	gaffer
Pero Bernakovic	....	electrician
Andrzej Biskupski	....	still photographer
Zvonko Blaskovic	....	gaffer
Karl Dillitzer	....	lighting technician
Antun Gorisek	....	grip
Ulla Hübner	....	still photographer
Stanislav Jesih	....	lighting technician
Eugeniusz Kapelak	....	electrician
Vlado Loncaric	....	gaffer
Stanislaw Piech	....	lighting technician
Drago Poldrugac	....	gaffer
Karl Reiter	....	still photographer
Peter Seitz	....	still photographer
Nikolaus Starkmeth	....	assistant camera
Paul Weber	....	lighting technician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Krystyna Bartosik	....	wardrobe
Anica Cerovac	....	wardrobe
Marko Cerovac	....	costumer
Zofia Jedrezejac	....	wardrobe
Renée Miquel	....	wardrobe
Elzbieta Radke	....	costumer
Franjo Simek	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Helga Kusterka	....	assistant editor
Agape von Dorstewitz	....	assistant editor (as Agape Dorstewitz)
Barbara von Weitershausen	....	assistant editor (as Barbara v. Weitershausen)

Music Department
Lothar Brühne	....	composer: song "Kann Denn Liebe Sünde Sein?" (uncredited)
Maurice Jarre	....	conductor (uncredited)
Jan Latham-Koenig	....	musician: piano (uncredited)
Carl Loubé	....	orchestra (uncredited)
Sidney Sax	....	orchestra contractor (uncredited)
Eric Tomlinson	....	music engineer (uncredited)

Other crew
Andrzej Dojnik	....	production assistant
Ute Ehmke	....	location manager
Ingrid Höller	....	production secretary
Paulette Hufnagel	....	production administrator
Louis Mayr	....	location manager
Jean Claude Mouliére	....	location manager
Franjo Proscan	....	production secretary
Lilo Schick	....	script supervisor
Gabriele Seitz	....	press relations
Amelia Statkiewicz	....	production administrator
Ivan Steiger	....	toys provided by
Günther M. Stocklöv	....	location manager (as Günter Stocklöv)
Zygmunt Wójcik	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Argos Films
• Artémis Productions
• Bioskop Film
• Film Polski Film Agency
• Franz Seitz Filmproduktion
• GGB-14
• Hallelujah Films
• Jadran Film

Distributors

• Argos Films (1979) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1979) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1979) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (198?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (DVD)
• New World Pictures (1980) (USA) (subtitled)
• Spectra Nova (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)

Other Companies

• National Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra

Also Known As:

The Tin Drum (UK) (USA)
Blaszany bebenek (Poland)
Le tambour (France)
Limeni dobos (Yugoslavia: Serbian title)
O Tambor (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Bádogdob (Hungary) [hu]
Blecktrumman (Sweden) [sv]
Bliktrommen (Denmark) [da]
De blikken trommel (Netherlands) [nl]
El tambor (Argentina) [es]
El tambor de hojalata (Spain) [es]
El timbal de llauna (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Il tamburo di latta (Italy) [it]
Peltirumpu (Finland) [fi]
Plechový bubínek (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
Teneke trampet (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
To tambourlo (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

West Germany | France | Poland | Yugoslavia

Language:

Hebrew | Italian | German | Polish | Russian

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Australia:R | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:18 (re-rating) | Australia:MA (re-rating: 2007) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1994) (cut) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2003) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

CCC-Atelier, Spandau, Berlin, Germany

Company:

Argos Films

Trivia:

Also banned in parts of Canada for its depiction of underage sexuality.

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene at the table Agnes is holding a fork with her left hand. On the next shot, she's holding the fork with her right hand.

Quotes:

Bebra: You must join us, you must!
Oskar Matzerath: You know, Mr. Bebra... to tell the truth, I prefer to be a member of the audience, and let my little art flower in secret.
Bebra: My dear Oskar, trust an experienced colleague. Our kind must never sit in the audience. Our kind must perform and run the show, or the others will run *us*. The others are coming. They will occupy the fairgrounds, they will stage torchlight parades, build rostrums, fill the rostrums, and from those rostrums preach our destruction.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Cinemania: I anodos kai i ptosi tou Nazismou" (2008)

Grotesque yet beautiful

Having read the greater-than-life novel by Günther Grass, this film is an interesting viewing for many reasons. Reason number 1: the most important reason is of course, how on earth did they manage to get anyone to play Oskar? The director has shown us a stroke of geniosity by casting a 12-year old boy as Oskar, who besides is a brilliant actor (I wonder whatever became of him). Reason number two: how could anyone ever visualize the grotesque and chaotic scenes in the book? Once again the director comes up with something brilliant, he makes the scenes as graphic as possible, he doesn't care about the MPAA, he doesn't care about movie-watchers with heart problems, and he's not afraid of overdoing anything. He puts as much force and effort in the scenes as possible, and they come out brilliantly. Reason number 3: How does he capture the moods of the multi-layered book? He simply stays very faithful to the books text and uses camera angles, lighting effects and music perfectly to accompany the visions of Günther Grass. Those are the most apparent reasons and because of those, the film is brilliant. The only flaw is leaving the story unfinished (although, the ones who never read the book, won't notice that). Altogether, an interesting, stylish and rewarding film experience.