Die Blechtrommel / The Tin Drum

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff (1979)
German; English subtitles. 142 min.

Based on Günter Grass’s acclaimed 1959 novel, The Tin Drum tells the surreal and haunting story of Oskar Matzerath, a boy in 1920s Danzig who, disillusioned with the adult world, decides to stop growing at the age of three. Armed with his piercing scream and ever-present tin drum, Oskar becomes both a witness to and critic of the rise of Nazism and the horrors of World War II. A powerful allegory blending magical realism with historical trauma, the film won the Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.