The Tin Drum

The concept - witnessing the frontline drama of the 20th C in Europe through the eyes of an unchanging child - sounds like a hit. But I did not find myself enjoying it. That little drumming screaming shit needed a good spanking. The relentless sexual perversion and Freudian themes were over the top, and going off to war with a troupe of dwarves simply a stretch too far for my patience. Somehow it's considered a classic. An epic maybe but this is far too messy and nonsensical for classic status.

I don't think I've ever seen another film in which I've so strongly hoped the main character would die.

Another candidate for Weirdest Movie Ever Made. A very special piece of work in every way

A lesson for adapted novels. Shocking, raw and beautiful images go with impressive storytelling. The final shots leave you with an emotional impact.

Top badass moment? I’ll never look at a sherbet fountain the same way again. I'm not sure if I’ve just seen something very profound, or a weird mind fuck designed to make heads explode. But as an essay on bad parenting it takes some beating. Seriously, just take the stupid drum away. Oskar, with his Mark Zuckerberg devil eyes, is the world’s most annoying child. Features vertically challenged people, gross eel fishing, saliva, Nazis and boiled frogs. 6 cats, no chainsaws or decapitations.

Whatever weird charms this movie concocted, they worked like gangbusters for me. I was expecting something much more dire so that it was this enjoyable and almost Fellini-esque came as a happy surprise.

"OSKAR WILL NICHT!" Black and blue comedy; there's a bigger obscenity under all the grotesquery, a disgust that has to be ignored or redirected. The one who refuses to grow up physically gets to see what the supposed grown ups refuse to take responsibility for.

An extraordinary film, jam packed with comedy and tragedy.

Fine version of a complex, hard to film book.

Reminds me of Shohei Imamura's best stuff: warped, head-scratching and compelling.

good movie

Very Entertaining

Schloendorff's adaptation of the famous Gunter Grass novel is a rich, lush and nuanced production. Among other themes, like sex, Germany's horrific past is shown with painstaking honesty, but from a bizarre perspective: through the eyes of a freakish growth-impaired boy with a tin drum and a glass-shattering shriek.

Oddity that does not work in a movie. I wonder what the book is like. Hail to the photography, particularly panaromic shots.

There are a lot of interesting ideas in the film and much of the story would be compelling, except the driving premise is rather stupid and the lead character is annoying as hell.

Despite the fact that the film is undeniably strange, it feels flat and has little emotion, which, in a film like this, is a hinderance.

I just don't get the hype. This is basically German Forrest Gump with the freakish elements dialed up. I get the symbolism here--boy as the representative of Germany's changing culture, but the film doesn't really do anything with these observations. Meh.

A very strange story, told in a quite unique way-very interesting imagery that can be quite overwhelming -The characters are almost fantastical so although bad events swirl around them you feel no empathy on a human level.

This is so weird. It's definitely different, and it kept me interested throughout, but it was just a bit too out there for me. It's an interesting mess, but it's still a mess. It feels like it's just missing something, or maybe a lot of things. Certainly an interesting effort, though.

There's bits that are good (even "Fellini-esque") but that just can't stand up to the insufferable spoiled brat of a protagonist (and a pervert, at that) that we follow throughout. I would have traded him for that bucketful of eels.

12.16 Hobbit

////December 11th, 2016 - 88////

7?

needs more fish

Fantastic book, but gets compressed a bit too much for the film version.

Overrated shitty movie that should not stand side by side with Apocalypse.

ger; [die blechtrommel]; das leben eines seltsamen jungen.; (durchgängig verstörende und nachdenklich machende bilder);

Herzog meets Fellini. Schlondorff's film is an epic length quasi surrealist black comic take on the horrific events of WW2 from the most unusual of perspectives: a growth impaired boy with a tin drum and a piercing scream. While initially resisting the decadence of the adult world, Oskar falls prey to his own brand of perversion, which merely reflects the moral chaos around him. Not a masterpiece exactly, but certainly a strange and unusual film with moments of brilliance.

TSPDT #546. sitting firmly in the wacky world of new german cinema, this film set during the rise of nazism in europe is also a dazzling and grotesque coming-of-age story of a permanently short boy who drums and screams a lot. it's amazing that something this obscure and obscene won an oscar, but i suppose that is reflective of the academy's blind adoration of nazi movies. but this one's a good one. a great one, in fact.

A very special film, despite the protagonist being an obnoxious little brat.

Ignorando toda discussão existencial que a decisão do garoto de não crescer pode suscitar, ainda assim diversos outras bizarrices alegóricas compõem a moral de sua história, enquanto que o pano de fundo da guerra se ocupa dos ingredientes de realidade. Assim como Oskar, a sociedade alemã de então emulava uma inocência que há muito perdera e, inexoravelmente, essa relutância em encarar os fatos, essa negligência para com eles, não poderia converter-se em outra coisa senão desgraça.

Magical Realism sucks.

Brings most of the high points of the novel to life but the style is weirdly primitive and it never really gets to the heart of anything in particular. Bennent is the clear MVP here, positively nailing the lead character's nightmarish petulance.

I think I'd have understood it more if I had read the book. For those of you that haven't - good luck.

The kid makes the worst sound in the world. Maybe I didn't give it a fair shot, but I value my eardrums.

#623

One of the worst movie adaptation of a book.

Beautifully shot, definitely worth seeing. Does what it can with a huge wonderful book. Despite all its positives does not really sweep the viewer up in it current.

Oskar is right up there with the screaming mutant baby from Eraserhead in terms of likability. But once you get past some of the more disgusting scenes it is a very well done film with a unique style.

Yes, yes, very artsy and all. But the film feels like the artsy remediation of an artsy book. There are brilliant moments in there; the beginning is particularly fantastic, but the movie just doesn't really overall seem to make much sense. It's not really a movie to rewatch, but it's worth one go for sure.

585

Die blechtrommel: 8 // 7 // 7 // 6 // 5 // 6 // 6

Amazing and terrifying film.

One of the most unpleasant movies ever. I guess that's the point, but I can't say I enjoyed the experience.

641

x0

# 836

My highly scientific and educated evaluation: Weird.

Score based on distant memory.

i hate the boy

Has a Werner Herzog meets John Irving kind of feel to it that I should have enjoyed, but I didn't. I was thoroughly uninterested and I don't know why I bothered to sit through the whole thing. I had no sense of curiosity or emotional involvement for the characters. It was unusual, and it was shot well, but I didn't care about any of it.