O Tambor

... a boy decides to stop physically growing and remain three years old while his mind, already developed ahead of its time, continues to mature. His life continues, with his irritating drum and equally irritating scream that shatters glass (he can be adult but also revert to being a childish toddler). He has intimate relations with (much) older women! Lots of metaphor and messaging but is it or was it ever relevant? Art for arts sake and a hint of the emperors new clothes but a film you should definitely see for no other reason than to have an opinion.

Danzig in the 1920s/1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with full intellect right from his birth he decides at his third birthday not to grow up as he sees the crazy world around him at the eve of World War II.

This is very much a fantasy film. IMDb says it is a war drama, which is true enough, being set in the place and time that it is. But this is less about the war and more about Oskar, which I think makes it a fantasy film. His imagination is incredible, or perhaps more incredible is the idea that none of this is his imagination at all. His ability to alter the world around him is quite interesting.

The idea of a tin drum as a symbol of protest makes sense. It becomes even more interesting when put in the hands of a small child, protesting against life itself. Such an action is unheard of.

It's been a while since I've seen this German film but I am still struck by key images in the film and the overall tone set forth casually against a backdrop of the chaos of Nazi Germany's rise and fall.

I do wonder how much of my love for this film is owed to the Gunter Grass novel on which it's based It's a quirky slab of magic realism to be sure, like the film, but I have no idea how closely it hews to the original.

The performances are nuanced and striking in places. The cinematography is appropriately dreary and the editing crisp and unadorned. The centerpiece though, is the performance by the child actor at the core of the film. How much is owed to his voice-over narrative, I don't know, but the man growing inside of the still-grown little boy was handled just beautifully.

It's a disturbing and strangely uplifting movie at once. I recommend it -- especially for those who have seen only black and white view of World War II and the typically American view of our adversaries in German.

Die Blechtrommel, based on the highly acclaimed German novel by the same name. Oscar is 3 years old. For his birthday he gets a tin drum. He sees how grown ups act, (this is during the rise of the Nazi Party) and he decides to stop growing.

The film is filled with moral ethics and symbolism. The tin drum Oscar always drums on is a symbol of his protest against the cruelty that grown ups create, not to mention the rise of Nazism. Die Blechtrommel even has large scenes that are only for symbolism. It is probably one of the most important German films since WW2. Somehow, the German make the best films that decipher Nazism and WW2 (like Stalingrad and the new Der Untergang) which very clearly shows their self awareness. I think Die Blechtrommel is one of the finest examples of this.

It is often quite absurd this film, one of the most memorable scenes is when Oscar watches a Nazi rally. As an officer is marching through the crowd, the orchestra is playing a march. Oscar starts playing his drum, and make all the musicians play false, and after a while they all start to play "An der Schönen blauen Donau" and the crowd starts to dance.

Die Blechtrommel is one of the most memorable films ever, whet ever you liked it or not. Some scenes are very sick, and i do not encourage people who don't have a stomach for strong films to see this. For other film lovers though, this is one of the greatest films ever.

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.