Le tambour

... 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.

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.

I saw this movie back in 80'or 81' on HBO in the middle of the night. I was only 7 years old and everyone in the house had fallen asleep and I sat there enthralled. I did not know what it was about throughout the entire move. I didn't understand what the story was but the scenes in the movie have stayed with me for 20 years! Due to the internet,20 years later I am able to come on and find out what in the world I saw that night because I remembered that the title had Drum in it. I still don't know if the story of this movie will be any good but I can make the comment that this movie absolutely has the most memorable scenes I've ever encountered in a film before.

I saw this flick many years ago, and there are images from this movie I shall probably take with me to the grave.

Things I saw in this movie that vividly stuck in my brain are such things as a huge eel being pulled out of a severed horses head that was just dragged from the sea on a rope, a soldier having carnal knowledge with a lady in the middle of a field while being hunted by another soldier, a young boy spitting into a hand of a young girl ...

And I could go on. This movie I found to be extremely unique and varied in many ways. I don't know that I can really recommend this movie all in all, but if you do watch it, be prepared for a very unique experience film wise.

Beamer