The Tin Drum

The Tin Drum (1979) starring David Bennent. At three years of age, disgusted with adults, young Oskar (Bennent) decides not to grow anymore. He lives in Danzig, and his decision coincides with the beginning of the rise of Nazism. He is inseperable from his tin drum, and when someone tries to take it away, he screams, breaking things made of glass. As Oskar grows older, Nazi influence becomes ever more pervasive, until he is caught in a battle between Germans and Poles, reckoned to be the first battle of World War II. This remarkable motion picture, part history, part fantasy, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. (In German, with English subtitles.) Grade: B+