The Tin Drum
dir. Volker Schlöndorff · 1979
Plot
Danzig in the 1920s-1930s. Oskar Matzerath, son of a local dealer, is a most unusual boy. Equipped with full intellect right from birth, he decides on his third birthday not to grow up as he sees the crazy world around him on the eve of World War II. He refuses to join society and his tin drum symbolizes his protest against the middle-class mentality of his family and neighbourhood, which stand for all passive people in Nazi Germany at the time. But (almost) nobody listens to him, so the catastrophe continues.
Why watch
"The Tin Drum" is a haunting exploration of innocence lost amidst the chaos of a society spiraling into madness. Through the eyes of a child who refuses to grow up, it critiques the complacency of the bourgeoisie while employing surreal imagery that lingers long after the credits roll.