Tuesday, August 30, 2011

There Was Once A Drummer...

Here is a trailer for the 1979 movie The Tin Drum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ewzWkFZOFk&feature=grec_index

Oskar is a small child who has the tin drum and glass shattering voice. It depicts scenes from Oskar's life such as his schooling, his two "presumptive" fathers, his affairs with mistresses, the fizz powder scene, the Nazi rallies, and his traveling troupe. The scenes with older women are really weird, because Oskar is a little boy and he is in bed with a grown woman. From what I can tell, it looks like a really disturbing movie. I think it does, however, accurately portray the insanity of Oskar.

8 comments:

alyb said...

This was really interesting for me to watch. The trailer really put this book into perspective for me. This really shows the impact of the Nazi's and the blowing up of the polish post office. While it might seem odd that Oskar is a child (because for awhile i thought he was a midget) it really puts into perspective the fact that he "made" himself stay little through magical realism. I definitly agree that it really does portray Oskar's insanity.

Mallory said...

That was seriously one of the worst things I've watched. I'm still cringing. Its creepy to see this very fake and almost magical story in real life. To see a child actor having mistress and sexually pleasing adult women, while still pretending to act like a child, is just an odd sight. His piercing voice portrays how childlike he is throughout his entire life because when he hears something he does not like, he just screams.

I hope we are not watching this movie in clas....

sara pendleton said...

I thought Oskar was a midget too, in fact Alys post just made me realize he just stayed a three year old in body. I think that the visuals made the novel seem a lot more graphic. I think that styalistically the novel seemed to have a twisted sence of humor but when you see it represented it looses whatever black comedy bits it had and whats left is some pretty heavy images. I hope the little boy who acted in this movie got councling after shooting this... I know its German, and its look like a pretty accurate portrayal of the book, but feel like it wouldnt be leagle to make this in America...

Shaina Lu said...

Wow (to the video). But I have to agree with all of you on this. Like Aly and Sara, I thought he was midget too for most of the book. I think this is why I didn't really catch the magic realism easily until I thought about it again.

When I read a book, I tend to picture the scenes in my head like a movie playing through it and I was a bit rattled when many of the scenes were similar to what I imagined. However, like Mallory said it was strange to see a story of magical realism acted out in real life. Picturing something and actually seeing it are two very different things.

ParkerC said...

The trailer was interesting. The part where he is laying down with Greff's wife would be disturbing to watch. I don't know if he is a midget or a boy. Maybe the movie keeps him as a boy for effect.

Ravin S said...

I'd have to agree with Parker there. Books are always open for interpretation and the director for this particular movie probably thought that it would've made it easier for the audience if Oskar was simply a boy the entire time. Plus, it would be hard to have a midget play the part and have the person "grow" by any significant height other than platform shoes or something. Well I don't know, the movie seems pretty correct in other facts, so it could be a interesting movie to see. I'd like to see how they portray other magical scenes like the horse head, onion cellar, play on the pillboxes, etc.

Christine Catinis said...

that was really disturbing. but its weird because the actor that plays oskar looks identical to what i imagined him to look like as i was reading the book...

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/08/books/08irvi3.html

he was portrayed as a child which suits his childlike personality. plus his blonde hair and blue eyes reflect his possible nazi background.

mere said...

I think it's interesting that the producers have Oskar be a boy rather than a midget. This way, it really shows how people probably viewed Oskar based on his exterior. Reading the novel from Oskar's point of you, we all know he's obviously very developed. But seeing Oskar, small and speechless, I understand how people might dismiss him as a mere child.