Episode 95: The Tin Drum (1979)

From Garrett Chaffin-Quiray, 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die: "An allegory about infantilism, Volker Schlondorff's The Tin Drum is told through thr point of view of Oskar Metzerath (David Bennet), a German boy on the sideline of history.  Omniscient before birth, his life becomes the frame for judging adult behavior, especially with regard to troublesome, obsessive sexuality.  When he receives a tin drum for his third birthday, Oskar refuses to grow and bigger as he grows older.  Afterward observing the rise of Nazism, he bangs his drum and exhibits a scream to break glass whenever he feels libidinously challenged or disappointed.  Gradually, however, Oskar's size reduces him to little more than a freak show, simultaneously suggesting the absence of a moral conscience among people who supported the Third Reich. "Throughout its length one picture shocks and confuses.  A midget circus act transforms into the headline of Parisian nightlife.  Eels pill from a severed horse's head.  A Nazi rally transforms into 'The Blue Danube.'  Most disturbing, Oskar, the teenager trapped in a boy's body played by twelve-year-old Bennet, makes love to his housemaid-turned-stepmother, possibly conceiving his child/brother.  A sensation ever since being released in 1979, The Tin Drum is a fantasy turned on end with unexpected jolts." Have a comment or question for the host?  Email Sean at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @1001MoviesPC.