Midget erotica, waltzing Nazis, and the most vivid “horse head scene” since The Godfather. These are but a few of the memorable moments from Volker Schlndorff’s 1979 film, The Tin Drum.
The movie was shown in the Duke Hall Leak Room on Sept. 2. The Tin Drum follows the life of Oskar, a boy who grows into a young man against the background of Hitler’s rise and fall from power.
Throughout the movie, Oskar retains the height of a three-year old, even as he experiences the anguish and joy of adulthood.
The Tin Drum is the first of a series of seven films which will be presented over the next three months, as a part of David Limburg’s FYE class titled Vergangenheitsbew ltigung.
Translated, “vergangenheitsbew ltigung” means “coming to terms with the past.” As such, all of the films deal with Germany’s Nazi past, or Germany’s more recent history of Eastern/Western division.
Scheduled movies include Die Weisse Rosse (The White Rose), Das Schrekliche Mdchen (The Nasty Girl), and Die Stille nach dem Schuss (The Legend of Rita). All films are in German with English subtitles.
Limburg decided early on to make the showings open to the public, purchasing display rights for all seven movies. He cited a desire to foster “interaction between Guilford and the surrounding community” as a large part of motivation, as well as wanting to create more on- campus events for students, specifically foreign culture events.
While the majority of the audience for The Tin Drum were students in Limburg’s German classes, many others were in attendance.
Several audience members were drawn to the movie because of its controversial history.
In 1998, the right-wing Oklahoma group “Children and Families” accused the film of obscenity because it portrays a sexual relationship between a minor and an adult. It was declared child pornography by a County District Judge, and Oklahoma City Police went door to door confiscating copies of the movie and arresting those who owned it. The ruling was later overturned by a U.S. District Judge, who declared the film protected as art.
Limburg called Tin Drum “the most edgy” of the films on his roster, and many viewers seemed to agree with him, echoing Sophomore Julia Hood’s summary sentiments of “bizarre.” The next film will be Jakob der Luenger (Jakob the Liar), on Sept. 15.See other films in the series:
úSept. 16, Jakob der Luegner (Jacob the Liar)
úOct. 7, Die Weisse Rose (The White Rose)
úOct. 28, Das schreckliche Maedchen (The Nasty Girl)
úNov. 4, Das Fahrrad (The Bicycle)
úNov. 11, Das Versprechen (The Promise)
úNov. 18, Die Stille nach dem Schuss (The Legend of Rita)