Official ban on viewing this movie in the USA! And yet he had an Oscar and a Palme d’Or

Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980 and the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1979, Le Tambour was released in theaters in a restored version. This landmark work in the history of cinema is part of a retrospective launched by distributor Tamasa around 5 films by Volker Schlöndorff.

The story introduces us to Oskar Macerati, a child born in 1924 in Danzig. Miraculously precocious, he greets the comments of those around him with bright skepticism. At the age of three, he abruptly ended his physical growth by deliberately falling down the stairs.

With his little drum that never leaves him, Oskar traces the adventures of his existence and history, from the rise of Nazism to World War II. Additionally, the boy discovers that he has the power to emit a high-frequency scream that can shatter the glass around him.

Starring a 13-year-old David Bennet at the time of the film’s release, Le Tambour captivated 2 million viewers in France in 1979. Co-written by Volker Schlöndorff, Jean-Claude Carriere and Franz Seitz, based on the novel by Gunther Grass. Tambur celebrated his era, as Le Monde celebrated.

“Intelligence, reflection, a sense of the irrational, a sense of uncertainty and irony are qualities which, though less spectacular than others, are no less valuable. The ones that light up Le Tambour.

“Simple adaptation” perhaps, but a beautiful film. It is both a picaresque narrative, a satirical chronicle and a political metaphor that captivates with its diversity, lyricism and oneirism.– writes the newspaper.

War, Nazism and politics

“Five of these five films are inspired by literary texts, all historical, all political. In that order – which is also typical of me”says Volker Schlöndorff, now 84, about a retrospective dedicated to him.

“Since I was born before World War II, everyone talks about war and Nazism”– adds the filmmaker. He arrived in France at a college in Brittany, not far from Chateaubriand, 11 years after the end of the war and in the year of the publication of Nuit et Brouillard.

Thus, as a teenager, he had to answer a lot of questions about German civilization and Nazism. “I looked for an explanation in education (Utoro), in childhood (Le Tambour), in the military ideal (Mercy Movement and The sea at dawn) and as far as Lebanon and Palestine (Forgery)”He confides.

with the drum “The German filmmaker has painted a satirical and picaresque tale about the rise of Nazism in Danzig, a city that is a melting pot of German and Polish influences. This film has incredible staying power.

Apart from the strength of its subject matter and its interpretation, this baroque and dreamlike farce is one of the last examples of a fully realized European co-production whose secret seems to have been lost.”Analyzed by Sylvain Lefort, co-founder of Revus & Corrigés.

Director’s Cut

When it was released in 1979, Le Tambour had to make drastic cuts requested by the film’s co-producer, United Artists. The film was supposed to last less than two hours. The director accepted, and these scissors of the studio did not prevent the success of the film.

Subsequently, the German filmmaker was able to offer his final vision with a new edit that clocked in at 2 hours and 22 minutes, which can be seen for a June 14, 2023 release.

During negotiations with United Artists in the late 1970s, it was envisaged that Le Tambour would be made into an international film and therefore rewarded with major distribution. Roman Polanski and Dustin Hoffman were mentioned.

Indeed, these two little actors were once offered to play Oscar’s character. Isabel Ajani and Keith Carradine were also imagined as Oscar’s parents. Schlöndorff finally decided to reject the hypothesis of an Anglo-American version in favor of Polish and German actors.

movie and then it goes

Aside from his role in Ridley Scott’s The Legend, Swiss-born actor David Bennet, who plays Oscar in Le Tambour, has not worked on film again.

He devoted himself completely to the theater, playing in the biggest European companies of the last twenty years.

Drama, sex and controversy

Note that Le Tambour was the subject of a veritable witch hunt in the United States in the mid-1990s. reason? A sexually explicit and disturbing scene between Oscar and a young woman. Thus, the film was considered child pornography. Anyone found in possession of the drum in the United States could be prosecuted.

Oklahoma City police even began confiscating tape recorders. In the face of this chaotic situation, legislation was enacted: those who already owned a feature film could not be prosecuted, unlike those who tried to acquire it. Everything has been settled since then, the DVD of the movie is now available for free in Uncle Sam’s Land.

Le Tambour was released in cinemas in France on June 14. It is now classified for all audiences in our area.