Schlöndorff's first film (that I know of) is 1966 adaptation of the short DIE VERWIRRUNGEN DES JUNGEN TÖRLESS, a short novel by the great and under-appreciated Viennese writer Robert Musil (author of THE MAN WITHOUT QUALITIES). My point is that it is clear that Schlöndorff is a very enlightened director, aware of the great modern literary tradition that came before him. We may be reminded of Joseph K. in Kafka's THE TRIAL, who wakes up "one fine morning" with the police in his room and is under arrest "without having done anything wrong." We also should find similarities between the methods the police in this film use to prosecute Katharina Blum and the way the prosecutors slander Camus' hero Meursault in THE STRANGER. This film is highly recommended for those interested in the legacy of German history. There are subtle references to the Nazi period in this film that students in German Studies should pick up on. Overall, this film is very respectful of the intellectual tradition that precedes it, but it gets a 9 for not "infecting" the viewer (in the Tolstoyan sense).
