Here we go again in covering my long-awaited list of the classics! This is the startling tale of a most unusual German-Polish boy growing up in 1920s- & '30s Danzig, with three major traits: He has stopped growing physically at the age of three by throwing himself down a staircase, he is obsessed with his toy tin drum... and his voice can shatter glass! Adapted from the Günter Grass novel, the rise of Nazi Germany and subsequent WW2 eruption serves as a great, captivating backdrop to a highly memorable (if not sympathetic or understandable) protagonist's fate in this splendidly produced drama.
What it does do, however, is waver unevenly between being brilliantly surreal (with show-stopping scenes), off-puttingly unpleasant and visually hypnotic. Also, the wallowing in the bizarre and grotesque is sure to divide its critic fronts, but to me, the inexplicable long lulls in the middle and VERY cold characters (is ANY to care for, really?) most unfortunately hamper the much-acclaimed masterpiece potential. But in retrospect, its influence is clear to see on many film-makers to have come along, such as Tom Tykwer & Lars Von Trier.
6 out of 10 from Ozjeppe
What it does do, however, is waver unevenly between being brilliantly surreal (with show-stopping scenes), off-puttingly unpleasant and visually hypnotic. Also, the wallowing in the bizarre and grotesque is sure to divide its critic fronts, but to me, the inexplicable long lulls in the middle and VERY cold characters (is ANY to care for, really?) most unfortunately hamper the much-acclaimed masterpiece potential. But in retrospect, its influence is clear to see on many film-makers to have come along, such as Tom Tykwer & Lars Von Trier.
6 out of 10 from Ozjeppe