The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum [Criterion Collection]

Director: Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlondorff Volker Schlöndorff

Overview

"The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum marks the directorial debut for actress Margarethe von Trotta, who co-directed the film with her then-husband Volker Schlöndorff. At a costume party, Katharina Blum (Angela Winkler) meets Ludwig Goetten (Jürgen Prochnow ) and spends the night with him. The next morning, he's gone and the police bust into her apartment looking for him with the belief that he is a dangerous terrorist. She is taken into police custody and interrogated by Kommissar Beizmenne (Mario Adorf), who questions her about her every action. Meanwhile, sleazy reporter Werner Toetges (Dieter Laser) makes her story into a scandal in the papers by writing sensational stories about her personal life and portraying her as a criminal in photos. He exaggerates the testimonies of her ex-husband, neighbors, and even her elderly mother who is dying of cancer in an intensive care hospital. With the fear-induced public thinking she is a Communist and terrorist sympathizer, Katharina receives hate mail and personal threats until she is finally driven over the edge."

Product Details

Release Date:	02/25/2003
UPC:	0037429173428
Original Release:	1975
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	35,693

Special Features

New digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Jost Vacano, and enhanced for 16x9 televisions; New video interview with directors Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta; New video interview with cinematographer Jost Vacano; Excerpts from "Heinrich Böll," a 1977 documentary about the author of "The Last Honor of Katharina Blum"; Original theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Angela Winkler	Katharina Blum
Mario Adorf	Kommissar Beizmenne
Dieter Laser	Werner Tötges
Jürgen Prochnow	Ludwig Götten
Heinz Bennent	Dr. Hubert Blorna
Hannelore Hoger	Trude Blorna
Rolf Becker	Prosecutor Hach
Harald Kuhlmann	Moeding
Herbert Fux	Weninger
Regine Lutz	Else Woltersheim
Karl Heinz Vosgerau	Alois Sträubleder
Horatius Häberle	Prosecutor Dr. Korten(as Horatius Haeberle)
Henry van Lyck	'Scheich' Karl
Péter Franke	Actor
Walter Gontermann	Actor

Technical Credits

Volker Schlöndorff

Volker Schlöndorff	Director,Screenwriter
Margarethe von Trotta	Director
Eberhard Junkersdorf	Producer
Gunther Witte	Producer
Volker Schlondorff	Director

Editorial Reviews

Based on the novel of the same name by Nobel prize-winning author Heinrich Böll, the political drama The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum has often been praised for its social relevancy in the decades following its original release. Not only is it an effective depiction of yellow journalism in the works, but its also an honest portrayal of the paranoid political climate of West Germany during the 1970s. Quick to deny basic democratic liberties in the interest of national security, the government labels Ludwig (Jürgen Prochnow) a terrorist when he's really just a crafty thief who left the army. Katherina's personal story is presented factually without unnecessary romanticizing, and her brief affair with Ludwig is only glimpsed at from afar. The bulk of the story concerns her transformation from dowdy housekeeper to reactionary dissident, capably handled by Angela Winkler's calm demeanor and stoic presence. At first, she barely flinches when the cops bust into her apartment, but she gradually begins to develop a resistance after bearing the constant threats, lies, and interrogation. Though heavy handed at times, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum is a straightforward, unsentimental portrait of an innocent person's struggle against victimization by the press.