The Tin Drum

Oskar Matzerath, whose mental and spiritual development ceased at birth, decides at the age of three to stop growing and keeps the body of a child. This grotesque character, who always holds a tin drum, sees the world "from below" with merciless criticism.

Oskar is many things: a malicious dwarf, a vulnerable being, always in love with some woman he idealises, a talented man who knows the power of art, obsessed with the drum's fall and with sex. All this makes Oskar both a monster and a tragic hero, while the work is a farce told with wild sarcasm and extravagant comedy.

Oskar tells his strange story while writing memoirs of himself and his family, from age 28 to 30, locked in a mental health clinic and at the same time under investigation for a murder. Together with his family's story, he also recounts the history of Germany before, during and after the Second World War, addressing a major theme: German guilt.