The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum - Criterion Collection

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A striking examination of the power of the police and excesses of the media, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum grows more pertinent every day. When the police burst into Katharina Blum's apartment, they fail to find the suspected terrorist they've been tracking and arrest Blum for harboring a fugitive. Immediately she becomes a media sensation; between the ruthless interrogation of the police, the even more invasive muckraking of a notorious tabloid, and harassment from the sensation-hungry public, Blum's ordinary life is turned inside out until she has to lash out to defend her own sanity. A German film made in 1975, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum could have been made today in the U.S. Angela Winkler gives a compelling performance as Katharina, but the entire movie is superbly realized: suspenseful, compassionate, and shot through with dark humor. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum.......2007-07-05

Tense, taut suspenser presents an object lesson on the nature of presumed guilt, and the corrosive power of the media, working with a police force desperate for "results', to virtually destroy the life of an innocent person. Directors Schlondorff and Von Trotta unfold this waking nightmare with a tense realism that's unnerving. Winkler makes a most sympathetic victim, while the craggy, enigmatic Prochnow is tailor-made for his shadowy part. In all, a disturbing and thought-provoking entry, expertly rendered.

Katharina Blum is not an Innocent Victim.......2007-01-08

This is a very fine movie regarding a young and confused woman who is hiding a terrorist. Katharina Blum (Angela Winkler) is breaking the law. She is definitely not an innocent victim. The police are totally justified in pushing the envelope to protect the general public. Ludwig (Jürgen Prochnow) may be warm and gentle towards Katharina---but he is still a dedicated anarchist who endangers the lives of innocent people. If anything, "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" highlights the struggle of honest and hard working police officers to do their job while still respecting the rights of suspected criminals. Where is the line drawn? How far should they go? Certain members of the media, however, do behave deplorably. The scandal monger journalist is truly a despicable human being. He has no hesitation to distort the truth to get a juicy headline. This film may be somewhat dated. Still, it is worth seeing today. The moral and legal dilemma of how best for a democratic society to pursue its sworn enemies will not go away anytime in the near future.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

"Typically bourgeois novels.".......2005-12-25

An introverted young German girl named Katharina Blum (Angela Winkler) meets a man at a party. Unaware that he's a terrorist under police surveillance, she takes him home for the night. When the police raid her flat the next day, expecting to find Ludwig (Jurgen Prochnow), they discover that he's slipped away. Since Katharina is now their only lead, they begin to pressure her about Ludwig's whereabouts.

"The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" examines exactly what happens to a young woman whose privacy is ripped away by an unscrupulous journalist Werner Totges (Dieter Laser) who's in cahoots with the police. Following leads given by the police, Totges invades every aspect of Katharina's life--harassing her dying mother, interviewing a disgruntled ex-husband, and basically feeding her private information to anyone who cares to buy a paper. Katharina--who was nick-named 'the Nun', becomes the target of threatening and suggestive phone calls. Even the titles of her books come under scrutiny.

The film examines how one young girl whose life squarely fits the norm, inadvertently transgresses. Once she is no longer the norm, and she's seen to be acquainted, connected or possibly sympathetic to a terrorist, she's vulnerable to the various power levels placed in society--neighbours, former friends, newspaper readers--all become the jurors of her morality--until she as effectively isolated from society as Ludwig. The film raises some interesting questions about journalistic ethics, but in these days of tabloid sensationalism, the film's shock effect is numbed. Instead, the outrage remains the tainting of the reputations of Katharina's relatives and employers--nice people who just try to stand by her. In spite of the fact that the film is a bit dated, it's still relevant today--especially in light of the recent allegations of illegal wiretaps and surveillance currently being conducted by the Bush administration. The film is based on the novel by Heinrich Boll--a journalist who wrote an article in Der Spiegel questioning whether a bank robbery was really the work of the Red Army Faction. Boll suffered the consequences of his stance. The novel and the film are the results of his experiences. DVD extras include an interview with directors Volker Schlondorff and Margaretha von Trotta, excerpts from a documentary by Heinrich Boll, and an interview with the cinematographer. In German with English subtitles--displacedhuman

Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann.......2005-06-13

Good movie based on the novel by Heinrich Böll. Katharina Blum (Angela Winkler) is interrogated by Kommissar Beizmenne (Mario Adorf) because she has just spent the night with Ludwig, a terrorist. The police are brutes, but we're never really sure what Katharina knows or doesn't know, and I thought the moral ambiguity on this point increased the overall credibility of the film. The best part about it was pretty unambiguous, though - pretty damning indictment of the press, here characterized by an incredibly unscrupulous newspaper reporter, Toetges (Dieter Laser). Nice score by Hans Werner Henze. The DVD edition includes a great interview with the husband and wife directors, Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta.

Breathtaking movie !.......2004-12-13

This is one the most appreciated gems in the german cinema of the middle seventies.
The bitter and unstopable process of decay in Katherine Blum is described with vivid expression , overwhelmong camera work and superb script .
You will watch a depressive movie and a mature picture . Tasefully made but without any drop of oversimplifications and
ornaments . The film is incisive and direct . It plays hard with the sensibility of the viewer . So beware with this movie .
Extraordinary film and undoubtedly a master gem of this brilliant director , unfortunately missed in the present time : Wolker Schlondorff.

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