David Bennent, Adolf Hitler, Günter Meisner, Katharina Thalbach
The Free City of Danzig, 1927. At three, precocious toddler Oskar Matzerath makes a conscious decision that would shape his life forever: deliberately stop growing until he gets a lacquered red-and-white tin drum. During Nazi Germany's rise to power, Oskar's life takes a dramatic turn as he tries to navigate through adolescence and adulthood, scarred forever by his mother's clandestine affair. But despite his small size, Oskar takes a stand against the cruelty and senseless violence he witnesses around him with his loud metallic instrument. However, a dark era is fast approaching, and young Oskar is fighting a losing battle. Can one unusual lad be the voice of reason in the grown-ups' frightening and absurd world?—Nick Riganas