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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
Review
Based on the novel of the same name by Nobel prize-winning author Heinrich Bll, 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 (Jrgen 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. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
