Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann (The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum) (1975)

89% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
83% of users liked it
(614 ratings)

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… More 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. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 44 min.
Directed By: Volker Schlöndorff, Margarethe von Trotta
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Oct 3, 1975 Wide
On DVD: Feb 25, 2003

Critic Reviews

Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
The special features are informative.
Dan Jardine, Apollo Guide
The film's final reel is the only vital weakness in an otherwise nasty but effective exposé on the abuses by those in and with power on those without.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Makes a very strong case against yellow journalism
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
Böll's points about privacy, the power of the media, and the dangers of an abusive press working hand in glove with government authority are as pressing as ever.
Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Katharina Blum is a fictional case within a lens of subjectivity that affords a clear contemporary resonance.
Mark Robison, Reno Gazette-Journal
Relevant again.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stefanie C

Brilliant! Who could have foreseen how relevant reactionary right-wing conservativism and a terrorizing media would be to contemporary American politics?
Mark A

A taut thriller that is just as relevant today as when it was produced, more than thirty five years ago. A young woman spends a night with a suspected terrorist and becomes the object of a police investigation and an intense slur campaign waged by a smarmy, unscrupulous news hound and… More
A taut thriller that is just as relevant today as when it was produced, more than thirty five years ago. A young woman spends a night with a suspected terrorist and becomes the object of a police investigation and an intense slur campaign waged by a smarmy, unscrupulous news hound and his photographer. The very beautiful Angela Winkler plays the title character and exudes a very convincing aura of naivete and bewilderment during the interrogations. We are never sure just how much she really knows, or whether she is, as she maintains, an innocent caught up in the intrigue of others. But the thrust of the movie is the way that she is portrayed in the media of the day. One could not watch without recognizing how difficult it is to recover ones good name when all of your dirty laundry (and some that was made up out of whole cloth) has been aired. Just ask Casey Anthony. The ending, while shocking, seems almost justifiable given the events as they unfolded. Jurgen Prochnow plays the terrorist, Ludwig, quietly and darkly menacing. Mario Adorf plays the lead investigator who seems a little too cozy with the reporter, played by Dieter Laser.