The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum

Original title: Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum

1975
R
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Mario Adorf and Angela Winkler in The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975)

A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.

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Docudrama Heist Political Drama Crime Drama

A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist.

Directors
- Volker Schlöndorff
- Margarethe von Trotta
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Volker Schlöndorff
- Margarethe von Trotta
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination total

Videos1

Trailer 3:14

Trailer [en]

Photos190

+ 183

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Storyline

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Trivia
At the end of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975), there is the following DISCLAIMER/EPILOGUE: "Personen und Handlung sind frei erfunden. Ähnlichkeiten mit gewissen journalistischen sind weder beabsichtigt, noch zufällig, sondern unvermeidlich." This means: "Characters and events are fictitious. Description of certain journalistic practices is neither intentional nor accidental, but unavoidable."

Goofs
Before any shots are fired, the back of the reporter's white sweater has red stains visible from previous takes.

Quotes
Lüding, Verleger: The shots that killed Werner Tötges didn't hit him alone. They were aimed at Freedom of the Press, one of the most precious values of our young Democracy. And these shots - for us who stand here in grief and horror - they strike us. Just as they struck him. Who doesn't feel the wound? Who doesn't feel the sorrow above and beyond one's personal concerns? Who doesn't feel the breath of terror, the savage of anarchy, the violence which is undermining the foundations of our liberal-democratic order which we are so devoted to. Here, allegedly private motives have led to a political assassination, and we can say once more: stop it before it grows! Look out, for Freedom of the Press is the core of everything: well-being, social progress, democracy, pluralism, diversity of opinions. And whoever attacks The Paper attacks us all.

Crazy credits
The legal disclaimer reads as follows: 'Personen und Handlung sind frei erfunden. Sollten sich bei der Schilderung gewisser journalistischer Praktiken Aehnlichkeiten mit den Praktiken der BILD-Zeitung ergeben haben, so sind diese Aehnlichkeiten weder beabsichtigt noch zufaellig, sondern unvermeidlich.' (Characters and plot are purely fictitious. Similarities with journalistic practices of the newspaper "BILD" are neither intended nor coincidental, but inevitable.) This is a direct quote from the introduction to the original novel by Heinrich Böll.

Connections
Edited into A Grin Without A Cat (1977)

Soundtracks
Spanish Flea
(uncredited)
Written by Julius Wechter

User reviews30

Review

Featured review

9/10

The War On Terror...

It's funny, but the recent Criterion DVD release of "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" gives it a whole new perspective. Next to "The Legend of Rita", "Lost Honor" is almost like "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead". But in this case, it's dead serious.

Katharina Blum is a normal German woman who has a one-night state with a man she meets at a party. Later, she finds out that he is an anarchist and part of a Baader-Meinhoff-type gang; the group Rita from "Legend of Rita" is supposed to be a member of.

Responding to the activities of German urban guerrillas, there is a national dragnet to hunt them down. Blum is arrested and gets caught up in the hunt, revealing a myopic government at it's most abusive. Equally revealing is the insidious nature of the media and it's role in repression. You can't help but get a chill watching it not because you can't believe it ever happened. But because you can't believe it happens all the time. Life in America is a lot like Katharina Blum's for many people.

Schlöndorff is an intellectual. Both of these films are great reflections of that. They're smart, challenging while being well paced and lithe. "Lost Honor" marked the directorial debut of Margarethe Von Trotta (in some ways a protégé of Schlöndorff's not to mention lover) who would go on to great things including "Rosa Luxembourg".