The German movie “Die blechtrummel” also known as “The tin drum” was based on the Nobel-prize winning author Gunter Grass’s allegorical novel about a German family during the early 1900’s.
Some tapes were confiscated in America being criticized for supposedly violating a child pornography statute.
If anyone has seen it, what do you think. Child-pornography or art? I find it personally ridiculous and not because I’m liberate to contents in movies but because the movie was made professionally in accordance to the law. The actors did a very good job and there’s nothing more to it.
It had children in erotic situations, but it wasn’t very explicit. And it was definitely not gratuitous sex.
It dealt with a person who was maturing mentally, but somehow had stopped aging physically. So even if the actor was too young for any sexual activity, it was appropriate for the age of his character.
And I don’t think the actors had to do anything that would be considered abusive. At least, that’s my impression.
There was a scene of a little boy in a sexual stuation with an adult woman, but the boy was played by a diminutive adult actor. The scene wasn’t very graphic anyway.
I remember reading about that when it first happened. The cops forced the video place to reveal who had rented the movie, which is illegal. Then they went around to everyone who rented the tape and confiscated their copy. One of the people who had rented it: lawyer for the ACLU.
Well, if the tape in question didn’t contain actual children in sexual situations, as ** Diogenes ** mentioned, then it isn’t child porn, at least not in my eyes.
I wasn’t familiar with the case; I vaguely remembered that there was federal legislation protecting this information, but knew it was available pursuant to a subpoena or warrant. I was stunned to read the link you provided and discover that the officers did not obtain a warrant or subpoena, and the video store did not demand one.
I can’t understand why they chose to go after this movie in particular (which, after all has been on video shelves for some twenty odd years). When The Tin Drum is seen in its totality there is no way to take it as remotely prurient or obscene. It’s a heavily allegorical musing on nazi Germany. I can’t imagine anybody actually watching this movie and getting off on it. It would be like jerking off to the shower scenes in Schindler’s List.
I see that it is sold on ebay.com & ebay generally wouldn’t be letting people sell illegal items so, it must not be illegal. Not that people don’t try to get away with it…
Apparently, this started with some elements of the religious-kook lobby going up to the DA/Police and shoving the “Letter Of The Law” in their faces and demanding action.
And also, at that point in the film, wasn’t his character supposed to have been an adult that just still looked like a kid? Wasn’t his refusal to grow up a theme of the film?
This would mean it wouldn’t even have violated the (since struck down) simulated child porn law.
