The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (film)
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| The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum | |
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| Directed by | Volker Schlöndorff Margarethe von Trotta |
| Written by | Heinrich Böll (novel) Volker Schlöndorff |
| Starring | Angela Winkler Mario Adorf Dieter Laser Jürgen Prochnow |
| Music by | Hans Werner Henze |
| Release date(s) |  3 October 1975 (premiere at NYFF) 10 October 1975 19 December 1975 (limited) |
| Running time | 106 min. |
| Country | West Germany |
| Language | German |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum is a 1975 film adaptation by Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta of the novel of the same name by Heinrich Böll. The title character is an innocent housekeeper whose life is ruined by an invasive tabloid reporter and a police investigation when the man with whom she has just fallen in love turns out to be a radical bank robber. The film stars Angela Winkler as Blum, Mario Adorf as Kommissar Beizmenne, Dieter Laser as Tötges, and Jürgen Prochnow as Ludwig.
The film, unlike the novel, ends with a scene at Tötges' funeral, with his publisher delivering a hypocritical condemnation of the murder as an infringement on the freedom of the press.
In interviews for the 2003 Criterion Collection DVD release of the film, Schlöndorff and other crew members argue for the film's continued relevance today, drawing an analogy between the political climate of panic over terrorism in 1970s West Germany and the post-September 11, 2001 situation in the U.S.
