The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (film)

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
Directed byVolker Schlöndorff
Margarethe von Trotta
Screenplay byVolker Schlöndorff
Margarethe von Trotta
Based onThe Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
1974 novel
by Heinrich Böll
Produced byWilli Benninger
Eberhard Junkersdorf
Gunther Witte
StarringAngela Winkler
Mario Adorf
Dieter Laser
Jürgen Prochnow
CinematographyJost Vacano
Edited byPeter Przygodda
Music byHans Werner Henze
Distributed byCinema International Corporation (1975) (West Germany)
New World Pictures (1975) (USA)
Release dates
  • 3 October 1975 (1975-10-03) (premiere at NYFF)
  • 10 October 1975 (1975-10-10)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryWest Germany
LanguageGerman

The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, or: How violence develops and where it can lead (German original title: Die Verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum oder: Wie Gewalt entstehen und wohin sie führen kann) is a 1975 German political drama film based on Heinrich Böll's 1974 novel of the same name, adapted for the screen and directed by Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta. Schlöndorff and von Trotta wrote the script with an emphasis on the vindictive and harsh treatment of an innocent woman by the public, police, and media. The film stars Angela Winkler as Blum, Mario Adorf as Kommissar Beizmenne, Dieter Laser as Tötges, and Jürgen Prochnow as Ludwig. In 1984, the film and the novel were adapted into an American TV film, The Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck.