The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (1975) RM4K 1080p BluRay x265 HEVC AAC-SARTRE

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.

Criterion Extras

• Volker Schlondorff and Margarethe von Trotta - In this archival interview, Volker Schlondorff and Margarethe von Trotta discuss the political climate in which The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum was made and some of the political themes that define the film. There are also some interesting comments about the production history of the film. The interview was conducted for Criterion in 2002.

• Henirch Boll - Presented here are segments from Ivo Barnabo Micheli's 1977 documentary Heinrich Boll, one of the longest interview with the author ever filmed. The bulk of the material focuses on the events that inspired his novel, The Lost Honor of Katharina Bllum, and consequently its cinematic adaptation.

• Jost Vacano - Presented here is an archival interview with cinematographer Jost Vacano in which he discusses the visual style of The Lost Honor of Katharina Bllum. The interview was conducted by Robert Fischer for Criterion in October 2002.

• Trailer - A vintage German trailer for The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum.