The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 29, 2020

Volker Schlondorff's and Margarethe von Trotta's "The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage trailer for the film; archival program with Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta; archival program with cinematographer Jost Vacano; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin as well as technical credits. In German, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Please note that the text below was initially used in our review of the European release of The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum which StudioCanal produced in 2009.

Here’s a film that shows what has become of modern America -- a society whose fear of terrorism has given unrestricted power to people who are slowly but effectively pushing it away from the freedoms it cherishes; of course, doing so in the name of the very same freedoms they were brought to defend.

The story of the film revolves around a young woman, Katharina (Angela Winkler, Knife in the Head), who meets a man, Ludwig (Jurgen Prochnow, Das Boot), at a party of some sort. They end up in her apartment, make love and in the morning the man leaves. Shortly after, the woman is arrested.

A highly motivated special agent, Komissar Beizmenne (Mario Adorf, The Assassination of Matteotti), begins interrogating Katharina. He is convinced that just like her lover she is a terrorist, and it is only a matter of time before she admits it. The agent and his superiors do not have any records indicating that Katharina has ever been involved with any known terrorist organizations, but this does not prevent them from 'profiling' her.

Meanwhile, an ambitious newspaper reporter, Werner Toetges (Dieter Laser, The Ogre), begins his own investigation. After visiting Katharina's home town, he is convinced that there are clues and signs about her terrorist past which the authorities have missed, and that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to show everyone how good his journalistic instincts are.

A co-worker of Katharina also comes up with her own version of why everyone missed the 'terrorist' that reaches Komissar Beizmenne. He follows up on it and ends up in the hospital where Katharina's mother is admitted. She dies but her last words, completely misinterpreted, are used in a front-page article in one of the country's biggest newspapers. In the midst of the terrorist hysteria, Katharina slowly begins to realize that her life has changed forever.

Based on Heinrich Böll's novel "Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum", Volker Schlondorff and Margarethe von Trotta's The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum is a powerful film that recreates the destructive paranoia that engulfed Germany during the late '70s after the rise of various anarchist and terrorist organizations, and specifically the Baader-Meinhof Group. This was one of a few political films that openly criticized the country’s sudden fascination with hunting down and prosecuting 'potential terrorists'.

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, however, is not a film about terrorism; rather it is a film about the devastating consequences of experiencing counterterrorism. It is also a film about the power of media and its ability to create the 'reality' it wishes to cover.

In the late '70s, the effective union between government and media in Germany spurred an open confrontation between intellectuals, artists and writers, as they realized that many of their country's democratic values were being effectively undermined, and government officials and media owners who saw in them terrorist sympathizers. The confrontation created a dangerous political vacuum that, as shown in The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum, had a seriously damaging effect even on those who were not even remotely involved in it.

Despite its critical tone, however, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum remains a remarkably quiet and intimate film. Katharina's emotional collapse, for example, is carefully observed but never used to deliver a preachy political statement. It is perfectly clear to everyone what the pretext for her arrest is; what isn't is how Katharina would react to it and whether or not she would manage to recover.

Generally speaking, the supporting cast does a good job of recreating the absurdity of the political status quo that inspired the actions of their characters. The final act, in particular, is both powerful and very convincing.

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital restoration was created from a 4K resolution wet-gate scan made on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative by StudioCanal at ARRI Media in Munich. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 17.5mm magnetic track and restored at ARRI.

Transfer supervisor: Volker Schlondorff, Eberhard Junkendorf.
Colorist: Andrea Lautil/ARRI Media, Munich."

The release is sourced from a new 4K restoration that was approved by director Volker Schlöndorff and producer Eberhard Junkersdorf. It is very good, but I have one minor criticism. On my system some of the darker areas reveal quite strong blacks that tend to produce light crushing. However, the same issue can be observed on the old European release that StudioCanal produced in 2009, so I wonder if in native 4K there are subtle nuances that are properly preserved. To be clear, what I saw isn't the same situation I described in our review of the 4K Blu-ray release of The Deer Hunter, but the effects are rather similar. I have a theory that this 'crushing' materializes when films whose cinematography favors plenty of subtle nuances are redone in 4K and then transferred to Blu-ray -- so during the downsampling from 4K to 1080p, but I can't quite tell if this is the case with The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum. If I absolutely had to guess, I would say that the new 4K master simply could have been graded a tad better, though I am also certain that in native 4K the dark(er) hues are expanded and therefore there are better ranges of nuances/shades. Everything else looks fantastic. Delineation, clarity, depth, and fluidity are very, very pleasing. The entire film also looks lusher and a lot healthier. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: German LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I pulled out StudioCanal's release and did a few random tests to see whether the new lossless track offers any noticeable improvements. It does. It is cleaner and perhaps even slightly crisper. So, if you turn up the volume a bit, you should expect to hear a healthier upper register. The dynamic intensity, however, is the same.

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - vintage German trailer for The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum. In German, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 1080i).

• Volker Schlöndorff and Margarethe von Trotta - in this archival interview, Volker Schlöndorff 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. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080i).

• 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. In German, with optional English subtitles. (35 min, 1080i).

• 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. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin as well as technical credits.

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you replace Angela Winkler's 'terrorist' with any of the high-profile 'foreign agents' that you have been hearing about in the news for the last couple of years you could easily come to the conclusion that The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum is a brand new film using a fictional story to deliver an authentic depiction of America's twisted political reality. Its deconstruction of the media and its ability to create the 'reality' it wishes to sell to the masses in particular is so accurate that it actually feels a bit odd; the political winds of the '70s are of course different but the tactics are exactly the same. Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release is sourced from a very nice new 4K restoration and retains the archival bonus features from the label's old DVD release. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.