THE LOST HONOR OF KATHARINA BLUM (1975)
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum is a mostly cool-headed but blistering dramatic story that shows how swiftly a society gets onto "That Page" in framing someone as something they aren't. When the police bring in Katharina, they should know what is what (Angela Winkler by the way in a performance that breaks your heart because she holds back so much, like even when she breaks apart a room she is trying not to break down and only does once after seeing her mother one last time). But women are always the easiest scapegoats in any Patriachal society, and if they can drive her to make up some stuff that isn't even true just to satisfy their superiors based on, oh, how many miles she drove her car over the years for work vs "other things," then so be it. But Schlondorff and Von Trotta also take aim at the press and how equally easy (maybe easier) character assassination is. At least one could say the police offer Katharina a snack in between badgering her with que...
