Die Blechtrommel
Schlöndorff returned to Germany in to make "The Ogre" (1996), his most well-regarded feature film since "The Tin Drum". Based on a novel by Michel Tournier and starring John Malkovich as the titular Abel Tiffauges, the film revisited many of the themes and time period of "The Tin Drum". Tiffauges is a slow-witted French soldier who has been accused of child molestation. After being captured by the Nazis and put in an internment camp, he is made a servant at an elite German training camp and kidnaps local children, officially as a way to recruit them for the camp, but in his mind to protect them. The film was screened in competition at the 1996 Venice Film Festival and won the UNICEF award. The film was released in Germany in 1996 and gained positive reviews. On the audio commentary for "The Tin Drum", Schlöndorff said that he had wanted to film a sequel to "The Tin Drum", as the film was based only on the first two thirds of the novel. But because actor David Bennent was too old to reprise the role and he did not want to recast Oscar, he considers "The Ogre" to be an unofficial sequel to his masterpiece.