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Review: Kafka

By Dan KrovichNovember 14, 2002

Although the main character in Kafka is in fact the author Franz Kafka, it is not a biopic. It is also not an adaptationof Kafka's writing. Instead, it is a fictional mystery with Kafka at its center that incorporates elements from his reallife and his writing into a peculiar hybrid.Kafka, as in real life, works at an insurance company. Like the worlds in his writing, this company is run with anoppressive bureaucracy with a strict hierarchy that is hell bent on following rules to the letter in the name of efficiency. Kafka performs his work relatively dutifully, if uninspired, during the day and spends most of hisevenings alone writing stories, most of which he doesn't bother to publish. When Eduard, a coworker, is founddead, and the death declared a suicide, Kafka is drawn into a mystery that reaches to the highest levels.Eduard had been a member of an underground movement against the rule handed down from those who occupythe omnipresent castle on the side of town, and Kafka is introduced to the group by Eduard's girlfriend. At first,Kafka chooses to discount the group's accusations, preferring to remain oblivious to the possibility of nefariousgoings on, but as more and more suspicious things occur, he begins to investigate the dealings of the castle on hisown. Of course, that means challenging authority through a system set up largely to block people from discoveringwhat is going on at the highest levels, much less being able to correct any wrongdoings.As would be expected in a film concerning this particular literary figure, Kafka is certainly a pessimistic film. Itadopts the dreary world presented in Kafka's stories, one where you work in a mindless job during the dayaccomplishing dubious tasks for a company of dubious value and then satisfy yourself at night with mindlessconsumption to numb yourself for the next day at work. This arrangement is supported by an establishment thatwants nothing more than a bunch of drones to do their bidding. Soderbergh reinforces this feeling by filming inblack and white for most of the film and the beautifully stark cinematography sets the appropriate mood. The oneproblem that Kafka runs into is that it features an extremely passive protagonist. For most of the film Kafka issomeone to whom things happen rather than someone that actively participates in events. Jeremy Irons, lookingvery gaunt, imbues Kafka with an appropriately somber disposition as someone who doesn't bother interacting withthe world around him because he doesn't believe he can do much to affect it (a stand that the movie ultimatelyseems to concede). It is a fine line, however, to get the audience to identify with such a morose character, andKafka sometimes strays from that line.In general, though, Kafka remains absorbing, especially for such a spare film. The central mystery sustains themovie and is buttressed by appealing art direction, cinematography, and score, as well as performances from a castthat includes Joel Grey, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Ian Holm, and Sir Alec Guinness in one of his final film roles. The filmeven manages to provide some comic relief in the form of Kafka's two bumbling assistants. Fans of Kafka's writing

are the most obvious target for this movie, and they would get the most out of it as they are going to getreferences that are going to be overlooked by the rest of us. But Kafka can also be enjoyed on its own termswithout prior knowledge as well, and it is likely to provoke consideration as to how much of the society presentedconforms to the world as it is and how much is exaggeration.

STEVEN SODERBERGH:HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHTByAlex Simon

Editor’s Note: The following article appeared in the July 1998 issue of Venice Magazine.

Steven Soderberghwas born January 14, 1963 in Atlanta. Raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was still in highschool when he enrolled in a film animation class at Louisiana State University, where his father was dean of theCollege of Education. Soon he began making film shorts with equipment he had borrowed from students at theuniversity. After graduating high school early at 17, he decided to skip college and headed for Hollywood in afrustrated pursuit of a movie career. Back in Baton Rouge, he worked as a coin changer at an arcade and in hisspare time made a humorous short called Rapid Eye Movement, about his Hollywood non-experience. Eventually,he landed a job at a video production house and enjoyed some success as the director of a music video for the rockgroupYes,which was nominated for a Grammy. He began writing screenplays and directed a short called Winston, about sexual deception, which he later developed into his first featureSex, Lies and Videotape, which was the hit of the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, winning the coveted Palm D'Or as Best Film, as well as the International Critics Prizeand Best Actor for James Spader. It also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. Soderbergh followed this with Kafkain 1991, a surrealistic mystery/suspense film which combined fiction with elements of author Franz Kafka's life. He followed that with an adaptation of A.E. Hotchner's memoirKing of the Hill in 1993, a heart-rending coming-of-age tale set in the depression-era midwest. Despite not fairing well at the box office, it remains one of the best-reviewed films of that year. 1995 broughtThe Underneath,Soderbergh's take onRaymond Chandler- esque mystery, set in present day Austin, Texas. 1997 saw two Soderbergh releases:Schizopolis, a low budget,experimental comedy in the spirit of Richard LesterandBuñuel, andGray's Anatomy, a filmed version of Spalding Gray's comic monologue.Soderbergh's latest is one of his best, and certainly his most commercial efforts yet.Out of Sight, from the novelby Elmore Leonard(Get Shorty), reunites Shorty screenwriterScott Frankwith the author and boasts an all-star cast featuringGeorge Clooney,Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames,Don Cheadle, Albert Brooksand two huge stars (who will remain nameless) in very crucial cameo roles. Out of Sight is a treat for the brain, the eye, and the funnybone,a film which combines the best of 1970's American film grittiness and a 90's hipness that makes for one veryrefreshing celluloid cocktail. Universal opened the film wide on June 26. Odds are you'll want to check it out morethan once. Steven Soderbergh sat down recently to discuss his latest film opus, as well as his past triumphs,tribulations and disappointments.

I'm a big Elmore Leonard fan and I thought you really captured his voice with Out of Sight, which isn'teasy to do on film.

Steven Soderbergh: It's tricky. It's an odd tone. We had two things going for us: Scott Frank, who understandsthat tone, and we put together a cast that I made sure understood that tone.

Have you always been a fan of Leonard's work?

Yeah. I've read probably six or seven of his novels. I've seen almost all the movies that are based on his work. So Iwas very familiar with his work.

I was excited when I heard you were doing this film, because like Elmore Leonard's novels, most of your films have subject matters that seem very serious when you first hear about them, but theyalways seem to have undercurrents of humor. Even with Kafka, a writer whose work most people findto be completely bleak, but I've always found to be blackly hilarious, you seemed to find that samehumor and absurdity.

I think Kafka's work is extremely funny in an absurdist way. With (the film), I think a lot of people took it muchmore seriously than we intended, dealing with that character and all, leaves you open to that. But we really saw itas a carnival ride.

The Underneath struck me as sort of an homage to a Raymond Chandler-type crime story, whereasElmore Leonard definitely has a more modern take on the genre, more straightforward.