Kafka Movie Review
Review by: The Boy
Category: Movies
Genre: Mystery & Suspense
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Between director Steven Soderbergh’s hits Sex, Lies and Videotape, Traffic, and the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, many people were quite curious to see him release a black-and-white art film. What they were not anticipating was a fictionalised merging of the life of Franz Kafka and his works into a weird, murkily plotted chiller. Generally, the film was not warmly received.
The story revolves around a romantic loner rather than a downtrodden outcast, which is what Kafka was generally accepted to be. He finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation involving his friend, and he later needs to deal with the realization that the crime is but a small facet of a far-reaching conspiracy involving The Castle — which any fan of Kafka’s works will recognize as an allusion to his own material. Art imitating life and all that shill.
The cast in this is undeniably impressive. Jeremy Irons provides a very subdued portrayal that is almost charming and alienating at the same time. Other familiars include Alec Guinness and Ian Holme. As well as the cast, the film has its cinematography to its advantage, resembling monochromatic expressionist effort from the 1920s. The play of light and shadow is enough to make Frank Miller pee his pants. Unfortunately, the plot takes an age to get off the ground and the music gets a bit annoying at some parts. But once you’re able to get past that, it is an intoxicating and sometimes disturbing watch.
