Kafka Page #4

Synopsis: Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ostensibly a biopic, based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction (most notably The Castle and The Trial), creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere. It was written by Lem Dobbs, and stars Jeremy Irons in the title role, with Theresa Russell, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé, Joel Grey, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Alec Guinness.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Metacritic:
46
PG-13
Year:
1991
98 min
680 Views


MARGARETE:

Who?

My friend Eduard from the office --

I've brought him here lots of times

-- you used to marvel at his travel

stories.

JULIUS:

Oh, him.

KAFKA:

What d'you mean, oh him? He's

a perfectly nice person, he's never

missed a day before.

ERNST:

Perhaps he's taken up with those

traveling players you two were

so fond of.

KAFKA:

No, it's me who always wanted to

run away with them -- except that

that life would be far too hectic

for me. I'm worried about him, no

one's seen him.

STELLA:

Haven't you ever called in sick

and gone roaming about, free of

responsibility to anyone, if only

for a day?

KAFKA:

When you work for a medical firm

you can't call in sick. They know

malingerers like a dog knows fleas.

ANNA:

You work in the insurance department?

KAFKA:

You have been hearing the sordid

side then.

MARGARETE:

Be pleased -- you constantly inspire

people to take an interest in your

life.

ANNA:

I should think it's very interesting

work.

Kafka shrugs shyly.

KAFKA:

My father always said I had

no ambition.

CUT:

NEAR THE FRONT DOOR - LATER

Smoke heavier in the air, the coffee house more crowded with

strange groups of characters. Kafka and his friends

preparing to leave.

STELLA:

The cabaret will be packed this

time of night -- we'll never get in.

JULIUS:

Well, it has to be the cabaret

because there's nowhere else to go.

MARGARET:

Home, I think.

JULIUS:

Home?

MARGARET:

(head on Ernst's shoulder)

You know I can't stay up late.

VOICE:

Home is the last resort --

BIZZLEBEK:

The owner of the voice. A man sitting at the bar nearby,

turning on his stool to face them. A dissipated dandy of a

man.

ERNST:

(introducing him)

-- Do you know Bizzlebek --

the gravedigger?

BIZZLEBEK:

Stonecutter, if you please.

MARGARETE:

Sculptor, if only he'd admit it.

BIZZLEBEK:

No one should admit being an artist

unless they're paid for it. If

you go to the cabaret mention my

name -- they'll find a table for you.

Turning round again.

ERNST:

Bizzlebek has ways and means denied

lesser mortals. It comes from working

in the cemetery all day -- he's able

to transcent the physical world.

Bizz1ebek turns round again, with a bored sign.

BIZZLEBEK:

No -- it only makes me view people

dispassionately as so many ... slabs.

He looks about, characterizing various coffee house types:

BIZZLEBEK:

Quartz ... slate ... gravel ...

granite ... flint ...

(and then)

Marble.

It's GABRIELA from the office. Kafka is surprised to see

her, instinctively walking over to where she's sitting at a

far table.

JULIUS:

My God, look, he's marching forward

willingly to make human contact.

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Lem Dobbs

Lem Dobbs was born on December 24, 1958 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England as Anton Lemuel Kitaj. He is a writer and producer, known for Dark City (1998), The Limey (1999) and Haywire (2011). He has been married to Dana Kraft since 1991. more…

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Submitted by aviv on January 30, 2017

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