- published: 21 Feb 2012
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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.
Released after Soderbergh's critically acclaimed debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape it was the first of what would be a series of low-budget box-office disappointments. It has since become a cult film, being compared to Terry Gilliam's Brazil and David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch.
Set in the city of Prague of 1919, Kafka tells the tale of an insurance worker who gets involved with an underground group after one of his co-workers is murdered. The underground group, responsible for bombings all over town, attempts to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society. He eventually penetrates the secret organization in order to confront them.
Kafka, an insurance worker gets embroiled in an underground group after a co-worker is murdered. The underground group is responsible for bombings all over town, attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society. He eventually penetrates the secret organization and must confront them.
Keywords: 1910s, absurdism, accident, alternative-reality, anarchist, anarchy, archive, attic, author, autopsy
Inspector Grubach: Kafka. Kafka, Kafka... Is that your real name?::Franz Kafka: Yes. W-why shouldn't it be?
Oscar: It's not too bad working here, though.::Franz Kafka: You've never felt it was a horrible double life, from which there was probably no escape but insanity?::Ludwig: Yes!::Oscar: No.::Ludwig: No.
Franz Kafka: So, that's who the enemy is. Policemen and file clerks. Law and order, you might say.::Gabriela: You think what we're doing is wrong? What would you suggest, then?::Franz Kafka: Did any of you actually go up to the castle with Edward? You sit around twisting the facts to suit your inbred theories. In my experience the truth is not... that convenient.
Chief Clerk: Oh, I know you were friendly with that poor fellow, what was his name -::Franz Kafka: Raban... Eduard Raban.::Chief Clerk: Yes, yes, Raban. But he was too like you. Even more like you, perhaps, than you are yourself.
Doctor Murnau: A crowd is easier to control than an individual. A crowd has a common purpose. The purpose of the individual is always in question.::Franz Kafka: That's what you're trying to eliminate, isn't it? Everything that makes one human being different from another. But you'll *never*, *never* reach a man's soul through a lens.::Doctor Murnau: That rather depends on which end of the microscope you're on, doesn't it?
Burgel: [sarcastically, as Franz shows up for work] But Kafka, you're... on time!
Chief Clerk: Kafka... I understand you fancy yourself as a writer.::Franz Kafka: [shrugs] In a small way.::Chief Clerk: You should find a more... athletic hobby. Put some color in your cheeks.
Franz Kafka: I write by myself... for myself.
Oscar: [to Kafka] Miss Rossman was here looking for you.::Ludwig: Gabriela.::Oscar: Do you know her?::Franz Kafka: Do you?::Oscar: Well, we saw her naked once.
Doctor Murnau: You despise someone like me - because you despise the modern. But you are at the very forefront of what is modern. You write about it, you document it... Unlike you, though, I have chosen to embrace it.
Actors: Gal Ziv (producer), Gal Ziv (editor), Gal Ziv (director), Gal Ziv (writer), Ran Levi (writer), David Ohayon (actor), Aric Deri (composer), Aric Deri (editor), Michael Rozhetsky (actor), Kobi Faraj (actor), Liat Harlev (actress), Askaf Abraham (actor), Eliya Siman-Tov (actor), Rotem Kratz (actor), Elad Katzir (actor),
Plot: Liat (Liat Harlev) and Kobi (Kobi Faraj), a young Israeli couple, live in the city of Tel Aviv with their dog, Rickey. Without telling Liat, Kobi takes Rickey to participate in illegal dog fighting, after winning the first fight, Rickey gets away. Kobi tells Liat that their dog ran away, but fails to mention what occurred before. Soon enough they receive a phone call from a guy who claims he found their dog. The guy doesn't give too many details about the find and leaves the young couple unsure whether the dog was really found. Kobi feels uneasy about the guy and decides to go and meet him by himself. But then, a mysterious phone call turns everything upside down. Findher, directed by Gal Ziv, is a short paranoid thriller which showcases a strong Tel Aviv city vibe and quick turnaround scenes, in a very tense urban setting.
Genres: Action, Crime, Horror, Mystery, Short, Thriller,Actors: Lawrence Ah Mon (actor), Lawrence Ah Mon (miscellaneous crew), Winnie Leung (actress), Paul Fonoroff (actor), Scud (producer), Scud (director), Wai-Keung Tung (actor), Scud (actor), Scud (writer), Kenny Chan (producer), Heiward Mak (editor), Yat-Yiu Yu (composer), Byron Pang (actor), Thomas Price (actor), Ron Heung (actor),
Plot: Openly gay banker Daniel debates whether to return to Australia or stay in Hong Kong when he meets Kafka, a straight swimming instructor. The young men fall in love, believing that their love can bridge anything, despite their difference in sexuality and Kafka's increasing drug use. Daniel does not regret his love for Kafka, who tries to love him back against his nature. But a flashback memory from Kafka's past makes it difficult for their relationship to work.
Keywords: anal-sex, angel-wings, bisexuality, bridge, brother-brother-relationship, businessman, chinese-australian, crying, death-of-mother, drug-abuseActors: Francesco Cabras (actor), Federico Scribani (actor), Lara Martelli (actress), Pascal Zullino (actor), Sylvia De Fanti (actress), Matteo Sapio (director), Matteo Sapio (actor), Matteo Sapio (writer), Maria De Los Angeles Parrinello (actress), Fabio Morichini (director), Fabio Morichini (writer), Roberto Micarelli (actor), Gianmarco Dilecce (actor), Barbara Piva (actress), Francesco Corica (actor),
Genres: Sci-Fi,Actors: Ladislav Chudík (actor), Daniela Kolárová (actress), Jan Hrebejk (director), Vladimir Kesl (miscellaneous crew), Rudolf Biermann (producer), Vladimír Barák (editor), Martin Huba (actor), Lenka Vlasáková (actress), Petr Jarchovský (writer), Vladimír Kulhavý (actor), Katarina Bielikova (costume designer), Ales Brezina (composer), Tomás Hoffman (producer), Adam Fuchs (miscellaneous crew), Milan Mikulcík (actor),
Plot: Renowned psychiatrist Pavel Josek is singled out to receive a "Memory of the Nation" medal, however, it transpires that this reputedly morally irreproachable dissident once collaborated with state security agencies, informing on a former friend of his wife, Borek, and ultimately being responsible for the latter's forced emigration. Josek's family and close friends try to come to terms with these new facts.
Genres: Drama,Actors: Aap Lindenberg (actor), Josef Nermuth (editor), Karl Pridun (director), Christian Kainradl (actor), Simon Jaritz (actor), Sonja Wiche-David (miscellaneous crew), Nora Schleicher-Holecek (actress), Peter Zurek (writer),
Genres: Documentary,Actors: Dustin Thomas (miscellaneous crew), Renee Vincent (producer), Renee Vincent (producer), Renee Vincent (writer), Renee Vincent (director), Henry Garrett Droege (actor), John Roberts (editor), Greg Raposa (actor), Angie Peck (actress), Bryan Kupko (producer), Kip McLauren (editor), Julie Ruppieko (composer), Michael McGuire (producer), Chris Ryan (actor), Christopher Ryan (actor),
Plot: In Prague, a young man pursues a devout, beautiful woman. He compulsively watches her daily at Mass, but cannot muster the courage to speak to her. Just as he makes an overture to begin a conversation, he is interrupted by the startling prostrations and moans of a supplicant who becomes a competitor for the woman's affections. Wracked with jealousy, Kafka's character confronts the supplicant. This encounter results in the narrator's fracturing into multiple identities, perhaps confronting his own shadow or innermost psyche. It is unclear which characters are real and which are ghostly inner encounters. It's a quest for spiritual and mental wholeness.
Genres: Drama, Short,Actors: Sandrine Kiberlain (actress), Jacques Penot (actor), Stacy Keach (actor), Maxime Leroux (actor), Pierre Belot (actor), Nick Mancuso (actor), André Chaumeau (actor), Marc de Jonge (actor), Philippe Caroit (actor), Clément Harari (actor), David Gabison (actor), Peter Gallagher (actor), Yves Jacques (actor), Véra Belmont (producer), Gudrun Landgrebe (actress),
Plot: Prague, 1920. Milena's father wants her to follow in his footsteps and be one of the first female doctors in Czechoslovakia, but she is determined to be a writer. She elopes to Vienna with the Jewish music critic Ernst Pollak, and starts a correspondence with Franz Kafka. She leaves Pollak and returns to Prague with her father, where she befriends and translates Kafka. As a journalist, Milena covers the 1923 Ruhr worker's strike and meets the communist architect Jaromir. They marry and have a daughter. Milena writes for a Marxist paper till her husband leaves for the Soviet Union. She then confronts the rise of Nazism in the years leading up to the Second World War, and ends up in a concentration camp.
Keywords: 1920s, architect, based-on-novel, character-name-in-title, communism, concentration-camp, critic, doctor, europe, father-daughter-relationshipActors: Hilde Van Mieghem (actress), Stuart Cornfeld (producer), Ian Holm (actor), Theresa Russell (actress), Jeremy Irons (actor), Armin Mueller-Stahl (actor), Josef Abrhám (actor), Jeroen Krabbé (actor), Ewan Stewart (actor), Joel Grey (actor), Alec Guinness (actor), Keith Allen (actor), David Jensen (actor), Barry Levinson (producer), Mark Johnson (producer),
Plot: Kafka, an insurance worker gets embroiled in an underground group after a co-worker is murdered. The underground group is responsible for bombings all over town, attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society. He eventually penetrates the secret organization and must confront them.
Keywords: 1910s, absurdism, accident, alternative-reality, anarchist, anarchy, archive, attic, author, autopsyActors: Josef Somr (actor), Jirí Sebor (miscellaneous crew), Vladimír Bor (miscellaneous crew), Jan Chaloupek (editor), Zdenek Kryzánek (actor), Ludmila Roubíková (actress), Jaroslava Tichá (actress), Hynek Nemec (actor), Zdenek Sirový (writer), Zdenek Sirový (director), Gustav Opocenský (actor), Marie Motlová (actress), Vladimír Huber (actor), Bozena Böhmová (actress), Jaroslav Heyduk (actor),
Genres: Drama,Actors: Christian Barbier (actor), Roger Blin (actor), Roger Blin (actor), Michel Piccoli (actor), Georges Staquet (actor), Brigitte Bardot (actress), Danièle Delorme (actress), Jacques Charrier (actor), Geneviève Brunet (actress), Geneviève Brunet (actress), Antoine Bourseiller (director), Diane Lepvrier (actress), Sylvie Blanc (editor), Claude Darget (actor), Chantal Darget (actress),
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