Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life

A fascinating and unique film from the BBC which received much critical buzz in England, though relatively little attention stateside. 'Tis a pity, as the colonists would get a kick out of it.

Reality. It's a funny thing. Franz Kafka was a devoted Torah Jew. Therefore, it's difficult to plumb the depths to how vapid this "Academy Award-winning" short is. Rather than being a melange of styles which would make Kafka or Capra proud, it is a strange adaptation of, really, Dickens. I guess Kafka has similar phonemes to Capra, which has similar look to Capaldi, and we are all supposed to be mesmerized that Dr. Who wrote a teleplay.

But even IF Kafka celebrated Christmas, which he most assuredly did not, or even IF Kafka resided in some neo-Victorian hostel, which he most assuredly did not, this "comedy" is unfunny, the "originality" is repetitive, and the sanctimoniousness with which it is presented, is both sleep-inducing and nausea-inducing.

The special effects are only fair, the story makes absolutely no sense, the comic timing is WAY off, and it is NOT true that it rivals ANY Monty Python episode or vignette for larfs or snarfs. There is nothing surreal here, nothing paranoid, nothing noir - in short, nothing Kafkaesque. It is NOT Capraesque either, but merely a shadow of Dickensian which ought to star Burl Ives and Jaclyn Smith.

I love Kafka and Kafkaesque. The Trial is one of my favorites. Metamorphosis is grand. This is drek.

Franz Kafka is probably still spinning over this one almost ten years after the fact. There are echos of suspense in this one, but mostly it resembles Python at its full-bore, full throttle best. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the costumer here also did costumes for The Python series. Too many moments to pick anything out, but it is absolutely wonderful. The incredibly serious among you will probably gnash teeth and pound thy breasts over the violation of Kafka, but the sufficiently twisted will love this! This won the Academy Award for Live-Action Short (in a tie with Trevor, he noted for accuracy's sake) and it's good to see this in print and available. Most highly recommended.

As its name suggests, this short film cross-breeds Kafka with Capra. Kafka is pestered by neighbours, children, and the sinister Woland the Knifeman (who suspects Kakfa of killing his pet beetle). This is a delightful dark comedy pastiche, Richard E Grant performing at his nervy best in a sinister but ultimately heartwarming film.

Written and directed by Peter Capaldi, better known as an actor but had aspirations to become a writer and director

This short film (jointly) won an Oscar for the best short film category.

Richard E Grant takes the title role as Franz Kafka trying to write the opening line of 'Metamorphosis' in his dark room while being disturbed by strange and sinister people.

Grant who has in the past given uneven acting performances is more inspired here.

The black and white short is of course surreal and comic, almost Pythonesque.

As the title of the film implies, it splices Kafka with Frank Capra!