Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life

When I saw this, I was intrigued. I was pleasantly suprised at it's dark, yet light style of wit. It will make you tense, then you will laugh.

To describe it is really to give a lot away. Just check it out if you get a chance.

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.

Inventive and artistic, this beautiful flight of imagination is one of the greatest ideas ever composed and translated into a delightful cinematic experience. Matching together the creative genius of Franz Kafka with the positive outcomes of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" the short tells the difficult process of creating a novel, not in the sense of being something to be read but something to be felt and comprehended by readers of different generations, the greatest testament an artist can give to humanity. And believe it or not, one exact word can make a complete difference in a writing work. This strenuous mind exercise coming from a writer is the problematic basis for this amazing short film.

Peter Capaldi imagines the conception of the now famed masterpiece "The Metamorphosis" with Kafka (played by Richard E. Grant) having a terrible writer's block in the very first sentence, the classical "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect". But here, he doesn't know what Gregor is about to be transformed not only because of his block but that also relates with distractions around him, with his loud neighbors celebrating a Christmas party and interrupting visitors who appear from time to time. What he least expects is that those individuals and the strange situations they're involved may be of help for his book.

The mixture of elements, although strange and sometimes a little inadequate, is a good one. We have Kafka writing Gregor's story, then there's few glimpses of Gregor being transformed into multiple things before his final destination. Opressively, dramatic and spooky moments mixed with some strange humor, very characteristic in the works of the Polish writer. Later on the cheerful and bright conclusion borrowed from Capra's release comes along with a certain moral of the story that was a little off-suiting for this movie. It's one way of seeing things and it might work best with those who know little about the life and work of Franz Kafka, commonly known for sad and darker stories.

I only disagree with the treatment given to the main character played as if being a soft version of Ebenezer Scrooge, far from the timid and repressed view given of Kafka in biographies. But Mr. Grant was good, just as effective as the mysterious man played by Ken Stott. And it's good to know that it all paid off, this Burtonesque film was agraciated with the Oscar as Best Short - Live Action, tied with "Trevor" and one Bafta. And who could have imagined that the hilarious performer of Malcolm Tucker is not only a great actor but also a talented writer and director. This is a solid proof. 9/10

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.

Franz Kafka sits in his apartment trying to write "The Metamorphosis", but is bothered by a man selling knives and hacksaws, women throwing a party and a lady selling gag gifts. This, mixed with a twisted version of the Frank Capra film this movie is named after, makes for an interesting time.

One reviewer summarized this film as "Monty Python meets Orson Welles over the body of Franz Kafka with spectacular results!" I can see that. The Monty Python is the oddball humor, and the Franz Kafka is the main plot. But the Orson Welles really stands out, too, and maybe would not have if I had not read the review. The scenes in this film rely heavily on odd camera shots, many of them from under the floorboards or up stairs, giving the "larger than life" look Welles had in "Citizen Kane" when the cameraman sat in dug out hole. (Try it yourself, taking someone's photograph from a seated position while they stand -- gigantic!)

The main character (Kafka) is played beautifully by Richard E. Grant. I obviously never met Kafka personally, but Grant portrays him as a paranoid and idiosyncratic, eccentric germophobe. Yeah, I think that pretty much captures the idea (have you read Kafka's "The Trial"?). Grant is known from other projects, but this might well be his master performance.

The secondary characters are also nice... the salesman is great and the woman at the party is perfect for the role. And we need not forget the man playing Gregor Samsa... nice acting and fine singing! The way the footage for the Samsa parts was made to look very old (1920s) was a nice touch, giving off a comedic Charlie Chaplinesque quality.

If you can find this in your local video store, pick it up. As a short film, even if you don't like it, the movie will be over before you realize it. But I'd bet dollars to doughnuts you'll love it as much as me. This one really takes the original idea and runs with it... to Oscar gold.