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.

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.

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.

A slip of the tongue by actor Peter Capaldi's wife inspired him to write and make this Oscar winning gem. Richard E. Grant gives wonderful performance as the tortured Franz Kafka who struggles with the opening line of 'Metamorphosis' amid the distractions of his dark and sinister rooming house. Disturbances include a girls party, a lady trying to deliver a giant insect costume' and a psychotic knife sharpener, (another marvellous performance by Ken Stott),who has lost his little friend.

The black and white cutaway sequences showing his various inspirations for Gregor transformations are hilarious. The final scene, where the story strands are tied up and all the characters brought together in a twisted version of the finale of 'It's a Wonderful Life' is funny and moving at the same time.

The perfect Christmas film for the slightly odd.

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.