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Jeremy Irons, Theresa Russell, Joel Grey, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé ... see more see more... , Alec Guinness , Armin Mueller-Stahl , Keith Allen , Simon McBurney , Robert Flemyng , Toon Agterberg , Karel Belohradsky , Vitezsalv Bouchner , Ion Caramitru , Guy Fithen , Jerome Flynn , Brian Glover , Vladimir Gut , Zuzana Halustokov , Ondrej Havelka , Petr Jakl , Dave Jensen , Lenka Korinkova , Robert Krejcik , Petr Lepsa , James McPhee , Maria Miles , Pavel Myslik , Jan Nemejovsky , David Shaw Parker , Lubos Rychvalsky , Josef Sebek , Leon Silver , Jan Slovák , Ewan Stewart , Frantisek Stufka , Hilde Van Mieghem , Debora Weston , Emil Wolk , Matyelok Gibbs , Josef Abrhám , Alec Guiness

Steve Soderbergh did a 180 degree turnaround from his debut film sex, lies, and videotape with Kafka, a stark art-film fable for literature majors. Jeremy Irons plays a fictional Franz Kafka, living i... read more read more...n Prague in 1919. By day, Kafka works in a massive, impersonal insurance company. At night, he spends his time alone writing stories about men who turn into giant cockroaches. Although quiet and solitary, he becomes a suspect in a murder investigation conducted by Inspector Grubach (Armin Mueller-Stahl) when a friend of his turns up dead. Rather than being harassed by Grubach, Kafka decides to investigate his friend's murder on his own. Kafka speaks to his dead friend's girlfriend, Gabriela (Theresa Russell) and talks with gravestone carver Bizzlebek (Jeroen Krabbe). Kafka follows the clues to the Castle, a menacing tower that casts its shadow over the city and houses files on everything. He winds his way through the cellars and tunnels of the Castle, where he encounters the evil and insidious Dr. Murnau (Ian Holm), whom he hopes holds the solution to the murder. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Flixster Users

72% liked it

4,709 ratings

Critics

57% liked it

21 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Stephen Soderbergh, Steven Soderbergh

Release Date: January 1, 1991

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DVD Release Date: December 22, 1992

Stats: 201 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (201)

  • Beefy
    September 24, 2006
    Beefy
    Beautiful to look at but ever so slight.
  • DrStrangeblog
    February 10, 2010
    DrStrangeblog
    Moody, mysterious, and measured thriller shot in beautiful black & white except for a pivotal sequence inside "the Castle." Soderbergh's best film is quite unlike any other in dropping Jeremy Irons, utterly convincing as Franz Kafka circa 1919 Prague, amidst a very Kafkaesque se... read moreries of encounters. The insurance clerk's appointed assistants are two of the funniest oddball characters in film history. I last watched this 15 years ago until tonight and was completely reaffirmed why this remains one of my favorites of the 1990s.
  • threefolddado
    March 20, 2008
    threefolddado
    Under appreciated Soderbergh gem.
  • kylegarvey6
    March 23, 2011
    kylegarvey6
    An interesting early Soderbergh film: a heavy, Gilliamesque neo-mystery with a dash of quirky historical intrigue. Manipulating the life, and maybe the twisted and heady fantasies, of Franz K. himself is a bold move, and initially sort of a cheap one. But that boldness becomes ... read moresmarter and calmer as the story goes on.
  • GabrielKnight
    December 24, 2010
    GabrielKnight
    Not an easy movie to find as it was never released on DVD. I can't say hunting it down was really worth it. The story was supposed to be surreal, but it wasn't directed as such, so instead it comes off as farce, which is certainly not the way it was meant to be. Steven Soderbergh... read more was a poor choice for directing this movie, perhaps Cronenberg would have made a masterpiece out of it.
  • faustteomim
    May 7, 2010
    faustteomim
    I'm not sure how this went so far below the radar; the movie is an interesting melange of Kafka's life and his fiction; not quite as successful in that as Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, but not a complete failure either. Much of the movie feels completely Kafkaesque, though something ... read moreabout it doesn't quite hit right. Perhaps I wanted a little more of Kafka's life or a little more of Kafka's work.
  • jes25924
    July 21, 2008
    jes25924
    It looked good and all that, and at times it seemed like everyone involved knew and understood something of Kafka's life and works...but at other times it so spectucularly mis-captures Kafka's ideas it's mind boggling.

    The screaming laughing chasi...(read more) ng-guy with th... read moree Roger Corman shit on his face, was ri-god-damn-diculous, and I couldnt help laughing every time this guys on screen.
    Jeremy Irons brings some nervous charm to the role and at the very, very, end does look eeiriely like Kafka, and Sodergberg's direction is decent (not amazing)...a little above average at it's best moments.

    The story of individuality vs. control, is a very, very simplistic look at Kafka's writing, and in this film specifically a really, really, bad sci-fi cliche, that most saturday mourning cartoons don't even use anymore.

    I wanted to like this cus, I like Steven Soderberg, I like Franz Kafka, and I don't mind Jeremy Irons, but all together, at once, it's just don't add up to a hill of beans. It aspires to Naked Lunch levels of mixing, fiction and fact, but it doesn't feel like this movie had a clear sense of either. Dissapointing.
  • justindavis1
    November 18, 2007
    justindavis1
    This movie is cool. It's even beter than I thought it was going to be. It's something of an amalgamation of different Kafka stories with bits of biography. Soderbergh did a rather good job of making a Kafkian feel to the film. I recommend it and as someone who's read everythi... read moreng Kafka has ever written, was initially opposed to Kafka related films, but this is a good one.
  • ladyvader77
    February 26, 2007
    ladyvader77
    An odd mix of Kafka's life and his writings. Very entertaing...if you liked Brazil, you'll like this.
  • aelric99
    January 18, 2007
    aelric99
    while he destroyed his carreer growling out "time to die" in the d and d movie, jeremy irons has been involved in some great movies, namely Kafka. based loosely on Franz Kafka's works 'the castle' and 'the trial', as well as his own life, this film noir captures something truly d... read moreisgusting. something that no one should ever have to face. the mundane. the absurdly mundane. we face it every day, even welcome it as an anchoring force in our lives. but kafka obviously despised it, and that distaste is preformed greatly by jeremy irons. watch it sometime, it's one of sodenbergh's better films, yet no one seems to even know it exists.

View All Kafka Reviews

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Steven Soderbergh's Kafka is a very bad well-directed movie. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Soderbergh does demonstrate again here that he's a gifted director, however unwise in his choice of project. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

A movie about Franz Kafka? It's a good idea for a microsecond. Then it dissolves into a dumb proposition. Full Review

Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

The effect is artistic, but it's also obvious when the material cried out for unsettling. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 2, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

All the Kafka basics are there for the literary types to muse over and it has great entertainment value in its unpretentious playfulness. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
January 29, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Soderbergh's sophomore jinx, a pastiche of styles (noir, German Expressionism) and themes (creativity, personal and political oppression) at the center of which is the vastly miscast Jeremy Irons as t... Full Review

Douglas Pratt
June 10, 2005
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser

the film has a shallow, sophomoric earnestness

Mark Robison
January 5, 2004
Mark Robison, Reno Gazette-Journal

Incomprehensible but interesting.

Ken Hanke
November 5, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

One of Soderbergh's most fascinating films.

Michael Szymanski
August 30, 2002
Michael Szymanski, Zap2it.com

Overwrought over long and over indulgent

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