Audience Member
Students of Franz Kafka and German Literature Studies will love it. You need to know the Franz Kafka text of "Das Schloss" pretty intimately to take any pleasure from this film. If you have this knowledge, you'll know that the tone, scenes, characters, casting, script, abridgments are as close to perfect as possible for a film of the script. It is meant to be contradictory. K. is supposed to be a difficult character to interpret.
If you do not know it...
Essentially, the film is thus. A man turns up for work at a new job in a village for a company he isn't familiar with, but hey, times are tough and at least it's a job. However, the boss isn't available, cannot be bothered turning up, so he has to make ingratiate yourself with the office lackies (who have already decided they hate you) until the boss can be bothered to turn up and discuss upcoming projects. Your email hasn't been set up. There is no computer and the coffee machine is fucked. The heating blasts only a jet of cold air at the back of your neck follows you around the office.
Except, the boss never turns up and a barmaid with what can now be called Borderline Personality disorder latches onto him for dear life as her potential husband - oh, and she used to shag the boss. Her mum owns the only pub around for miles, and oh, she hates you too, but you must stay at her pub. Instead of letting you sleep in the spare room, you have to sleep in the dogs' bed, but only when the dog is there. Then you have to share the basket with it.
You meet your colleagues, a pair of half-wits - one is a spiteful half-wit who doesn't even answer you, and the other is a buffoon who spends the morning laughing at the back of his hand. They are both answer to the name Arthur which makes life easier.
Midway through the morning, you find a Post-It Note on the top of your monitor that says "Awfully sorry old boy. We had to cancel the job you have just moved from the other side of the country to take, but we've arranged for you to have a job on Reception. SOZ!"
If you do not know the text of "Das Schloss" , you are likely to get through about 2 minutes before saying "What the....is this...er...comedy? Or straight up torture?"
Oh, and it's in German.
Enjoy.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
s r
A take on Kafka's novel that was at least thought provoking, but ultimately a chore that let down. I saw it on TCM.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Kafka metaphoric tale, set in unknown and mysterious surroundings. In a way intriguing yet somehow enourmously heavy in the term of subtlety meaning. Impossible to grasp.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/27/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A desinformação proposital de O Castelo é absurdamente enervante.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/18/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Haneke has never been the most easily accessible director and he doesn't break that trend here, he just further alienates.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/01/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Here's a shocker! Haneke makes a frigid cold mystery that is, while intriguing, too ambiguous and dry to really grasp onto. It's not a disaster; there is some uniqueness to the plotting and some funny-ish characters, but nothing to stave off the boredom. In one scene, the main character is fighting off falling asleep while another character drones on. Sadly, I could relate.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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