Kafka (1991)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writer (WGA):

Lem Dobbs (written by)

Release Date:

15 November 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Kafka, an insurance worker gets embroiled in an underground group after a co-worker is murdered. The...

Plot Keywords:

Co Worker | Kafka Esque | Alternative Reality | Skin Disease | Steampunk

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jeremy Irons	...	Kafka
Theresa Russell	...	Gabriela
Joel Grey	...	Burgel
Ian Holm	...	Doctor Murnau
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Bizzlebek
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Grubach
Alec Guinness	...	The Chief Clerk
Brian Glover	...	Castle Henchman
Keith Allen	...	Assistant Ludwig
Simon McBurney	...	Assistant Oscar
Robert Flemyng	...	The Keeper of the Files
Matyelok Gibbs	...	Concierge
Ion Caramitru	...	Solemn Anarchist
Hilde Van Mieghem	...	Female Anarchist
Jan Nemejovsky	...	Mustachioed Anarchist
Toon Agterberg	...	Youthful Anarchist
Maria Miles	...	Anna
Vladimir Gut	...	Edward
Emil Wolk	...	Man Under Microscope
Josef Abrhám	...	Friend of Kafka
Guy Fithen	...	Friend of Kafka
Zuzana Halustokova	...	Friend of Kafka
Ondrej Havelka	...	Friend of Kafka
Lenka Korínková	...	Friend of Kafka
Petr Lepsa	...	Friend of Kafka
Leon Silver	...	Friend of Kafka
Debora Weston	...	Friend of Kafka
Jan Slovák	...	Man at Bar
David Shaw Parker	...	Interrogating Attendant
Jerome Flynn	...	Castle Attendant
Ewan Stewart	...	Castle Attendant
James McPhee	...	Castle Attendant
Lubos Rychvalsky	...	Kidnapped Vagrant
Pavel Myslik	...	Vagrant
Frantisek Stupka	...	Vagrant
Petr Jákl	...	Quarry Labourer
Karel Belohradský	...	Inspector's Assistant
Josef Sebek	...	Inspector's Assistant
Robert Krejcik	...	Evil Wagon Driver
David Jensen	...	The Laughing Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vitezslav Bouchner	...	Lens room cleaner

Directed by
Steven Soderbergh

Writing credits (WGA)
Lem Dobbs		(written by)

Produced by
Harry Benn	....	producer
Stuart Cornfeld	....	producer
Mark Johnson	....	executive producer
Barry Levinson	....	executive producer
Paul Rassam	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Cliff Martinez

Cinematography by
Walt Lloyd		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Steven Soderbergh

Casting by
Susie Figgis

Production Design by
Gavin Bocquet

Art Direction by
Leslie Tomkins		(as Les Tomkins)

Set Decoration by
Joanne Woollard

Costume Design by
Michael Jeffery

Makeup Department
Paula Gillespie	....	chief hair stylist
Zdenka Klika	....	makeup artist
Stephen Rose	....	key hair stylist: additional photography
Allen Weisinger	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Jan Balzer	....	production supervisor
Miloslav Dolezal	....	unit manager
Petr Moravec	....	unit manager
Pavel Nový	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lee Cleary	....	second assistant director: additional photography
Steve Harding	....	assistant director: additional photography
Zbynek Honzík	....	third assistant director
Nick Laws	....	second assistant director
Mirek Lux	....	assistant director
Jirí Ostry	....	assistant director
Alice Ronovska	....	second assistant director
Guy Travers	....	assistant director

Art Department
Bill Bernie	....	painter
George Dean	....	painter
Joe Dipple	....	property master: additional photography
Len Furey	....	construction coordinator
Bohumil Kadlec	....	property master
Mike Rickard	....	construction manager: additional photography
Tony Woollard	....	production designer: additional photography
Tony Wright	....	sketch artist

Sound Department
Ron Bartlett	....	additional sound effects editor
Larry Blake	....	sound editor
Larry Blake	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tomas Cervenka	....	assistant second boom operator
Phil Croal	....	boom operator
Louis Elman	....	adr supervisor: UK
Mark Holding	....	boom operator: additional photography
Paul Ledford	....	production sound mixer
Steve Lee	....	sound effects librarian
Mark A. Mangini	....	sound designer (as Mark Mangini)
Mark A. Mangini	....	sound editor (as Mark Mangini)
Mark A. Mangini	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dave Moreno	....	weddington recordist
Dan O'Connell	....	foley artist
Greg Orloff	....	foley mixer
Randy Singer	....	foley recordist
Steve F.B. Smith	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Alan Snelling	....	adr mixer
Alicia Stevenson	....	foley artist

Special Effects by
Philip Elton	....	art director: special effects unit
Terry Glass	....	special effects
Ian Wingrove	....	special effects supervisor

Stunts
Marc Boyle	....	stunt coordinator
Pavel Cajzl	....	stunt double: Jerremy Irons
Perry Davey	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
John Attwell	....	clapper loader
Steve Burgess	....	focus puller
George Cole	....	gaffer: additional photography
Eddie Collins	....	camera operator
Jim Coward	....	generator operator
Martin Evans	....	gaffer
John Flemming	....	camera grip
Jiri Horych	....	electrician
George Hunt	....	best boy: additional photography
Adam Samuelson	....	crane operator
Charles Staffell	....	process photographer
Jimmy Waters	....	camera grip: additional photography
Paul Wells	....	best boy

Casting Department
Abi Cohen	....	casting assistant: UK

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hana Kucerova	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Aaron Glascock	....	assistant editor
Rob Green	....	assistant editor: UK
Tom Salvatore	....	color timer
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative matcher
Stan Sztaba	....	negative matcher

Music Department
Sharal Churchill	....	soundtrack consultant
Jeff Rona	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Jean Bourne	....	script supervisor
Sarah Flack	....	production assistant
Robert A. Levine	....	unit publicist
Tony Miller	....	production accountant
Gail Samuelson	....	production coordinator
Annie Wotton	....	script supervisor: additional photography

Thanks
Charles Newirth	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Baltimore Pictures
• Pricel
• Renn Productions

Distributors

• Miramax Films (1991) (USA) (theatrical)
• AMLF (1992) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Transmundo Films (1992) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1993) (Argentina) (VHS)
• UFA Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pinewood Studios  movie studio
• Anvil Post Production  ADR recording
• First Unit Caterers  catering
• Lee Lighting  grip and lighting equipment
• Masterwords  cutting continuity
• Match Cut Film Services  negative cutting
• Oxford Scientific Films  brain photography
• Oxford Scientific Films  eye photography
• Packair Airfreight  shipping agent
• Panavision  camera equipment provided by
• R/Greenberg Associates  title design: main and end titles
• Renown Freight  shipping agent
• Skywalker Sound South  foley recorded at
• The Travel Company  travel agency
• Weddington Productions  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

Kafka (France)
Delitti e segreti (Italy) [it]
Kafka (Germany) [de]
Kafka (Greece) [el]
Kafka (Finland) [fi]
Kafka, la verdad oculta (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

98 min | Germany:92 min (TV version)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:13 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Baltimore Pictures

Quotes:

Inspector Grubach: Kafka. Kafka, Kafka... Is that your real name?
Franz Kafka: Yes. W-why shouldn't it be?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Blood Pact: The Making of 'Blade II' (2002) (V)

A thing of warped beauty

This is a strange creature: for a start, the first half is in black and white, then from a certain point the whole thing continues in colour. But more importantly, the real-life character of the writer, Kafka, has been bound up in an adventure story that he could have penned himself! The effect is of a whimsical, noire cartoon through which our hero stumbles, lost, for most of the time. But it is his bemused, everyday-ness which is his best defence against the hidden powers which are organised against him. In a way, it is disappointing when Kafka's paranoia is proved to be justified... the warped journey to this point is more fun than the pay-off. But this is a brave and playful film, at once terrifying and hilarious. The scene where the hero clumsily fights with an evil minion across the surface of huge magnifying glass, beneath which is a twitching, bloody brain undergoing maniacal experiments, is particularly bizarre, horrible and funny at the same time. 8/10