Das Schloß

Michael Haneke adapts Kafka's incomplete novel about a land surveyor -- Ulrich Mühe. He's assigned to a small town dominated by a castle, where there lives a very important man named Klamm, whom no one ever sees. Mühe's services are neither needed nor wanted, but the immense and inert bureaucracy of the unnamed country keep him trapped there.... or perhaps, it's hinted, he's using that torpor to his own ends, to remain in a situation where he has no responsibilities, and gets to torment his fellow man and woman.

This was Haneke's breakout year; FUNNY GAMES hit the big screen about the time this hit the small one. Like that movie, this one is funny, but not in the least humorous; everyone suffers, and everyone deserves it. About half of the movie has Udo Samel reading from Kafka's while the action and dialogue go on. His unemotional reading lend a measure of contempt.

This, apparently was made for TV by Michael Haneke. After having seen "The Trial" and read pretty much all the works of Kafka, one comes to expect something. Unlike the former, the protagonist is given many options, but never seems as confused as Joseph K was. He seems to feel that his job as a land surveyor trumps virtually anything, even though he is obviously not wanted. He will betray, barge in on, and do anything with the strange people he encounters, including marrying one of them, to get to that Castle. But as is the case with the existentialists, his path is as much a part of the thing, cold and dank and full of trauma, as ever actually reaching the Castle. And, why should such a place need a surveyor anyway. This is a nightmare come to life. He meets his assistants, a couple of twin "boys" and they have no surveying equipment. They have no knowledge of surveying, and yet off they go. Or sort of. It is an endless tromp through snow and buildings and meetings with obstructionists. And so it goes.

I'm crazy about Kafka. THE TRIAL is my favorite by Welles, and Juracek's homage Joseph KILLIAN is brilliant as well. So the thought of Haneke directing The Castle seemed like a promising idea. And he gets some of it right. The story is very faithful... obviously certain omissions are necessary, but the gist of it is there, and the scenes generally play out as they do in the novel. The long scenes juxtaposed with abrupt time cuts do a good job of evoking the unusual rhythms of Kafka. And Haneke knows better than to try to make K. an entirely sympathetic character. But it doesn't feel quite right. I have mixed feelings about the aesthetic. The drab palette is appropriate, but I couldn't help thinking that black and white would have suited the material better. And the voice-over felt entirely unnecessary to me. The novel is told in the third person voice, but it feels first person. Having some narrator chime in every few minutes didn't add anything. And it just didn't seem absurd enough. Perhaps it's a book that doesn't condense well, because you don't get the sense of K.'s epic, labyrinthine struggle. But it's a good effort.

This is an extremely unusual adaptation of an unfinished novel. The breaks in Kafka's manuscript are actually left in the movie. This is surrealism to the max!

Unfinished works give rise to conjecture. How would Kafka intend to end this novel? Did he get tired of it? Did he avoid concocting an ending? K, a professional surveyor, arrives in a village during a winter storm. He is summoned by a Count whose castle overlooks that village. As might be expected in any Kafka story, K will not find the earl or perform any specific work. The castle of the title is not what you would expect, it is certainly not what the disappointed K expected to see, it is not even an old fortress or a new mansion, but a shady complex of countless small buildings close to each other. Swarms of crows circulate around the tower. It is clear that K's presence in the village is the result of a bureaucratic error. A surveyor had actually been requested by the Count some time ago, but the order had been canceled long before. Only Kafka would be able to explain why K does not leave the village - and only he would know how (or if) he intended to finish this unfinished masterpiece.