Kafka Page #10

Synopsis: Kafka is a 1991 mystery thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh. Ostensibly a biopic, based on the life of Franz Kafka, the film blurs the lines between fact and Kafka's fiction (most notably The Castle and The Trial), creating a Kafkaesque atmosphere. It was written by Lem Dobbs, and stars Jeremy Irons in the title role, with Theresa Russell, Ian Holm, Jeroen Krabbé, Joel Grey, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and Alec Guinness.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
  1 win & 1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.9
Metacritic:
46
PG-13
Year:
1991
98 min
697 Views


KAFKA:

He's the clerk who died last week.

From the insurance department

The Keeper of the files looks extremely displeased. He

pushes past Kafka, going back the way they've come.

KAFKA:

(follows anxiously)

What's the matter?

KEEPER:

Why would we keep files on dead

employees? All old files are sent

up to the Castle. Do you think we

have room for two hundred years worth

personnel records?

KAFKA:

(dodges another

paper landslide)

It's gone out so quickly?

KEEPER:

Whenever an employee departs, shall

we say, it's up to the head of his

department to requisition his file,

reassign any outstanding claims,

and send it off.

KAFKA:

-- You mean my Chief has it.

Documents come crashing down and we can't see Kafka and the

Keeper anymore.

CUT:

THE CHIEF CLERK - DAY

Looks up from his desk and sticks his chin out, which is his

way of asking Kafka what the hell he wants. Kafka dares to

come in.

KAFKA:

Excuse me, sir -- I understand

you have Eduard Raban's file.

CHIEF CLERK:

I do.

KAFKA:

I wonder if I might look to see

if there's an address for family

-- I thought I'd like to write

to them.

The Chief Clerk has little time for such sentimentality. He

gives Kafka a little exasperated look before reaching down to

-- a right hand desk drawer -- which Kafka notices -- and

taking out a folder.

CHIEF CLERK:

No -- just as I thought -- no

entry for family.

Kafka nods a bit, wondering what to do now.

CHIEF CLERK:

Was there something else?

KAFKA:

No -- I just -- I feel a sense of

obligation. He was my friend --

if I can be of any help -- closing

his affairs.

CHIEF CLERK:

(putting file away

again)

No, there's only one report to

complete. I'll be doing it myself

and submitting it to the Castle

today or tomorrow.

KAFKA:

(as ingenuously as

possible)

I see -- it's just the Erlanger

claim then.

CHIEF CLERK:

(looks up)

The Orlac claim.

KAFKA:

Sorry, yes -- well -- thank you,

sir.

The Chief Clerk watches him as he starts to leave.

CHIEF CLERK:

Kafka.

Kafka reluctantly turns.

CHIEF CLERK:

You're too sensitive. Let your

friend rest in peace.

(returning to

paperwork)

I've known suicides. Such a song-

and-dance about nothing.

Kafka nods once.

KAFKA:

Yes, sir.

The Chief Clerk looks at him with seemingly genuine misguided

concern.

CHIEF CLERK:

Give it up.

He goes back to his paperwork. Kafka leaves.

OUTSIDE CHIEF CLERK'S OFFICE

Kafka shuts the door behind him, breathes a sigh of relief.

CUT:

THE KEEPER OF THE FILES - DAY

Looking very annoyed, leading Kafka back through the stacks.

KEEPER:

If it was Accounts you wanted

why did you ask for Employees?

KAFKA:

Orlac is an account?

KEEPER:

It's a factory in the northern

mountains. One of our best

customers.

(as they disappear

around a corner)

Without a proper request I'm not

obliged to do this, you understand

-- but I'll make an exception on

this one occasion.

ANOTHER ROW:

Kafka glances nervously around as shelves CREAK threateningly

under the weight of documents. Up on a ladder, the Keeper of

the Files finds the Orlac folder.

KEEPER:

At least the account is current

even if the employee isn't.

He pulls it out -- with great difficulty. The Orlac file is

very, very thick. Kafka prepares himself to catch it, but

the Keeper of the Files manages to hand it down to him

without serious injury. Still, it's quite cumbersome and

heavier than Kafka expects.

KEEPER:

(coming down ladder)

That place has so many accidents,

it's a good thing the type of

peasants who live up there don't

seem to have any trouble propagating

their race.

Kafka winces at that slur but says nothing about it.

KAFKA:

(leafing through pages)

All these in the last year?

KEEPER:

You must have read about it in the

papers -- there was a terrible

cave-in. It wouldn't have been so

bad, but even the Medical Officer

for the district was killed!

KAFKA:

I did read that. They gave him

a posthumous medal.

KEEPER:

(nods)

Dr. Murnau was the bravest of men.

He spent an entire career in those

backwaters with no regard for

personal gain. A great loss.

KAFKA:

(a particular document)

This is the cross-reference of

clerks who've worked on Orlac

claims?

KEEPER:

(nods)

Is your friend's name among

them?

(Kafka shakes his

head)

Then he only worked on the one

case.

(taking file back

again)

Your Chief will send me the final

summation when he's finished with

it.

KAFKA:

Once a file's been sent to the

Caste, is it possible to recall

it for review?

KEEPER:

(going back up

ladder)

Of course not. Only by a Director

of the firm. Who'd want to let in

all kinds of riff-raff off the

streets?

KAFKA:

What good are records if they're

not open for public inspection?

KEEPER:

(stuffing file back

in place)

These laws have been with us for

centuries -- how can you doubt

them?

KAFKA:

What if I petitioned one of the

Directors?

KEEPER:

(coming back down)

You do not summon them -- they

summon you -- and this, of course,

hardly ever happens, if at all.

The Directors are an eccentric lot

and by nature cautious.

KAFKA:

Where do our records go to in the

Castle?

KEEPER:

(starting to walk

away)

We're a medical firm, aren't we?

They go to the Medical Records

Section.

KAFKA:

I could always apply there.

KEEPER:

It so happens, my dear simple sir,

that the Head of Medical Records at

the Castle is one of the Directors

of this firm.

Kafka scowls, and follows the Keeper of the Files in silence.

CUT:

THE OFFICE - EVENING

Kafka works at his desk, finger tapping at an adding machine.

He checks the office clock -- nearly the end of the day.

THE ASSISTANTS:

One is sweeping the floor. The other is scribbling at their

desk. His pen blotches his paper. He has a fit and crumples

it up and throws it down.

KAFKA:

Looks over at the Chief Clerk's office -- sees him writing

intently at his desk, pausing to turn on a lamp.

THE ASSISTANTS:

The sweeping one bangs his knee against a desk and starts

hopping about. The pen of the other one leaks again. He

crumples up his new sheet and flings it away even more

angrily than before. Then he examines his pen, determines

that the cap at the back is loose, and starts banging it on

his desk in an attempt to tighten it -- while the other

assistant keeps jumping around holding his hurt kneecap.

KAFKA:

Glances over his shoulder at them, starts to say something --

but then notices Burgel, not far away, sometimes blocked by

other employees, walking in the direction of the Chief

Clerk's office.

THE ASSISTANTS:

The one assistant has just fixed his pen when the other one,

still hopping around, bumps into him, causing him to knock

over a bottle of ink. The two of them start shoving each

other about.

Kafka whirls around, can't ignore them any longer.

KAFKA:

Do you mind!

The Assistants look at him, surprised at this outburst.

OSKAR:

-- I was just trying to finish

some work!

KAFKA:

You mean you've actually begun

some?

LUDWIG:

(pointing at Oskar)

-- Just because he's done nothing

today, he doesn't want me to show

him up!

Oskar tries to lunge at Ludwig, but Kafka holds him back.

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Lem Dobbs

Lem Dobbs was born on December 24, 1958 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England as Anton Lemuel Kitaj. He is a writer and producer, known for Dark City (1998), The Limey (1999) and Haywire (2011). He has been married to Dana Kraft since 1991. more…

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