Kafka in Prague, then and now: Agnieszka Holland’s new film hits Czech cinemas on Thursday
Following its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 5th, Agnieszka Holland’s highly anticipated film about Prague author Franz Kafka finally reaches Czech cinemas this Thursday. Offering a fresh perspective, “Franz” delves into the inner world of the famous writer.
Franz Kafka is an author who hardly needs an introduction. Born in 1883 into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague, he is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Writing in German, he produced works that are now read worldwide - including The Metamorphosis, The Trial, or The Castle - all within his short 40-year life.
It is often claimed that the ratio of words written by Kafka to those written about him is one to ten million. How, then, is there still room for a new perspective? And what is it that Agnieszka Holland aims to portray in her film?
“I have made a few biographical films. I was drawn to an approach or perspective that could help shed light on questions surrounding the person and make their story relevant for today. But I knew we couldn’t use the same approach for Kafka.
Kafka, apparently never finished any of his novels. So you can‘t just finish them for him or force a causality onto his life.”
The result is a film that follows a more associative and intuitive, rather than causal, logic. One of the first reviews of the film by the Hollywood Reporter describes it as showing Kafka’s life “as if through a crystal prism.” Perhaps a fitting analogy for a film about someone, who, on the outside, led a rather unremarkable life as a civil servant.
“Kafka’s life wasn’t very eventful; it was quite monotonous. Everything happened inside his head. Few writers have left behind as much introspective writing as Kafka. But at the same time, we know that we actually know very little. It feels like an investigation. So we decided that the film should be like a puzzle - made up of fragments and snippets.”
Some snippets jump all the way to the present day, when Kafka has become something of a Prague tourist attraction, his image used to sell everything from keychains to curated experiences. Prague itself plays a central role in the film and holds significance for Polish director Agnieszka Holland, who studied at the FAMU film school in the 1960s, during the height of the Czech New Wave. Her choice to study in the Czech capital was partly influenced by her love of Kafka, whom she started reading at the age of fourteen.
The film stars the little-known German actor Idan Weiss, who bears a striking visual resemblance to Kafka and, according to Holland, shares similar personality traits, too. His portrayal of Kafka captures the writer’s reserved and introverted nature - a character that, Holland believes, can resonate with today’s younger generations.
“I screened the film for groups of young people who maybe hadn’t read Kafka, and their reaction was amazing - they saw themselves in it. They saw a fragile person who is different. A lot of young people today feel that they are different, that they are what we now call neuro-divergent or somewhere on a spectrum. And Franz definitely was.”
We will find out how young Czechs respond to the film when it hits Czech cinemas this Thursday, September 25.
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