Class Relations(Klassenverhältnisse)

Huillet-Straub’s adaptation of Amerika, Franz Kafka’s unfinished first novel about a young man’s wanderings across the US in the early 20th century, is faithful to a tee – the film was even filmed nearly entirely in Europe, given Kafka had never been to America. But by retitling their film, the duo rejected the typical way of representing a Kafkaesque ‘America’ with cavernous workplaces and faceless people. For them, the appeal of Kafka’s work lies in its human relationships, highlighted by the humiliation and persecution suffered by the perennial po-faced Karl Rossmann as he meets and submits to the stratagems of schemers, seducers and swindlers above (and sometimes even below) his social station. Screening with En rachâchant (1982, 8min), a lesson about education and resistance, based on a book by Marguerite Duras.

Berlin International Film Festival: Honourable Mention

Cahier du Cinéma Top Ten: #2