FRANZ Is Fittingly Kafkaesque

FRANZ (Blu-ray)

2025 / 127 min

Cohen Media Group

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😽

My knowledge of Franz Kafka and his work is pretty limited. Like a lot of English majors, I’m mostly familiar with The Metamorphosis, a surreal, allegorical tale of a beleaguered salesman who turns into a giant cockroach. It’s also typical of a lot of his fiction, which serves-up gloomy protagonists confronted by bureaucracy and societal expectations, with a side order of self-persecution. 

Such recurring themes prompt one to assume that ol’ Franz was largely writing about himself. When I first read The Metamorphosis, I was mostly disappointed that it didn't end with this giant cockroach slaughtering the whole ungrateful Samsa family, but if Gregor was indeed meant to represent Kafta, I’ll bet his own family couldn’t have been very happy with him.

But in Franz, a (sort of?) biography about the author, Kafka’s surly father (Peter Kurth) is the only one who openly disparages him, disapproving of his son’s dedication to writing over the insurance business. He’s quite a bastard about it, too, displaying little concern over Franz’ goals and/or personal insecurities. As played by Idan Weiss, Kafka is outwardly aloof, socially awkward and only comfortable expressing himself through writing. 

Franz orders an "Unhappy Meal."

The film is a semi-chronological account of the author’s short life, from childhood to his death from tuberculosis. But it’s not a biography in the purist sense, nor is it as cheerless as one might expect. True to the nature of the author’s prose, the narrative throws in a lot of surreal elements (including a gruesome depiction of the story, “In the Penal Colony”), as well as secondary characters frequently breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience directly to provide exposition. There are also numerous sequences blurring the past and present, with tourists visiting various posthumous attractions dedicated to Kafka.

It’s an interesting approach, though sometimes those elements come across as arty and pretentious…often at the expense of characterization. Weiss plays the title character well, both physically and emotionally, but the screenplay ultimately subverts his dedication to the role. In a way, Kafka ends up being more of a caricature than a protagonist we’re emotionally invested in. And for a biography about a writer, his actual career as one almost feels like an afterthought…with almost no backstory behind his most famous works (not even The Metamorphosis or The Trial).

Still, Franz has some great moments, particularly those where reality and fantasy collide, which are well-realized by director Agniezka Holland. We don’t end up knowing much more about Kafka himself than what a Wikipedia article provides, but considering his legacy as a surrealist, I suppose it’s fitting that a film about the man would be similarly “Kafkaesque.”

EXTRA KIBBLES

INTERVIEW - filmmaker Jeremy Kagan interviews director Agnieszka Holland before a live audience.

TRAILER