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As a movie, it works well that several incidents are combined to one frenzy. This compensates the the movie’s lack of a logical storyline. In the book, an additional key element is waiting. The whole story plays within one full year, where nothing much is happening. K looses all interest in his work and former social life, he is consumed by his case without acting out his real desires. At the eve of his 31 birthday he already awaits the two men, which come and take him away. While the movie emphasizes Miss Bürstner so much at the beginning, it felt kind of strange, that she does not appear at the end. In the book, K shortly sees her after leaving the house and from then on he goes willingly to the place he dies. The covered statue raising his hands towards the sky is not in the book. Instead, K sees a window full of light opening with a figure reaching out towards K. You see the difference: in the book the whole case is something very personal, while in the movie its rather global injustice.
The cinematography, most actors and the production design is just amazing. How the camera moves around K delivers perfectly the way Kafka presents his K - writing a kind of inner monologue in the 3rd person. Especially making use of the contrast of modernist anonymity and scenes overloaded with stuff and old ornaments is ingenious. So is the way the movie deliver most parts of the inner monologue without having a narrator, or an inner voice. The main weakness: The movie cannot really decide, if the reason for Ks case is the love to women he can’t have or if there is a system, which arrests him for no legitimate reason and then executes him without that K knows why or can do something about it (the way it happened later to the jews in the 1940ies in the German Reich). The movie suggests both at the same time. This does not really make sense. The book leaves this completely open. If you read it carefully, at least in the original language, its rather neither of the two.
The result of these changes: in the book everything centers around K, the movie manages to do this by its striking cinematography, but additionally constructed subplots detract from it. Grubachs husband background story, the logic of Grubach throwing Bürstner out, who then has to live in a poor neighborhood, because K entered her room and now has a reason to feel guilty. Orson Welles establishes a simple logic here a reason K feels guilt for, which is not in the original story and hardly makes sense in connection to the mysterious shadow court. In the book K also does not mention that he always felt guilty for everything. Opposite: K never cared about learning from experiences, he always lead a carefree simple life in society.
Role of Orson Welles and the ending:
The advocate is a very sick man in the book.This is meant both physically and symbolically. By no means, he would stand up and walk to guide K. The advocate is K’s uncle’s friend, and should take care that K keeps his respectable life intact and does not realize his desires. In the book, it would make no sense that the advocate reveals the parable of the gatekeeper to K. That the advocate closes the door on the other hand makes sense. In the book the parable is told in the church at a time K still could find a way to enter this door. A gentle priest tells K the parable. He first delivers a message to K speaking down to K from an ugly pulpit - which tortures the body of the person speaking from it. The priest says that his case does not look good, then he steps down and tells the parable to K guiding him to a place, K does not follow him to, but at one point turns around and escapes.
I saw the movie after seeing a comedy stage adaption and reading the book [spoilers ahead]:
Bürstner, deleted and additional characters:
The film emphasizes the character of Miss Bürstner. The policeman enters from Miss Bürstners door, not from Mrs Grubachs. In the book its Ks 30s birthday, Miss Bürstner’s birthday is not mentioned, thus K brings no cake. Miss Bürstner does not move to another place, the scene with the woman dragging a chest is not in the book. Instead, Fräulein Montag („Monday“) moves in to Fräulein Bürstner’s room on a Sunday, where K did not go to the „court“ and she prevents K from speaking to Fräulein Bürstner in person. In the book, K does not speak to any woman while his visitors are here, wich explain K to be „verhaftet“ (a term that also signifies being determined by/obsessed with something.) K leaves his flat has a long day at the bank and then can’t wait to talk to Grubach and Bürstner when coming home. Also the picture K shows to Leni of his girlfriend is not Fräulein Bürstner in the book, its Elsa, a deleted character, who also does not appear in person in the book. Part of Ks weekly routine is a visit at a waitress called Elsa, who works all night and during day receives visits only while staying in bed. So, in the book K really has somebody he could call girlfriend. Irmie, Ks cousin is not in the book. In the book Ks uncle only mentions a letter he received from Ks sister, whom K totally forgot and does not care to much about. The movie suggests a love relation between K and the minor Irmie. Its not said that something actually happened between them, but Orson Welles invents another reason K could feel guilty for, which is not in the book. (continued in the posts below)
Alice in Wonderland meets Die Leiden des jungen Werthers
They even forgot to check her birth certificate.
5th what's with this guy speaking japanese + having subtitles - was this a cyborg with a damaged voice mechanism?
... maybe some spoilers ahead ...
I like the gender switch, that the remake at least tries a new approach. I also like that they pushed the level with the fantasy situations (foreign languages, different times) - especially the drug lord episode. I missed the seven deadly sins in the remake. Probably it was difficult as the female devil already impersonates lust, but at least it would have been interesting if in each sequence she impersonates onther sin herself. There are unnecessary religious annd moral undertones in the 2000 version (as often in american mainstream movies) and quite some cruel special effects. I definately didn't need her to transform in a cliché devil.
The original is much more true to itself, homogeneous and the devil has much a wider scope of actions. The movie has deeper jokes and a critical social undertones, in a comical way without trying to establish certain morals. Margeret gets a real character - Allison in the 2000 version hardly has one, she hardly appears outside the fantasy episodes.
What I missed a bit in the original: a better rythm or a stronger climax. I like the wish episodes, I like the multiple subplots with Margeret or the sins, the multiple endings - the god ending and the back to shitty normal ending. But alltogether the flow of the movie could be better especially towards the end.
I missed the seven deadly sins in this one.
... maybe some spoilers ahead ...
I like the gender switch, that the remake at least tries a new approach. I also like that they pushed the level with the fantasy situations (foreign languages, different times) - especially the drug lord episode. I missed the seven deadly sins in the remake. Probably it was difficult as the female devil already impersonates lust, but at least it would have been interesting if in each sequence she impersonates onther sin herself. There are unnecessary religious annd moral undertones in the 2000 version (as often in american mainstream movies) and quite some cruel special effects. I definately didn't need her to transform in a cliché devil.
The original is much more true to itself, homogeneous and the devil has much a wider scope of actions. The movie has deeper jokes and a critical social undertones, in a comical way without trying to establish certain morals. Margeret gets a real character - Allison in the 2000 version hardly has one, she hardly appears outside the fantasy episodes. Both the premise and the end didn't work for me in the 2000 version. In the original the devil steps in because there is a guy who tries to commit suicide - he is not able to socialise. Here, the guy is just unpopular, he even goes to a party and meets the devil? And at the end when he meets the real Allison he acts articulate just as if he was in a wish sequence, not like being himself.
What I missed a bit in the original: a better rythm or a stronger climax. I like the wish episodes, I like the multiple subplots with Margeret or the sins, the multiple endings - the god ending and the back to shitty normal ending. But alltogether the flow of the movie could be better especially towards the end.
haaa - great scene!
if the rock star scene were in, what other wish were out?
The burger wish follows the British original, so is it one of the other fantasies?
Momo without Momo. Another one suggested on this board similarities to Michael Ende's "Das Gefängnis der Freiheit", after watching this movie "Die unendliche Geschichte" came to my mind too, with its major themes creating and forgetting, reality and lostness.
Dark city seems to be a hybrid of Michael Ende's work. Maybe the best existing movie adaption of his work :P
it's just the place where she always stands
He will continue creating and continue forgetting until he will find out his real name was Bastian Balthazar Bux, which will allow him to return home to his father.
10) Crashing one sattelite into another can be a good solution, but it will not really make a difference, at least we might save a hot flip flop girl with this strategy.
10) Better beware of cool young guys, they like to see the world burn, and they mean it litterally.
10) If I build another giant network of sattelites covering the athmosphere of an entire planet, it is a very bad idea to send the only password for the reboot mode to the president of the United States, even if they are the American ones, whose president will never ever be a villain.
10) Having sex won't be a success with your brother on the phone.
10) On earth I can communicate talking into a phone, but on a space station I need to enter a special room and speaking to a larger than live sized projection (probably because otherwise I wouldn't hear the one I want to talk to, as he is so far away)
10) Wonderful recipe for making a movie: family members (best male) talk pathetic things - enough deepness, huge budget - don't have to worry about quality, Crashing sattelites, exploding space stations, bad weather, the president of the United States of America - more story not necessary, the protagonists all survive (bonus: they go fishing together) - ending suitable for any movie
10) The reason a movie with such a wonderful recipe might still be could be flop: we forgot to show the aliens
10) It makes sense to kill everybody, me included, because I will become the magic president of the United States of America by doing so.
10) I have built this super sophisticated satelite system, which I need to control from a huge space station, but when this station self destructs, Nasa can control everything from earth too
10) SciFi = some cool technical stuff + I do not have to think if it makes sense
(Maybe also add a countdown just to make sure the audience knows something is about to happen)
10) The things I learned section often contain spoilers, so its good to read it before watching a movie like Geostorm
10) Best way to become president: just kill every candidate. So then I will be next president.
10) I'll always have a female german living at my space station. So when I can't find the right door again, she will appear out of nowhere and tell me the right code even of the wrong door.
10) What my daughter knows will always become true.
10) When even in India the dog survived, I know everything is fine.
10) I only have to use a super secret code once (best something fishy), next time I don't have to care about it, nobody will care (as everybody will thinl we anyway will only talk about fishing with the family).
10) Better not to have a younger brother, 1) he is mean 2) he hangs out with the guy who wants to destroy the earth 3) he is mainly occupied with various girls, even when I am stuck in a malfunctioning space station and could need some help 4) whatever he does, I will have to appologise TO HIM 5) I nearly die, while he is home doing nothing much, and afterwards I even have to make peace with him again
10) The president of the United States of America can never ever be a villain.
10) Weather occurances that I rather should avoid: Tsunanies, tornadoes, hail, and giant laser beams coming from the sky.
10) USB was yesterday, today we transfer data via the internet, tomorrow we will have silver pens, and when we touch the screen with them we can upload something.
10) Good to have a geostorm mode in a device which should actually do the opposite.
10) Since we have computers, there is this one and only threat: THE VIRUS
10) It always good to have a mexican guy flying around in a space shuttle when it happens that I am drifting in open space.
10) Space stations have hard drives in every window panel. These are common hiding places for viruses.
Yes :D
231 Beware of a little bit of snow, it will confuse you so much that you will leave your most important suitcase behind on a well prepared mission
232 Berlin is the perfect place for fun car chases, there is no police on the roads, or the police does not care.
233 The hotel will already know that there are changes at the Eisenhower suite even before their customer has an unforseen car accident
234 After awakening from a car accident, the doctor will not mind to inform the police, which also will not try to investigate an accident with an unidentified driver involved.
235 Your backup agent with ID will not go to the airport in 4 days to pick up the most valuable suitcase, nor will the organisation mind to take their mission's key assesin from the hospital and reveal everything he forgot to him, instead let's kill around
236 Stay calm and crush the wall, behind which a bomb is hidden, although this might cause detonating it. Even if you do not deactivate it, you will get away, but this does not matter: Just stay calm and don't run away, try to type the deactivation numbers blindly in a device you can't reach, when you know in 2 min the bomb will detonate.
237 Remember to make fake passports in advance for all the persons you might meet on a mission, you might meet a hot illegal immigrant taxi driver you will fall in love
238 A movie's title reveals the destiny the movie deserves
239 All prolems solved soon: We will all eat corn and even for free
Well, "nerd" got himself
that's already much for somebody so unsatisfied with himself willing to commit sucide
Nerd is the soft, weak, unpopular guy - the princess, the bad guy and the jock all alphas of their cliques. Usually they would not even care speak to a nerd like him besides of making fun of him - and now they all say he is the most inteligent of them all. In the end they all just seek acceptance in a way.
The way Claire acted towards Bender - from the beginning, I felt she is really drawn to him. It was really good subtle acting.
She, the alpha princess in her perfect clique and he also the alpha but in the very opposite context, quite exotic to her's. For Claire, there are these jocks around ready to pick them, all the time. If she would have cared for them she would have gotten one already.
about bad boy getting nothing: bad boy has the hell at home, and then society punishes him for it in addition. Might be realistic, but as a moral message this would not work for me.
There might be a reason why the realistic, documentary style detention movies, they do all the time remained unknown. Some people find it just too boring to what 8h of teenagers just sitting on a chair doing nothing much. To be honest I also prefer the good original comedies with great characters and great dialogues.
Allison has the secret plan to run away, because she can't bear her life as it is. Revealing this, was a clear invitation to clear - she wanted change.
There was a girl in my class at high school, who considered herself a punk. I never saw her wearing something else than black clothes and make up. Her dream job in the year of graduation was working in the field of pathology. Afterwards she did not manage to get into this course at university. She got a quite normal job then and got together with quite an average guy. Last reunion she proudly showed pictures of her marriage. Quite a cliché marriage type. I was really blown seing her in a white marriage dress - the first time in white. Till now she has one of the pics as fb profile image. So it was serious for her and nothing like a one time joke for a special occasion.
I certainly do not considering punks as being a phase of insecurnes in life they will best get over with, what I want to say: some people play distinctive roles in a social context and if it is just to have a role. Even a declared outsider might have it easier than being just a nobody. At the same time some people also like change and do not want to stick with their stereotype they have created for theirselves. In the end it might have just been a role they played and not their real self.
153 your children’s generation might not take care of you when you are old, so take revenge now while you still can