The Castle (1997)

Thanks for the memories!

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This, apparently was made for TV by Michael Haneke. After having seen "The Trial" and read pretty much all the works of Kafka, one comes to expect something. Unlike the former, the protagonist is given many options, but never seems as confused as Joseph K was. He seems to feel that his job as a land surveyor trumps virtually anything, even though he is obviously not wanted. He will betray, barge in on, and do anything with the strange people he encounters, including marrying one of them, to get to that Castle. But as is the case with the existentialists, his path is as much a part of the thing, cold and dank and full of trauma, as ever actually reaching the Castle. And, why should such a place need a surveyor anyway. This is a nightmare come to life. He meets his assistants, a couple of twin "boys" and they have no surveying equipment. They have no knowledge of surveying, and yet off they go. Or sort of. It is an endless tromp through snow and buildings and meetings with obstructionists. And so it goes.

"Das Schloß" or "The Castle" is a German/Austrian co-production from almost 20 years ago and writer and director Michael Haneke made this one the very same year he released the original "Funny Games". For this one here, he adapted the work of famous author Franz Kafka and I guess this is also the main problem I had with this one. The material just wasn't interesting enough to me. I quite like some of Haneke's other stuff, but this one not so much. He cast many people that also appeared in other works of his, such as lead actor Ulrich Mühe, Susanne Lothar and Frank Giering, sadly all of them dies untimely deaths. "The Castle" is a television production that runs for over 2 hours and I cannot deny it dragged on many occasions.I think the acting and direction in here is pretty good, as usual with Haneke/Mühe etc. but the base material just did not do too much for me. I was very bored by the story and the massive runtime certainly did not help at all. It is a very bleak and atmospheric watch as you are used to if you have seen some of Haneke's other works, but this alone cannot make up for all the other flaws in this film. I personally do not recommend checking it out unless you are a huge fan of Kafka's work, this one here or just in general. Everybody else should stay away. Thumbs down.

I really like Amour and White Ribbon but this is utter claptrap. So boring and such a dull story line which abruptly ends without any conclusion. Visually it's a bore. Hitchcock would have called this "Photographs of people talking". The film is heavy on dialogue. There was little point in making this into a film as 99% of the information is given through dialogue and narration and the story might as well have been a radio play. Don't waste 2 hours of your life.So if it is supposed to be some poetic reflection on life or a particular issue then it needs to be clearer. In my opinion a film should be understandable in its own right. If I need to read Kafka in order to watch the film, then that is a failure in my opinion.

This film is certainly not for everyone. Maybe for Haneke completists only.It is based on one of Franz Kafka's three novels, and it can basically be described as a satirization of bureaucracy.K (Ulrich Mühe - Georg in Funny Games) arrives for a job and is met with resistance. The next day two assistants arrive (one is Artur (Peter from Funny Games). K spends most of his time trying to get into the castle to do the work he was hired to do, but it seems he isn't needed.He takes up with Frieda (Susanne Lothar - Anna from Funny Games, and the midwife in The White Ribbon).From here it is surreal and confusing. He bounces from official to official never really getting anywhere.Haneke and Kafka were made for each other.