There’s a scene where a tour guide takes a group to a restaurant called Kafka Burger, where they order the burger that the author supposedly once ate. Was this you making a point about the commercialisation of Kafka?
Yeah. In Czechoslovakia he was practically unknown before World War II. He was an obscure German Jew writing some obscure German-language literature. During the war, of course, it was the Holocaust, then after the war, when the Communists came to Czechoslovakia, he was considered a bourgeoise, degenerative writer, so he was rarely published. In 1989, when the Iron Curtain fell and freedom came to Prague, suddenly people saw him as a kind of a God. They started to commercialise him and Kafka became a worldwide celebrity. I followed some tours and some guides are very good, but some talk total bullshit. Kafka Burger existed for a little while, but they’ve changed it to Kafka Hummus Cafe.
Kafka’s connection to his Jewish faith and heritage is quite complex. How did you see his Jewish identity influencing his character and the film?
It [Judaism] was different in different stages of his life, because he was not a good Jew [religiously]. And his family weren’t either. Kafka was very interested in Jewish theatre, though. I read quite recently that he was inspired in his writing by some traditional Yiddish plays. When you read his short stories especially, [the writing] is quite Talmudic. When you analyse Kafka, you realise that it’s possible to analyse him endlessly and never find the real answer. It reminds me of Yeshiva students, who analyse the meaning of the words over and over through the centuries. I think that Kafka never entirely embraced any identity. Neither Czech nor German nor Jewish. He was somebody who was apart. That’s why he’s a universal writer. In any part of the world, you find people who are inspired by Kafka.
By Barney Pell Scholes
Header photo courtesy of Marlene Film Production
Franz had its UK premiere at BFI IMAX on Tuesday 3 March and is screening at select UK cinemas as part of the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival, which takes place until Sunday 29 March.
See Franz at The Ultimate Picture Palace, Oxford (Wednesday 4 March, also featuring a Q&A with Agnieszka Holland) and Ciné Lumière, London (Saturday 21 March). kinoteka.org.uk
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