Klassenverhältnisse (1984)

After making the domestic servant pregnant, a woman who doubles his age, a young man of only seventeen years from the German bourgeoisie is sent by his family to the United States in order to avoid a huge scandal.

Directors:

Danièle Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub

Writer:

Franz Kafka (novel)

Stars:

Christian Heinisch, Nazzareno Bianconi, Mario Adorf

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Heinisch	...	Karl Roßmann
Nazzareno Bianconi	...	Giacomo
Mario Adorf	...	Der Onkel
Laura Betti	...	Brunelda
Harun Farocki	...	Delamarche
Manfred Blank	...	Robinson
Reinald Schnell	...	Der Heizer
Anna Schnell	...	Line
Klaus Traube	...	Der kapitän
Hermann Hartmann	...	Der Oberkassier
Gérard Semaan	...	Schubal
Jean-François Quinque	...	Der Stewart
Willi Vöbel	...	Pollunder (as Villi Vöbel)
Tilman Heinisch	...	Green
Anne Bold	...	Klara

Storyline

After making the domestic servant pregnant, a woman who doubles his age, a young man of only seventeen years from the German bourgeoisie is sent by his family to the United States in order to avoid a huge scandal.

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Plot Keywords:

alienation | f rated | new german cinema | class struggle | brechtian | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

West Germany France

Language:

German English

Release Date:

3 October 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

Relaciones de clase

Company Credits

Production Co:

Janus Film und Fernsehen, Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), NEF Diffusion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Amerika (1994)

User Reviews

Possibly their most accessible film

Only a handful of directors have attempted to adapt Kafka to the screen:Welles with "The Trial" and Haneke with "The Castle" being the two most successful,but this adaptation of his unfinished novel "Amerika" is perhaps the best. "Amerika" was always Kafka's most approachable novel without many of the labyrinthine plots and tortured characters of the other novels and the Straubs certainly approach it with the utmost fidelity. It is the story of Karl Rosmann,a German youth who after getting a servant-girl into trouble is sent by his parents to find work in America.Like the novel,the film proceeds with a series of picaresque episodes recounting his travails first in staying with his wealthy uncle and then finding employment in a large opulent hotel. The Straubs' minimalist style of long takes combined with static camera-work is preserved but the habitually expressionless acting style of their usually non professional cast is here combined with a more declamatory,theatrical style of acting favoured by some of the more experienced members of the cast,notably Laura Betti,and unlike many of their more hermetic film,this can be enjoyed by audiences as a much more straightforward exercise in the pleasures of narrative film-making.