Kafka

Kafka (1991)

  • 57% of critics liked it
    (21 reviews)

  • 71% of users liked it
    (4,814 ratings)

Steve Soderbergh did a 180 degree turnaround from his debut film sex, lies, and videotape with Kafka, a stark art-film fable for literature majors. Jeremy Irons plays a fictional Franz Kafka, living in Prague in 1919. By day, Kafka works in a massive, impersonal insurance company. At night, he… More

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In Theaters
Jan 1, 1991 Wide
On DVD
Dec 22, 1992
Paramount Home Video

Critic Reviews

  • Vincent Canby, New York Times

    Steven Soderbergh's Kafka is a very bad well-directed movie.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    Soderbergh does demonstrate again here that he's a gifted director, however unwise in his choice of project.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    A movie about Franz Kafka? It's a good idea for a microsecond. Then it dissolves into a dumb proposition.

  • Rita Kempley, Washington Post

    The effect is artistic, but it's also obvious when the material cried out for unsettling.

  • Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    All the Kafka basics are there for the literary types to muse over and it has great entertainment value in its unpretentious playfulness.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Steve K


    Beautiful to look at but ever so slight.

  • Stephen E


    Mysterious and stylish but incoherent and empty, "Kafka" is a good-looking disappointment for director Steven Soderbergh. Impressive camerawork and snappy editing ensure that it won't be forgotten, but there just simply isn't enough going on to make it… More

  • Doctor S


    Moody, mysterious, and measured thriller shot in beautiful black & white except for a pivotal sequence inside "the Castle." Soderbergh's best film is quite unlike any other in dropping Jeremy Irons, utterly convincing as Franz Kafka circa 1919 Prague, amidst a very… More

  • Anthony V


    Under appreciated Soderbergh gem.

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