KAFKA GOES TO THE MOVIES

A more accurate title for this book might have been, "What Kafka Would Have Seen Had He Gone to the Movies," for as director and actor Zischler himself admits, Kafka tended to avoid the cinema. As Kafka put it, "I myself seldom go to the cinematograph theater," noting that his need for distraction "drinks its fill from the [movie] posters." Indeed, Kafka "provides no information" about any films that affected his work, leaving "not a single hint that he drew on certain images or scenes for his writing." While Zischler is so bold as to assert this as evidence that Kafka was desperately trying to keep cinematic images out of his work, readers may prefer a simpler theory: that the movies just weren't that essential to Kafka. Apparently, Kafka was more interested in Yiddish theater, preferring to have his sister go to the movies and fill him in later on the plots. Still, when it's Kafka, even his lack of interest in cinema might have made an intriguing book. Regrettably, this poor translation fails in that endeavor, as some sections seem muddled (e.g., "One could say it is a strangely unmoved, an empty weeping that overcomes him. Nothing experienced intrudes between him and the screen"). While the illustrative material is eye-catching and some of Zischler's items are enticing—e.g., the 1920 Zionist film that may have made Kafka move to Berlin, the impact of a particular white slavery movie in 1911—the book is largely unsatisfying. Photos. (Dec. 6)